OLD HERBALS. 45 



for Easter Sunday, and borage to supply a blue 

 flowering, sprig for claret-cup. 



When we come to the flower-beds themselves, 

 we have an almost infinite variety of flowers from 

 which to choose for their adornment. In old 

 days, when the tulips were over, there were beds 

 of anemones and ranunculus and a bed of ranun- 

 culus when the sun shines full upon the scarlet 

 petals is a glorious sight. Then came annuals 

 and herbaceous plants. Now, as each year brings 

 something new, and the old plants, if out of 

 fashion, can yet generally be procured, our 

 difficulty is the difficulty of selection. 



We have already quoted Harrison's description 

 of his Elizabethan garden, but it is of course in 

 the old English Herbals that we find the fullest 

 account of what was grown, whether for beauty 

 or for use. The most famous of these are the 

 Crete Herbal, by Peter Treveris, published in 

 1516, and Turner's Herbal, with the date of 1568; 

 but better known than either are Gerard's Herbal, 

 of which the first edition appeared in 1597, and 

 Parkinson's Paradisus Tcrrestris, published in 



