Strewing Herbs

Part of the purpose of a medieval and Elizabethan garden was to provide the household with strewing herbs. In medieval dwellings floors were carpeted with rushes, reeds or straw, for insulation and to provide bedding for members of the lower household. They also served to soak up spillages and dropped food. However, these floor coverings were only cleaned out and replaced once or twice a year, so to counteract the accumulated odours fragrant herbs were scattered (strewn) on top of them, releasing their scents when they were walked upon. Some of these herbs also acted as insect and pest repellants.

Elizabethan Nosegays

Nonsuch Palace by Joris Hoefnagel

A garden “shall contain the herbs and flowers used to make nosegays and garlands.”

The Country Farme, 1600

Nosegays or Tussie-Mussies are small bouquets of flowers and herbs that were attached to lady's bodices and to gentleman’s doublet or mantle. The term nosegay is derived from the Middle English gay, meaning bright object or ornament or gay in the sense of happiness or joy, literally meaning an ornament that brings joy to the nose. The word Tussie Mussie or tusemose is first mentioned in 1440 and is derived from the word tuse meaning knot of flowers and mose referring to the damp moss that was wrapped around the stems to prevent the flowers from drying out. (Tussie-Mussies: The Language of Flowers, Geraldine Adamich Laufer)

How To Plant A Shakespeare Garden

Anne Hathaway's Cottage Garden by Richard Peat CC BY-SA 2

In his collected works Shakespeare refers to over two hundred species of plants, with twenty-nine scenes taking place in gardens or in orchards. Shakespeare’s references to flowers and plants not only gave his plays a sense of place, like the Arden forest in As You Like It, the fairy forest of A Midsummer Night’s Dream or the rugged Scottish landscape of Macbeth. They also served as extended metaphors for human emotions and the human condition.

To honour the talents of the Bard why not create a Shakespeare inspired garden. Here are a few ideas on the how to do so.

Elizabethan Gardens

The Elizabethan garden followed in the tradition of the early medieval garden in that it was both functional and decorative. It provided food and medicine for the household as well as herbs and flowers for floor strewing and cloth dying.  The medieval garden also had a separate area for pleasure or for religious contemplation. It was referred to as a Hortus Conclusus, Latin for enclosed garden, or a Pleasaunce, a garden of delight. The Pleasaunce was a small secluded area for recreation, as Esther Singleton remarks in her book The Shakespeare Garden, it was literally a place of re-creation, a place to renew the body and refresh the mind and spirit.