Flower and Garden History

[ladymelissa]

Through the years, I have grown increasingly interested in the topic, and every era seems to have its own irreplaceable beauty. Are there any other fans out there?

Lately, I've been studying the gardens of the Georgian era mostly.
I sadly don't have an literal ones of my own yet, but the topic is insatiable. The theories and history are fascinating, and the aesthetics are gorgeous. A complete feast for the imagination and senses.

[Mme de Beaufort]

Being a gardener; I am always interested in what you have to share on this subject.

[ladymelissa]

The ha-ha served as a quintessential component of Georgian/Regency landscaping. Functioning as an invisible fence, this deep ditch literally separated livestock from the main property (that which contained the house) but provided landowners with a multitude of other benefits. Landowners could model their property after landscape paintings, thus increasing aesthetic value. Further, without the barriers of fences, the ha-ha enabled landscapes to go on indefinitely, a concept significant to Romantic values/goals .

[Mme de Beaufort]

I always wondered why they had ditches all over their properties. That explains it. Probably works very well as a flooding culvert too.

[ladymelissa]

The name seems so weird though; it doesn't fit. There are "fenses," but there literally isn't. The illusion is like a joke, a "ha-ha." (I think that's how the name came about; I'm not sure though.) To me, the name just doesn't fit. It just doesn't have a very "romantic"/"picturesque" kind of sound.

[Mme de Beaufort]

I suppose not. ::smirk:: But they do provide a romantic, pastoral view; so it's a trade off. Bad name, good function. ::LOL::

[hypothermya]

I adore learning more about historical gardens, orchards, mazes, and other related topics. I have to admit that I'm a bit biased towards Victorian greenhouses, since I cultivate carnivorous plants and it was during the Victorian trend of keeping greenhouses that the cultivation of Nepenthes reached an all time cultural high.

I'd love to know more, though, about Regency and other historical gardening practices.

By the way, were Ha-Has common in gardens that didn't necessitate keeping cattle away from the gardens?

[ladymelissa]

hypothermya -

Good question about the Ha-Has. I'm not completly sure on the answer. But I think the answer is yes and no. Garden protection ended up being their main function, but a Ha-Ha was used anywhere in place of a fence. Fences were a symbol of confinement. The Romantic Movement stemmed largely from the failure of the French Revolution, and many political and theological implications went along with the asthetic ones. No fences brought the landscape and the horizon closer to freedom and God. There were even anti-fence laws.

[ladymelissa]

hypotherma-

I'm really intrigued about Victorian gardening. I know nothing about Victorian greenhouses or Nepenthes. I would love to hear more!

[ladymelissa]

During the early Georgian era (pre-Regency), landscape gardening was based on the landscape paintings of Claude Lorrain (1600-1682). People wanted to become part of a painting, and they wanted to turn the temporal real-world into immortal art. The whole concept is so thought-provoking. It is just so wonderful.