Fragrant flowers 2010

Out of the Wilds and Into Your Garden

Fragrant Flowers
for Victorian Gardens
C.M. Vadheim and T. Drake
CSUDH & Madrona Marsh Preserve

Madrona Marsh Preserve
Gardening with Western L.A. County Native Plants April 3rd & 6th, 2010
Project SOUND - 2010
© Project SOUND © Project SOUND

What is it about a grandmother’s garden? What was the Victorian Era?

http://jmackey68.wordpress.com/2008/12/10/breaking-
http://jerseycoins.com/pictures/QueenVictoria.jpg news-victoria-dead/

 Period of Queen Victoria’s reign in England - 1837-1901
http://www.intaglio-fine-art.com/images/trc232.jpg
 Time of great change in both Europe & N. America
Victorian Style Garden

1

What was different about the Victorian What was different about the Victorian
period? period?
 The Industrial Revolution  Increased
communication
 Period of intense innovation –
lots of inventions  Books (including
 More people live in/near urban novels) & magazines
areas – 6% to > 50% by 1900 in
U.S.  Fairs, shows &
exhibitions
 Growing Middle Class

 More leisure time, particularly
 Public parks –
for middle class women demonstrate the
latest styles in
 Mass production – of many
landscape
things; cheap, available
reproductions of many styles architecture
http://www.philadelphia-reflections.com/images/indust.jpg

http://www.victorianflowergarden.com/images/walthamstow01.html

Victorian books and magazines served as What was different about the Victorian
sources of inspiration period?
 Commerce with
‘foreign lands’
 Styles from other
lands influenced
culture (Oriental
influence)

 Increased interest in
the scientific and
http://www.iaaf-treasures.com/images/blue-white-tea-set.JPG natural worlds

 Plants & seeds –
including those from
1840 print – Jane
CA, tropics
Webb Loudon
London


2

There were actually many different
architectural styles in the Victorian era

http://www.you-are-here.com/victorian/house.html

 Many harked back to earlier, grander times (Georgian; Greek)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a9/Henry_Treffry_Dunn_Rossetti_and_Dunton_at_16_Cheyne_Walk.jpg
 Most were quite ornate – ornamentation was a big thing!
 The Queen Anne/Eastlake Style was most popular in S. CA –
The Victorian Era saw an enormous change in the lifestyles of Americans. With new ‘Gingerbread Houses’, ‘Painted Ladies’
opportunities, wealth began to accumulate and the era of exaggeration began.

Examples from
Victorian Los San Pedro
Angeles
 Even more modest homes
had lots of quirky details
 Note also the large
porches – outdoor living

http://doves2day.blogspot.com/2009/06/victorian-los-angeles-part-two.html

© Project SOUND http://www.laokay.com/SanPedroVictorians.htm © Project SOUND

3

Gardening became wildly popular in the
Places to see Victorian houses in S. CA
Victorian era
 Gardening became
 Angelino Heights widely popular due in
(Echo Park) – part to:
Carroll Ave.  new technologies (lawn
 ‘Heritage Square’ mower & other garden
tools)
 San Pedro/
Wilmington  more diverse plant stock
 the rise of the middle
 Heritage Court / class
Redondo Beach
Historical Museum  the invention of suburban
http://www.jforti.com/VictorianGarden.jpg
living.
 Hollywood
 Redlands and But the number one reason gardening became popular was
Riverside the increase in the amount of leisure time the middle class
could devote to it.

Victorians viewed their gardens
differently than we do…
 for the Victorian gardener, the
goal was to create unified
‘home grounds’ where house,
garden and nature all worked
together as one;

 to furnish a beautiful setting
for relaxation and social
entertainment;
 Perhaps the most distinguishing element of S. CA Victorian  and to provide a productive,
gardens, especially when compared to today, is the way in yet esthetically pleasing source
which the house and the garden acted as a single unit.
of fresh fruits and vegetables
 In a Victorian garden, you sense immediately that the for the home.
landscape embraces the architecture, linking it to the land,
like a rose gently twinning up a delicate arbor. http://www.countryliving.com/cm/countryliving/images/Vegetable-Garden-
GARDEN0805-de.jpg

4

To Victorians, gardens had individual rooms The Victorian garden was an
(much like a house) extension of the house…

 Victorian gardens were  Views were framed and expanded,
used daily, intensively, paths deliberately curved to hide
and their design their ends, beds of scented
flowers located at unexpected
reflected that use http://www.rcgc.org/GardenTour.html
turns, all to delight and distract
the passerby.
 Gardens were laid out to
hold something in  In the way we might value our TV
reserve, to encourage a or stereo, gardens were sources
sense of exploration and or relaxation and entertainment
mystery. in a much quieter age.

http://www.city-gardens.net/images/gallery/edwardian_large_1.jpg © Project SOUND http://www.mobot.org/hort/images/tours/vict1.jpg © Project SOUND

The garden and house reflected the As is often the case, Victorian gardens
exuberance of the era !!!!! reflected a rebellion against the ‘old style’
 The landscape designs of
Victorian homes reflected
the new ornamental
lifestyle found inside as
well as out.
 Colors were bold and
vibrant and at times mixed
with little heed or
restraint.
 At the end of the Victorian
era, people were ready for
a change back to simpler,
more naturalistic
landscapes

http://bigorangelandmarks.blogspot.com/2008/08/no-176-1321-carroll-avenue-residence.html © Project SOUND © Project SOUND

5

Gardenesque movement (1832 to 1880s) Early Victorian gardens were very formal

http://www.sbg.org.uk/images/gardenareas/mixedborder.jpg
http://www.brambledown.com/cms/public/Botanical1%20LG.jpg

 John Claudius Loudon
 Style of planting design that moved away from the picturesque English
Landscape movements and the obsession with natural form and movement.
 It relied on non-native plants and exotics, displaying them individually in beds http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/p2EJDEqFF7Lyk6wXSBhz0Q
so they were able to develop their true shape and could be admired from all
angles.  Parterres (gardens divided into rectangular sections) satisfied the
 The garden designs were based on abstract shapes with specimen plants that Victorian need for traditional rectangular geometric forms and
were intended to be admired for their unique attributes strong axial designs.

I know what you’re thinking: my garden is
small too

http://www.waddesdon.org.uk/plan_your_visit/garden.htm

 The Victorian gardener's motto might have been something
like "man's conquest over elements of the natural world." This
control might be most apparent in the propagation of lawns.
http://www.cggardendesigns.net/page3.htm

6

Victorian gardens came in all sizes… Eight elements of the Victorian Garden
 Though it was a time of
excess (and not all 1. Lawn
homeowners possessed
such self-restraint), the
landscape designs were
2. Trees
usually in keeping with 3. Shrubs
the size and
architectural design of
the house. 4. Fencing
 A smaller home would not 5. Ornaments
have a yard filled with
gardens, instead choosing 6. Seating
one modestly grand
grouping of shrubbery 7. Flowers
http://www.davidcheethamgardens.co.uk/html/projects/FormalVictorianFrontGarden/images/TS_detail4.JPG
and flowers and a row of
modest shrubbery along 8. Vines
The key elements of Victorian gardens the fence border.
can be used in any size garden http://gaeun.net/read.cgi?board=board-37b&y_number=10&nnew=1


 If you accept the Victorian metaphor of
But the lawns the landscape as a series of distinct
outdoor rooms - with the hardscaping
forming the “walls”, “floors”, and
were more… “doorways,” - it’s easy to visualize
ornamenting the room with “furniture”
(trees and shrubs) and “carpets” (lawns).
 For Victorians, a good lawn was required to
provide a verdant canvas upon which to
show off the principal decorations of the
garden — the trees, shrubs and flowers
that were the true heart of the garden.
The fact that the lawn also made a perfect
surface for entertainment was a happy
bonus.
 Placement of the lawn was a fairly easy: like
http://www.jforti.com/designs.html
a fine rug, it was simply laid down to adorn
the empty spaces between major structural
 Most houses had at least one large expanse of lawn uninterrupted by elements of the landscape. Placement of
garden beds or tree groupings to give a good view of the house from the “furniture” however – the trees, shrubs
the road or vice-versa. and flowers of the garden - was a much
more complicated proposition, and Victorian
 The large expanses of lawn on estates were trimmed by gang mowers, gardening books go to great lengths in
drawn by horses. The push mower, for more modest lawns, was describing the proper ways to “ornament
patented during Victoria's reign. the lawn.”

7

Trees in Victorian gardens were practical
& ornamental (like furniture) Larger shrubs/trees for Victorian Gardens:
interesting foliage, habit, etc,
 Trees were used to shade important
parts of the house where direct sun
was unwelcome (dining room; veranda).  Ceanothus species
 Trees were also used to frame the  Western Redbud - * Cercis occidentalis
approach to the house or important  Desert Willow - * Chilopsis linearis
views. In the city, trees were planted  Summer Holly - Comarostaphylis diversifolia
along the street to aid in privacy.
 CA Flannelbush - * Fremontodendron californicum
 Weeping trees and those with  Silk Tassels - * Garrya species
interestingly colored or shaped leaves
were popular and placed strategically  Toyon - Heteromeles arbutifolia
to draw the eye -.often could walk  Island Mallow - Lavatera assurgentiflora
around them to fully appreciate them  Catalina Ironwood - Lyonothamnus floribundus
 Depending upon climate, one might  Torrey Pine - * Pinus torreyana
http://www.hgtv.com/landscaping/dream-landscape-
2009/pictures/index.html collect exotic trees and "display" them  Blue Elderberry - Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea
as part of the lawn decor.
Exotic plants might even be
labeled, like in a botanic garden © Project SOUND © Project SOUND

* California Buckeye – Aesculus californica * California Buckeye – Aesculus californica
 Foothills from L.A. county north to OR
 Locally in San Gabriel & Liebre mtns
 On dry slopes, canyons and the borders of
streams in many plant communities including
chaparral, oak woodland, pine woodland

http://wolf.mind.net/swsbm/Maps/Aesculus_californica.gif

http://www.calfloranursery.com/images/pics/a_b/aesculus_californica_flower.jpg
http://www.landscaperesource.com/litterbox/images/plants/img_5873web.jpg

8

Hippocastanaceae (Horse-chestnut Family) CA Buckeye is a deciduous shrub/tree
 ?? Should it be a separate family –  Size:
some lump into Sapindaceae  12-20+ ft tall (40 ft. max. in
favorable sites)
 Small family (3 genera/15 species)
of deciduous trees and shrubs  15-30 ft wide

 Temperate to tropical: Asia  Growth form:
(Himalayas to Japan, China), SE  Tree-like or shrub-like – has multiple
Europe, North America, also
Central and South America (Billia) main trunks
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/potd/2007/01/aesculus_californica.php
 Very sculptural – elegant even without
 Includes Horse-chestnuts, Red & leaves
Yellow Buckeyes
 Shape - mounded
 All have palmate leaves, showy
flowers and large, heavy seeds  Foliage:
 Bright to medium green leaves; fall-
 Some cultivated ornamentals, deciduous
notable horse-chestnut (Aesculus  Palmate leaves typical for family
hippocastanum) which is widely
planted in temperate regions.  All parts toxic if ingested

© Project SOUND
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Aesculus_californica  Roots: re-sprouts from stem SOUND
© Project

Flowers are fabulous!! Fruits & seeds are
 Blooms: spring to summer -
very large!!
usually May-July in our area
 Fruits are leathery/ tough,
 Flowers: pear-shaped
 Pale pink (sometimes white)
 Splits open in winter to release
 Densely packed on flowering
the seed
stems – extremely showy
 Sweetly scented  Seeds are very large (1-2
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Aesculus_californica

 Very old-fashioned look – inches in diameter)
excellent for Victorian Style
 Seeds will readily germinate –
gardens
not difficult to grow from seed
http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/aesculus-californica
 Beneficial insects (including
native bees), butterflies and  Ground squirrels may bury the
their larvae, Hummingbirds are seeds, which they can eat
attracted to nectar
 Seeds high in saponins – can be
used for soap – toxic to eat
© 2006 Christopher L. Christie

9

 Soils: CA Buckeye is perfectly at
Plant Requirements  Texture: any from sandy to
home in a Victorian Garden
heavy clay
 pH: any local, including acidic
 As an accent plant with its showy
 Light: flowers and attractive branch
 Full sun best in most gardens structure (light it a night for
 Will take light shade or some night accent)
afternoon shade
 As a small shade tree
 Water: http://www.laspilitas.com/nature-of-california/plants/aesculus-californica

 Winter: needs adequate water  In the scented garden – sweet
 Summer: needs to be summer dry scent
once established – Zone 1 or 1-2;
 Thrives on dry slopes & hillsides –
susceptible to S.O.D.
great for binding soil
 Fertilizer: none needed; likes poor
soils, but can tolerate light fertilizer  Good hummingbird plant
and organic mulch
 Don’t plant near apiaries – will kill
 Other: prune to shape when the European honey bees and
dormant (winter) or leave alone honey made from nectar is toxic

Victorians loved their ‘specimen plants’ – Toxic plants and Victorian Gardens
usually used as accents
 Probably due to
several factors:
 Inclusion of
medicinal plants in
home gardens –
many toxic
http://picasaweb.google.com/seedbyte/GreenAlchemyPlantImages#
 Love for exotics –
including those from
distant lands

http://michaelweishan.com/gardenblog/?p=830

R.A. Howard @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

10

The ‘Plant Hunters’ Victorians were collectors of curiosities…
 The interest in ferns began in
 The Victorian period was the late 1830s when the
the golden era of plant British countryside attracted
collecting. increasing numbers of amateur
and professional botanists
 There was a desire for (male and female).
exploration and  People of many different
discovery and Victorian social backgrounds sought out
plant hunters were the species and varieties
botanical adventurers described in the fern
who risked life and limb identification books to press
http://www.darwincountry.org/explore/000529.html

the fronds in albums or to
to bring back exotic  The English Victorians had a great
collect fern plants to grow in
plants from around the passion for ferns and this passion
was expressed by collecting them, their gardens or homes.
world. growing them and making a wide
range of 'ferny' decorative objects  Some ferns were,
in pottery, glass, metals, textiles, unfortunately, collected out of
wood, printed paper, stone and other
materials. existence
Sir Joseph Banks

The Stumpery * Lewis’ Mock Orange – Philadelphus lewisii
 Originating in the English romantic
period in the 19th century, a stumpery
is a garden whose structure is based on
tree stumps.

 Quite characteristic of its era, it's a
perfect example of the Victorians'
romanticized and exaggerated sense of
nature

© Br. Alfred Brousseau, Saint Mary's College
http://goldenagegardens.blogspot.com/2008_05_01_archive.html

11

Lewis’ Mock Orange – Philadelphus lewisii Mock Orange: a large
deciduous shrub
 Western N. America from
British Columbia to CA  Winter deciduous
 Northwestern California,  Size:
Cascade Range, Sierra Nevada  usually 4-8 ft tall; can be taller,
particularly in shady sites
 Previously split into several  8-10 ft wide
variants (lots of floral and
foliage variability) – now just  Growth form:
considered all one species  Naturally a loose, informal shrub
with down-curving, ‘fountain-like’
 Named for : branches
 Can be pruned to be much more
 the Egyptian king Ptolemy dense: hedge
Philadelphus
 Foliage: simple; lovely woodsy green
 the scientist-explorer (reminds you of OR woods)
Meriwether Lewis, who first
discovered and collected it  Roots: will spread, particularly with
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?5602,5609,5610
during his exploration of the regular water – may want to contain
Louisiana Purchase
 Quick-growing

http://www.baynatives.com/plants/Philadelphus-lewisii/

Mock Orange has always been grown for Mock Orange is very easy to grow -
it’s wonderful flowers  Soils: literally any soil, even clay and
alkali soils

 Blooms: usually May to July; long  Light:
bloom period with hundreds of  best flowering and form in full sun;
blooms
 bright/dappled shade is ok (particularly
 Flowers: in very hot gardens)
 Showy, white in clusters
 Very intense fragrance like that of  Water:
orange blossoms
 Fragrance will perfume entire yard;
 Winter: anything goes; even takes
may want to plant back in garden some winter flooding
 Summer:
 Bee pollinated: a great plant for
© 2003 Christopher L. Christie
 Does best with moderate to regular
native bee pollinators
water; every other week as needed
Mock Orange is the Idaho state  Seeds: relatively large; can in summer
flower propagate from seed (needs a cold  Fairly drought tolerate – but will
treatment – stratification – for best lose leaves
germination)
http://www.cwnp.org/photopgs/pdoc/phlewisii.html
 Fertilizer: none needed; organic
mulches probably a good idea

12

Some interesting facts about Mock Orange Mock Orange in the garden

 Was a favorite shrub in Victorian
 Widely used as a medicinal: gardens
 Dried powdered leaves & bark used  Excellent habitat plant:
to rub on sores & swollen joints hummingbirds, small birds,
 Decoction use for soaking skin butterflies, bees
conditions
 In a woodland garden
 Leaves and flowers contain saponins
– make a natural soap  Along streams, ponds
 Stems used in basket-making  As a large shrub; nice specimen
 Hard wood used for combs, knitting plant in fragrance garden
needles, digging sticks and tool
handles  For informal hedges, screens

 Deer, rabbits and squirrels eat this
http://www.wsu.edu/~lohr/wcl/PhiladelphusLewisii.jpg

plant, particularly young plants/  Cultivars for CA: 'Goose Creek' &
foliage
Leave it natural, prune to shape 'Marjorie Schmidt’
Gladys Lucille Smith © California Academy of Sciences or cut back 1/3 of branches
when dormant to rejuvenate

Functional
spaces

 Clotheslines, work
sheds or any other
http://www.craftsman-style.info/garden/arbor.htm
functional spaces were
kept hidden from the
view from the road
and front drive.
 These spaces were set
http://www.visitcumbria.com/sl/fellfoot.htm
off by groups of
shrubbery, trees,
 Fell Foot Park and Garden - a typical late Victorian garden of vines & trellises.
rhododendrons, oaks and pines. Closer to Edwardian in feel.

http://2bnmaine.com/blog/2008/06/

13

Vines & climbers Native Honeysuckles,
were used by Clematis, Morning-
Victorians glories

 Vines of all types were
used as decoration and to
http://www.frwhs.org/zimmerman_restoration.html
hide "unsightly" features,
such as fences and tree
stumps.
 Vines could also be
trained up the side of a
porch to ward off the
sun.
Lonicera hispidula
http://brookegiannetti.typepad.com/.a/6a00e554d7b8278833010537137d54970b-500wi

 Shrubs were often planted so
Shrubs often played that each one would stand on
….but not always
utilitarian roles… its own rather than blending
together.
 A variety of plants were
 Shrubs were used mainly chosen for uniqueness in
for delineating property blossom, shape or variety – like
lines or marking paths. objects of art.
 The point was the showiness
http://www.beaudrydesign.com/portfolio-7.php
 They might also be used to and uniqueness of individual
hide an "unsightly" wooden plants. The goal seemed to be
fence or house foundation, to find that special specimen
http://www.linseysgardens.com/port_osh.asp

that no other could find.
or used to frame doorways
or bay windows.  Popular shrubs for Victorian
gardens included: Azalea,
 It was popular to mix the Ceanothus, Holly, Hydrangea,
Rose, Lilac, Forsythia,
species of shrubs. Andromeda, Barberry, Peony, &
Nightshades.
http://2bnmaine.com/blog/2008/06/

14

Purple Nightshade – Solanum xanti Purple Nightshade – Solanum xanti

 Southwestern U.S. to Baja

 In CA, foothills west of
Sierras and desert foothills

 In coastal sage scrub or
chaparral usually

 ITIS recognizes several
subspecies – Jepson does
not
http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_JM_treatment.pl?7625,7682,7701

 Also called Chaparral
Nightshade, Blue Witch


Purple Nightshade – adaptable to conditions
Purple Nightshade – old-fashioned perennial
or sub-shrub  Size:
 2-4 ft tall
 2-4 ft wide

 Growth form:
 Perennial or sub-shrub – base
becomes woody
 Mounded to sprawling – depends
a bit on light
 Branchs thin, herbaceous

 Foliage: all parts toxic if eaten
 Bright to medium green
 Leaves simple

 Roots: taproot but also spreads
some via rhizomes (not invasive –
more likely to spread via seed)
http://www.delange.org/NiteshadeChaparral/NiteshadeChaparral.htm


15

Fragrant flowers 2010

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

More from cvadheim

More from cvadheim (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Fragrant flowers 2010