Romantic and Historic 
background of ... 
OLD ENGLISH BOXWOOD 
TVTO plant grown has a greater wealth of history and tradition 
-L * than Old English Boxwood. It has been used for countless 
generations to ornament the most beautiful gardens of Europe and 
America. It was known and used along the Mediterranean Sea 
before the Christian Era; the Bible makes specific reference to 
boxwood; the poetry and legends of many countries are punctu¬ 
ated with descriptions of its heavy foliage or delicately dis¬ 
tinctive odor. Down through the years, this magnificent plant 
has been used in the unbelievably beautiful gardens of the past 
to add an indescribable dignity and charm that no other orna¬ 
mental shrub could give. 
A planting of Canterbury Maryland Boxwood will be an un¬ 
limited source of enjoyable speculation about the romantic past 
from which these plants are directly descended. Who can tell 
but that the great-great-grandfather of those densely foliaged. 
perfectly formed little plants you’ve selected for the corner of 
your garden wall, was one of the glorious specimens that grew 
in Pliny’s terraced gardens bordered with boxwood carved into 
living statues overlooking the azure blue Tuscan Sea. Perhaps 
they trace their lineage to the legend of Saint Phocas, the patron 
saint of all gardeners, who dug his own grave in the center of 
his peaceful boxwood garden and then calmly offered himself 
to the Roman soldiers sent by the Emperor to kill him. 
Queen Isabella of Spain received Columbus upon his return 
from his voyage of discovery in the New World in one of the 
elaborate, box-bordered gardens of the castle. And it was in this 
same boxwood garden that Philip the Second, after having failed 
to conquer England, cunningly planned the Inquisition. 
Canterbury Maryland Boxwood will reconstruct for you, 
mind pictures of Italy during the Renaissance, when magnifi¬ 
cent gardens were planned and planted with infinite care and 
the greatest sculptors of the day, Benvenuto Cellini and Michael 
Angelo, carved living boxwood into statues of nymphs, dolphins, 
dragons and hundreds of other intricate figures. 
Possibly your plants are descended from some which grew 
Notice how the low boxwood edging in the foreground 
makes a perfect setting for the flowers and the 
brick wall beyond it. 
