www.gothicandvictoriangardening.com

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The heyday of Gothic styles in architecture was about 1180-1500 or possibly 1550ish in some regions.

Gothic styles – and the movement was above all architectural – became increasingly ornate and elaborate after about 1380-1400. The style was most fully developed in Northern and Central Europe – France, Britain, Central Europe (as far east as Transylvania) – and also parts of Italy, Spain and Portugal. Key features included: flying buttresses to support the walls and roofs. This allowed for large stained glass windows. Another key feature was the pointed arch (as opposed to the round arch inherited from ancient Rome); also large areas devoted to the choir, screens shutting off the choir and sancturary from the nave; spire (on top of towers).

Gothic architecture (except perhaps at the end, when it became playful) tended to make churches dark and mysterious places of awe, sometimes even with a whiff of the uncanny.

In painting, ‘Gothic’ art sometimes tended to be two-dimensional.

Note that the term ‘Gothic’ was first used after about 1530 and meant something like ‘barbaric’.

From about 1770 onwwards there was a ‘Gothic revival’, with Gothic and pseudo-Gothic styles again popular. Two outstanding examples in Britain are the Houses of Parliament and St Pancras Station.

BelladonnaAtropa belladonna, named in part after the Greek fate Atropos, the inflexible one who cuts the thread of life. This mysterious plant is the embodiment of beauty and love. “…a moving old picture, death and love it represented”.Belladonna, from the Italian, refers to the wide-eyed, dreamy gaze evoked by the “Witch’s Cherry Juice.”
Italian courtesans dissolved the drug atropine in water then instilled drops into their eyes, dilating their pupils to heighten sensuality. In modern ophthalmology, atropine is used for pupil dilation during eye examinations
.Romans dedicated the plant to the Goddess Bellona, whose priests drank the juice of the berry before sacred rites connected with her worship.
When Christianity became the dominant religion, the Goddess Bellona was discarded and the plant changed from Bellona’s Herb to Belladonna. Ostensibly a reference to the Virgin Mary, the French scholar Jules Michelet believed that belladonna had been named after the “good women,” that being the wisewomen and witches.

Also known as Deadly Nightshade, this perennial produces a cherry size fruit, blue black in colour. Its purple juice is intensely sweet; a deadly temptation for children.
The wines of the Bacchanalian orgies were infusions of psychoactive plants including Belladonna. The plant was used in many Hexen recipes throughout Germany and France.

Please do not grow this plant if you have young children or pets.It was said that Atropa was attended by the Devil himself, who cared for the “Enchanters Nightshade” throughout the year, except Walpurgis Night (November 1) when he returns to the mountain in honour of the Witches’ Sabbat.

The Victorian style provided for  a garden of seclusion
and natural beauty, a created
segment of nature.

A good Victorian garden  would have a luxurious
lawn and in addition, flower beds,trees and shrubs.

Shrubbery and flowering plants came into vogue in the
Victorian garden as people began to recognize the
 beauty and wonder of nature  and wanted
 a closer union with it.

The terrace walk was incorporated into the more
 intimate house gardens.
The walk was generally  a paved area between house
and the garden beyond.

 The Victorians had started to enjoy nature, it is true, and
they wanted a closer contact with plants
 but they still wanted some remnant
 of separation between themselves and the
 unknown, and the terrace provided
 this.

As the Victorian period continued,
the appreciation of plants and flowers flourished.
People wanted to have growing things
inside as well as outside and therefore
the conservatory became very popular.
One of the most important things was
that the middle-class people,
could now afford glass.

Generally the greenhouse was outside
of the home, but solariums were also
added to many homes. Cast iron became
very popular and trellises were often
made of it.

Trelliage was immensely popular. 
Repton claimed to have reintroduced
this gardening element, and he used wood as
well as cast iron.It was thought then as it is now, that trelliage
does for a garden, what icing
does for a cake:     it makes it!

 

 I really don’t think that the appeal for black flowers  has
 anything to do with mourning flowers at funerals.
 I used to work in a flower shop, and we hardly ever got
asked for black flowers in a wreath.

I think the rich color and the soft and velvet feel of these
blossoms are what attract us. Many have lovely shadings
of burgundy and red, and are so elegant in their color
schemes, each petal seems to have a different texture.

The gardener’s desire for black in the garden, does not
stop with the flower color but also applies to foliage.
When thinking of that, who can overlook the wonderful
coleus” Inky Finger” and ” Black Dragon” .

Annuals also present some lovely and exciting black
flowers, there is;

Amaranth            ” Hopi Red Dye”
Cornflower          ” Black Gem’
Baby Blue Eyes  ” Pennie Black”
Poppy                  ” Black Peony”
Artropurpurea   ” Beefsteak Plant”
Scabiosa              ” Ace of Spades” and” Chile Black”
Strobilanthes     ”  Persian Shield”
Viola                   ” Bowles Black”

There are many many more, perennials, shrubs and other plants
that would also fit in  a Gothic Garden,  so if you would like to find
a few, just get in touch with me.

 Black Flowers are beguiling and bewitching, does that mean that
 we are under a spell?  Who knows?  

I don’t. do you

meet you on the dark side.

When you design your Gothic garden, remember
to include a few pumpkin seeds in your vegetable
patch.
Pumpkins were used as lanterns at Halloween
as the best containers for holding candles.
In Ireland and in northern parts of England, 
turnips were hollowed out to light the way of
late night travellers, so you may also want to
consider the lowly Rutabaga as a vegetable
 in your Gothic garden.

There were other plants associated with ill luck
or death, take for instance, cacti ( in Hungary)
lilacs, and any flower that is usually associated
with funerals, these being mostly chrysanthemums
and of course,lillies.
It is deemed unlucky ( I don’t know why!) to pick up flowers
that have fallen to the ground, and any flowers that bloom
out of season are considered to be “touched by the devil”
so you may want to keep a track of those, in your Gothic
garden!!

Black Dragon Coleus, is a must, for Gothic Gardens.

Since Alexander Dumas published ‘The Black Tulip’ in 1850  the
lure of black plants does not seem to have waned, although, as I
 have mentioned before, they are really not black
 but a very dark maroon.
 .

 You can let your imagination run riot
 with a Gothic garden theme as there
are no rules.

You could have a skull as an ornament,
or maybe many dark blooms planted together,
you can go wild and just enjoy your Gothic garden,
as gardening should not be a grave thing!

Meet you on the dark side!

Due to the Industrial Revolution, there was a great increase
in population, especially in urban areas and the wealthy
class that emerged were distinct in background from the
landowners who created the English gardens.

In a book printed in 1806, Humphrey Repton stated that the
four principles of landscape gardening should be;
1. The garden should display natural beauty but hide natural defects.

2. The garden should give the appearance of freedom by disguising
    or hiding boundaries.

3. The garden should carefully conceal every interference of art,
    making the whole look as if it were totally produced by nature.

4. The garden should have no objects of mere convenience or
    comfort.

It is interesting to note that these principles went against the
views of ” Capability Brown“, the reigning horticultural planner
of the Victorian garden.

Mr Brown, operated on a grand scale, he said that his work was
done  with a poet’s feeling and a painter’s eye. 
He was the master garden artist, under his influence parklike
gardens abounded, and he liked to incorporate lakes and hills
into his designs.

However Mr Reptons idea was to take the idea of a garden park
and miniaturize it, making it every person’s own floral and
foliage display.

John Claudius Loudon , a Scot, with his wife, published the
Suburban Gardener( 1838) for many years the bible of the new
and rapidly rising middle class.
It was becoming clear that the garden was no longer the exclusive
domain of the privileged few, but the delight of the middle class.

The flowering gardens in present day London and its suburbs,
owe a great deal to this one man.

 A typical Victorian Garden of yesteryear, would have  a green
 lawn, shrubs appropriately placed for mass
 and dimension, and an incredible array of
 walls, levels, and steps all combined to
 create a pleasant scene.

Unlike the peasant garden, the gardens of the landowners,
or gentry, were very formal with box hedges, straight lines,
stone paths, and many with wonderful statues depicting
the gods of ancient times.

They would also have fountains with water flowing into a lake or pond.
They were considered by some to be classic with their order and discipline.

When the more romantic influence came into being,
plants were considered to affect us emotionally,
and the cottage garden was born out of this movement.

One of the most famous cottage gardens was designed
by the French impressionist painter Claude Monet.
The cottage gardens with their abundance of roses,
growing over fences, and their vine-covered arbors
with flowers climbing towards the sun, are now emulated in North
America.

Their informal style of tall wonderful perennials battling it out
for space in the back of the borders, creating a profusion of
textures and substance, and the smaller plants in the front
of the borders determined to lift their heads to the sun,
not to be outdone by their taller cousins, all this creates
a palette of color, that would be very hard to outdo.

The other advantage to having this kind of garden
is that it reduces the amount of weeds that grow,
as the branching out of the plants hides the sun from
getting through to the ground and therefore snuffs
out the chances of weeds germinating.

To create a cottage garden, don’t be afraid to plant
seeds close together as this creates the effect you
are looking for. Go for a variety of shapes.
Plant feathery plants amidst spiky ones; use bold leaf
plants with delicate ones. Put a sprawling plant next to an upright one.

The best rule of thumb is to plant tall at the back
and short in the front of your borders.

In most cases, try to plant in odd numbers of three, five, etc
and in very large borders try groupings of up to seven or nine
of the same plant. This method gives depth and structure to your borders.

Also keep foliage in mind. Some gardeners say that foliage
is more important than blooms, but the sight of colored blossoms
nodding in the breeze and turning their faces up to the sun
can be more satisfying.

In the end it all comes down to personal taste, but whether
you like straight line gardening, formal gardening, or cottage gardening,
get your hands dirty and have fun.

oh to be in England!

If you would like to scare the neighbors try some of these in your Gothic garden.

Tomatoes that are black!  ’ Black Krim”Black Prince”Southern Nights’, they are
really a very dark red, but I like them and they taste great!
They are also quite a showstopper in the garden.   They are from Russia.
I believe that the reason they are so dark  ,is  they retain the green
pigment even as they develop their ripe red color, hence the hint of black.

There are also other vegetables with a dark side, take the lettuce for
 example;
There is a hybrid’ Iris’ that looks almost black, and then there is
an Oriental green called ” Tatsoi”, with black-green leaves.

I did read that red tinted lettuce is the most nutritious.

How about bell peppers?  
Try ‘Purple Beauty’  and “the ornamental pepper called ‘Black Prince’,
this one is a bit spicier in flavor, but it has lovely black-purple foliage.

In the herb garden there is a delicious variety of basil called’ Dark Opal’
Its leaves are purple and it is delicious in salads or soups.

In the ‘olden days’ many supposed to be witches, put many interesting
ingredients in their soup, such as;

‘eye of newt’  or ‘bats ears’ , these names were given to medicinal herbs.
The Witches would use these herbs in concotions that would supposedly
heal anyone of their diseases and afflictions.
It seems strange that in this day and age, many scientists are researching
the same herbs and plants to verify their validity in todays medicines.

meet you on the dark side!

 I just love ” Buddleias” in all colors , but for my Gothic garden I chose ” Black Night” with it’s blue black flowers, and this plant attracts Butterflys, with it’s lovely fragrance.
There are also ornamental plants that have a sinister appeal, Black Mondo grass is another favorite for the garden , it gives quite a dramatic effect, Nigrescnes is not actually a grass, it has purple-black leaves and small pink flowers, which are followed by glossy black berries.

 The Ornamental Sweet Potato has a lovely cultivar called “Blackie” , this Gothic plant, has black leaves and stems. I use it extensively in my hanging baskets and containers, or you may use it on a trellis or garden arbor. You can sit under your arbor and enjoy the lovely leaves that cascade down, from this plant.

 The last plant, but not the least, is Carpet Bugle. It has a  variety called “Royalty” which has midnight purple leaves and can be used as a ground cover.

It is hardy enough for the dead to walk on it!!

‘meet you on the dark side.