EVELYN'S "SYLVA" 



With the increase in the variety of the Rose, of which 

 about thirty kinds were known, came the fashion, 

 quickly universal, of keeping potpourri of dried Rose 

 leaves, many of which were imported from the East, 

 from whence, years before, had come quantities of Roses 

 to supply the demand in Winter in Rome. 



As the fashion for growing flowers increased so, also, 

 did the efforts of gardeners to procure new and rare 

 flowers from foreign countries, and soon the Fritillary, 

 Tulip and Iris were extensively cultivated, and were 

 treated with extraordinary care. 



Following . this came the rage for Anemones and 

 Ranunculi, in which people endeavoured to excel over 

 their friends. And after that came in small Chry- 

 santhemums, Lilac or Blue Pipe tree, Lobelia, and the 

 Acacia tree. 



It will be seen that within quite a short space of time 

 the old garden containing few flowers, and only those 

 as a rule that had some medicinal properties, vanished 

 before a perfect orgy of colour and wealth of varieties ; 

 and that gardening for pleasure gave the people a new 

 and fascinating occupation. The rage for Anemones 

 and for the different kinds of Ranunculus developed 

 until in the late Seventeenth Century the madness, 

 for it was nothing else, for Tulip collecting came in, 

 to give place still later to the Rose, and in our day only 

 to be equalled by the collection of Chrysanthemums 

 and Orchids. 



The best books previous to Evelyn's " Sylva " are 

 Gervase Markham's " Country House- Wife's Garden," 

 (1617), and John Parkinson's " Paradisus in Sole " 

 (1629). 



One word more on the subject of flower mania. The 

 rage for the Tulip that attacked both English and 

 Dutch in the late Seventeenth Century is one of the 



103 



