People, Plants & Gardens in Colonial British America: Gardens

Showing posts with label Gardens. Show all posts

Monday, July 20, 2020

The humble picket fence

In front of our house, we asked the contractor to build a simple, white picket fence to separate the little garden area from all the woods around us. The contractor was skeptical, "But they are so much work to maintain." That is true, but they make such a perfect, orderly, geometric backdrop for the wild, uncontrollable gifts of Nature. These photos of picket fence gardens fueled our aspirations.

Holding on to The Sweet Divine - The Lord God took man & put him in the Garden of Eden to work it & to keep it. Genesis 2:15

Friday, July 17, 2020

Travel Dreams & Memories - Metal & Clay Garden Cloches

Chelsea Physic Garden

Monticello's version of a clay cloche

Terracotta rhubarb

A bell-shaped terracotta rhubarb forcer with lid, about 13" high

I have been taken to task by one of my friends for being politically incorrect in my biased presentation of glass cloches. He is correct, of course. The only fair thing to do here is show you the other types of cloches from the 17th, 18th, & 19th centuries, some still in use today. They do deserve equal time. In this political season, this is my attempt at trying to be "fair & balanced."

Handmade terra-cotta cloches have existed nearly as long as the blown-glass examples. They often have ventilation holes to prevent spoilage from excessive heat & humidity.

Gardeners often used terra-cotta cloches slow the growth of lettuce.

Terre cotta rhubarb pots at Knightshayes Garden, Tiverton, Devon, England

Other terra-cotta cloches, often about 30" high & similar in shape to chimney pots, were used for forcing rhubarb. Some of these had lids.

Barnsdale Gardens, Exton, Oakham, Rutland, England.

Gardeners also used metal-framed glass cloches during the period.

In metal-framed cloches, one of the glass panes could be removed by the gardener for fresh air ventilation. Sometimes gardeners temporarily would paint the glass white to shade tender plants from direct sunlight.

Audley End Kitchen Garden, English Heritage, Essex, England

Today, these architectural tents or pavilions are more often employed for decorative purposes.

I found only one depiction of a completely metal cloche made in France about 1900.

Let me close by admitting what you surely already realize, I just love those plain, bell-shaped glass cloches...

Very clever make-do cloches. Lined basket food covers.

Friday, July 3, 2020

19C Women & Gardens - American Robert Lewis Reid (1862-1939)

Robert Lewis Reid (American artist, 1862-1939) Pond Lilies

Robert Lewis Reid (1862-1939), was born in Massachusetts. He attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; in 1884 he moved to New York to study at the Art Students League, and a year later he sailed for Paris to study at the Julian Academy, returning to New York in 1889.