Re: Names, Tractor Tires and Bedsteads

Claire,

<< To carry it one step further, I visited a garden in the south of England
 where an Union Jack was planted on the grounds.  One could view it from
 aircraft or not having that advantage there was a berm with a platform
 viewing area which was part of the garden.  It was the pride and joy of the
 owner. >>

Very traditional. The Elizabethan and Stuart knot gardens were designed
specifically to be seen from above, and were sited accordingly in relation to
the windows of adjacent architecture and "mounts". These "mounts" were the
berms of the time--although they are a a survival from the Middle Ages--and
were artificial hills fitted out with stairs and often railings and seats.
They were putatively created for several abstract philosophical reasons as
well as from the need to use up the dirt excavated from fortifications, etc.
One climbed them and looked down on the knots and geometrically arrranged
gardens, which often reproduced decorative forms from the architecture. They
grew a lot of irises, too, including Susiana in pots.

These knot gardens, it could be argued, are the direct ancestors of
 Victorian bedding out, a practice now associated with public parks on the
Continent--and Walta's beds, of course. The tradition of overlooking the
scenery is even older.

Anner Whitehead, Richmond, VA
Henry Hall henryanner@aol.com
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