or September after two sorts or waies first when it is set for physicall uses or for profit it is in beds in manner as you set Rosemary secondly when it is set for pleasure it is either in borders or knots and to see a knot set of Lavender-cotton drawn in a large scope of ground either division or in running draft-work done by the hand of an artificial workman and let grow to a foot high and half a foot a breadth being kept clipt evenly with a pair of shears is a rare prospect and casteth the pleasantest sight of all works of a Gardeners inventing and also this knot so planted and so kept will continue so twelve or fourteen years before the herb dieth Lavender-spike Sometimes called Spike I think it is altogether needless to write any description of it This herb is set of the slip only the best time for it is in the latter end of March in beds of good mould setting two chase in a bed each slip at half a foot distance and the bed of two foot and a half breadth it must be well watered at the first planting or else it will not take root but if it may be so ordered by July most of those slips will spindle up with a knapple like the Flower of Betony yeelding the pleasantest sent of all other herbs Lastly It is profitable to plant this herb for distilling and for other physicall uses and especially for oils which are of most vertues approbated to any pain or distemper of man which cometh by aches or old bruises Lavender-slip This herb which is known so well to be planted of the slip only with little labour but it yeeldeth more profit the fittest time for the planting of it is in the beginning of March so that it may take root before the dry weather cometh and it is also observed that the sooner of the year it is planted the longer it will continue before it decayeth For the planting of it though it be such an ordinary thing yet I have seen errors in it that is they plant it too thick for some I have seen plant three rows in a border of two foot and a half in breadth when one is enough therefore I advise those that set it to set but one each slip near half a foot asunder and also observe to twist the nether end of the slip Lemon-time I wonder that the Physicians have left this herb out of their Herbals considering that it is for severall uses as distilled for waters and a good pot-herb and nursed in Gardens also this forceth me to give a short description of it that they and you might be acquainted with it This herb is much like the pot-Marjerom in shape but little bigger in leaf and branch than the ordinary green Time and it spreadeth upon the ground sometimes taking root the colour of it is betwixt a light yellow and a green the sent of it is pleasant and sweet it beareth its Flower like the pot-Marjerom but never yeeldeth any seed it keepeth fresh all the year and never decayeth where it is planted of the slip which is taken from part of the root this may be done either in April or August the place is sometimes in beds by it self when it is planted for its use and others plant knots of it for pleasure and being kept clipt often and clean as Garden knots ought to be it out-lasteth the planter Mallows Or Garden-Mallows otherwise called Holihocks in the Treatise of Flowers I had an occasion to speak of the double kinds of Holihocks and of their severall kinds and colours how they are raised and planted for ority of the Garden of pleasure these Mallows that I prescribe here are single kinds and sown in the physicall Garden for physicall or kitchin uses The time of sowing is either in March or in August in a remote place or an out-border by reason of their high growth they would be unhandsome in the middle of a Garden therefore sow them against the pales or wall and they will prosper very well in any ordinary earth now note that seed which is sown in March seldome cometh to flower that year those that are sown in August come to flower the next summer at its naturall season which is in July and lastly note that Mallows spring four or five years and only loseth its branch in the winter and then it dieth March This herb is much like Parsly at the first coming up but of a darker green colour and of a stinking sent afterward it spreadeth into bushy branches never rising to above two foot high carrying of its leaves to the very top yeelding of its seed in like manner as the Parsly doth in shape and colour but much smaller and of as strong a sent as the herb the branch perisheth yearly and springeth again for three or four years and then dieth This herb is raised of the seed it is no great matter at what time for where it groweth as the seed sheddeth naturally so it cometh up again therefore the time cannot make much difference let the place be in a bed which is reserved for such like strong herbs as Rue Wormwood Featherfew Savin Southern-wood and Germander for these like herbs agree best together and are for the curing of desperate diseases but as is said if the seed be committed to the earth if it be but new and sound it will come up at its naturall season and your Garden will never be without it this may serve for the propagating of it Now I 'le describe some of the vertues of this herb my reason is this I have run my eye over Culpeppers Physician and other Herbals and I found that the name and description of this herb was not there and the vertue of it is so needfull and usefull that I must describe it viz. it cureth Fellons and Gangreens of the flesh applied Poultiss-way it preventeth in Cattell the Murrain and the Pestilence giving them a drench of it many more vertues it hath which I would wish both Physician and Patient to study how to know them Madrath Many long four square stalks trailing on the ground it hath something reddish and full of joynts whereout shoot forth long narrowish leaves rough and hairy betwixt them riseth Flowers pale and yellowish after they fade cometh small round heads green at the first and black afterwards wherein is contained the seed the root runneth down into the ground even four foot if it may have good earth so deep and spreadeth many waies also and are of a red colour This is planted of the root in March in manner as followeth First Provide a bed in a warm place for matter of foyl for it will endure any air now the bed being cast something high at three foot a breadth and good store of rotten dung under them then set the roots in manner and distance as was shown of Liquorish so done the Summer following it shooteth up with branches
dayes covering of it with a little straw to keep in the heat and at the third dayes end take off your straw and set some bended sticks over the bed then prick in your seeds at a handfull distance then cast a Mat on the top of your sticks this done you shall see your seed to come up the fifth day as I told you before Now take notice that you must give these plants some air once a day if the weather be warm this done you may transplant them in the middle of May into the out-borders of your Garden of pleasure there setting of them at half a foot distance and one chase in a border this done it will flower and the flower will keep fresh long on the stalk it seldome beareth seed in England without great care and industry I should speak much more of it but that it is of a tickle nature as to the alteration of it in germination which I have been informed by others and being not well acquainted with it I shall cease to give any arguments to the contrary and leave those experiments with you which are set down Angulshenelus It was never called by any other name I 'am not very well acquainted with this Flower and therefore I shall not affirm any thing of experience but take this description as I received it from a friend he saith this Herb or Flower whether you please to call it hath such a property that there is none like it viz. saith he when this Flower hath its seed full ripe in its self then if you go to it and touch it with your hand presently the Cod that the seed lyeth in breaketh whatever he be that toucheth it from the nature of this Flower viz. saith he I have gone to one that hath been counted for a Maid and I have desired her to touch the Cod wherein lay the seed of this Flower what if I should saith she why then saith he if you have lost your Maiden-head then this Cod will break at your touching of it she cannot believe that but boldly toucheth it then it breaketh and she is convinced of her fault and confesseth thinking the seed were sensible of her fact by this saith the Author I have found out my desire as to the knowing whether a woman hath lost her Maiden-head or not this I thought worthy of the reciting Now I will give you a description of it It is much like your purple valaren in shape but in colour of a whitish green the Flower being of a blewish colour it never groweth above a foot high and it flowreth in August and hath a hundred seeds in a Cod and it is much like Rose-campion seed It is raised of the seed in the Moneth April in the same manner and place as you do your Clove-gilliflowers as you may see hereafter and at the Moneths end it will be fit to be transplanted into the borders amongst orher Flowers or you may let it stand in the same beds if you please this done it will grow up and flower as aforesaid and when the winter cometh the top-top-branches dye and at the top of the root remaineth a small spring being well shelterd but be as carefull as you will the third year dyeth both root and branch saith the same Author Batchelors Buttons Descrip It is a Flower that runneth on the ground like Water cresses with stalks like Pease with a thick round furrey leaf like Balm but only it hath a bright green colour the Flower is a round double Flower of the colour of a white and red speckled Cornation but something less this Flower seldome leaveth any seed behind the branches of it dye when winter cometh and springeth again in the spring Now for the propagating of it if you have it not already in your Garden then you must procure slips of it not that it hath slips from the branches which may be set to grow but they must be such slips as have both root and branch and such are easie to be had where they are growing for they spread mightily in the ground now having got such slips as I told you of prepare a border either a border round a quarter of herbs or an out-border of your Garden as I told you in the former part of this Book then set your line at the uppermost part of the border then your slips a hands breadth asunder only one chase in a border for they encrease exceedingly this must be done in March or August those that were set in August will flower early but those that are set in the Spring will not flower till July or August those that are set in August will flower in May June and July now observe that as soon as they have done flowering you must cut off the top-branches with a pair of Garden-shears then it will spring presently after and take notice this Flower never groweth out of a Garden being once planted though the old stock dyeth yet it sendeth forth young shoots in its stead which causeth them to spread mightily and therefore if you will keep them in uniform manner you must transplant them once in two or three years as I directed you before Bee-Flower It is so called because it beareth a Flower in shape like a Bee whether I may properly call it a Flower or the seed I 'le not dispute but such a like thing in shape and colour it putteth forth at the time of seeding therefore I call it a Bee-Flower I shall cease to give you any further description of it because I think it not worth the labour If you have a desire to raise them if you can procure the seed it is easily done by sowing of them in good mould in the Spring time with other Flowers in borders or beds setting a mark where you sow them you shall see them come up with a sharp leaf and in June or July they bring forth seed and dye the same year I have spoken with some which have been mightily taken with this Flower Balm of Christ Or if you please the hand of Christ the Romans in former time were wont when they found any excellent Herb or Flower to dedicate it to their Saints and call it by their names so I conceive that the name of this Flower was derived from some Romish Author because it hath this title and indeed it is a great rarity to see a Flower representing the figure of a hand as this doth when it is in the fulness of its perfection it will be needless to describe it any further Now for the propagating if you can procure the seed of it at the beginning of April then sow it but with a great deal of care and curiosity viz. First find out the warmest place in your Garden and there make a bed of Barley-straw and Bran then cover it with fine mould three inches thick then prick in your seeds half an inch deep then shelter this bed a nights with a Mat you
early flowering for these reasons we transplant them every year or every other year from the Qualon-Crokus you may save Safforn Lastly Some may enquire for experiment of moloration in the nature of the plant in ingemination there can be none for it is out of mans element because they are not produced of seed but encrease of themselves by the root in the earth now if any man should desire to alter the colour of this Flower I think it a vanity for no man can devise more rarity of colours than nature doth bestow in flowers but for promoting of the nature of this or any other which springeth of a bullous-root take these observations First fill some boxes of the finest mould that may be had and as dry as may be then put it into boxes then set these boxes in some garret or room or other where it may have the Sunne and Wind but no rain come at it have so much patience as to let it stand for a twelve moneth then get Sheeps-bloud the juyce of a Laren Camomile Mallows and Lapeons tails mix these juices and Sheeps-bloud together then water this dry earth with this substance then take your Bullous-roots as crotus Tulips crown Imperials Lillies Snow-drops and the like then plant them in these boxes at the times and seasons as I have directed you formerly and anoint the roots with this substance at their planting water them continually with the same let them have no rain or any kind of water else but only this besure they have Sunne Wind and Air enough for otherwise your flowers will corrupt this done your flowers will spring out of an exceeding large growth and produce them very early and I can positively say that it will make them differ from what they were formerly So much for that Crains-Bill It is a flower of a Bullous-root about the bigness of the top of a mans thumb long and flat on one side rising with branches like great rushes spreading every way with a stalk rising in the middle whereon groweth the flower with a few small long leaves hanging down of his head it is a flower of the Spring being once planted in a ground there it remains it will not be worth my labour to describe every particular of it to be short the time of planting of them is in April or August the place in some out-border in a physical or a kitchin-garden and there if they be but kept clean from hurtfull weeds they will flower yearly and increase so you may plant more ground with the suckers or pleasure your friend with them Cullenbines There is a speckled Cullenbine and the purple Cullenbine the white and the blew and many other mixt colours which I shall not stand to name The branches of Cullenbines die every year and the root springeth again the leaves are for good use for pot-herbs and for physical uses as you may see in Herbals the seed of this flower doth ripen the latter end of July and if you let it shed of it self it will spring up again if the earth be cleansed from weeds so where they are once soon the falling of the seed keepeth the Garden replenisht with them yet the old stock dieth standing four or five years the time for sowing of these is chiefly in August so that they may flower timely the place ought to be in some borders next a privy walk be sure you let them not stand too thick for then they will grow small and single let them be cleansed from weeds Thus much may serve for the ordinary sort of Cullenbines Now there is a more tenderer sort which we call the thrice double converted Cullenbine these are not much unlike the former but only they are much larger and much exceeding the other in orient colour these flower at the same time the other do they seldom bear seed but if you can procure either seed or slip you shall order them as followeth Prepare some fine boxes of earth and therein sow your seed or set your slip having a diligent care over them afterward by watering of the slip and transplanting of the seedlings sheltering of them from the frost and snow you shall have them to flower early in the Spring I cannot stand to set down every particular there may be many means used to set forward the nature of them but no way to alter the form setting forward of the nature is but a watery substance which I shall not speak of here but refer it to that place where I treat concerning Cornation Gilli-flowers Crown-Imperial Crown-Imperial or Imperial-Crown counted the worthiest of Spring-flowers for it flowreth at the beginning of April now understand that there are two or three sorts as the great Imperial the Italian Imperial they differ not so much but if you know one you may know the other Imperials at the first coming up are so like Lillies that they have been took for Lillies by some they rise to three foot high and at the very top shouteth out six flowers hanging directly downward above them rises sharp leaves eight in number sharp and small and a handfull long standing directly upright which resembleth an Imperial-Crown this flower keepeth fresh three weeks off the stalk in the middle of the flower standeth six blewish pearls the stalk of this flower perisheth every year after it hath born its seed which is about the middle of June the root remaineth in the ground which is as big as a mans fist yellow and round it stinketh mightily I need not give you any farther description The propagating of them is either by seed or slip First The seed that is raised as are Tulips of which I treat hereafter in the same time and place setting of the slip is presently after his flowering then if you have them not you may procure them and set them in your borders with your Tulips betwixt every Tulip an Imperial root so by that time your Imperials have done flowering your Tulips will begin so you shall have your borders to flourish all the Spring And not to be troublesome to you the Imperial-roots must be removed every year and the suckers took from the old mother and planted in a bed by themselves at a handfull distance and the next year you may replant them into the borders amongst your bearers they flower the second year Lastly To produce any thing by Art from this flower contrary to Nature if it may be done upon any it may be done upon this for you may take the root out of the ground for a moneths space and in that time you may water it or anoint it with such contrary colours as you desire most to have the flower of then this root is forc'd to participate this watery substance of contrary colours into its nature and some think that this must force the root to bring forth a flower like those colours like that substance that it was watered with but I am not of that
springeth the next year after and having yeelded its seed three years the root and branch dieth the general use that it is for is for the beautifying the Garden and for flower-pots This flower is propagated of the seed only the time for it is the beginning of April the place fit for it is in a piece of ground which we reserve only for a Nursery only for raising of flowers in there you may sow it with others or by themselves in the end of a bed having committed them to the earth you shall see them spring up in a fortnights time with two small green leaves being carefully watered they will be big enough to be removed for they will spread mightily so they will not have room enough to grow in the bed where they are sown therefore transplant them into beds or borders in your Garden of pleasure and in August they will come to flower and the next year they will flower by the latter end of May. There is another season in sowing of them and that is in the latter end of August but the plants that were sown at this season must be carefully looked after and sheltered from the frost and snow they will come to flower in the Spring seasonably and die at the third years end as I told you before therefore save that seed and sow it again there is nothing more of curiosity belongeth to this flower so let these short and plain directions serve Emrose Considering that flowers are more for beauty than for vertue this flower challengeth the title of praise First for its early flowering for in warm places some begin to flower presently after Christmas and then others begin so some are continually flowering while June others by art and nature flower twice a year as in March and September Now to give you a description of them they are of a set colour seldom or never speckled the ordinary colour is red blew and purple the Emroses held most in estimation are the scarlet the London white and the black these colours being of large kinds I have known a root of each sold for ten shillings others have told me they have known them sold for three pound a root Of these flowers there are double and single the root is like a Ginger-race in shape and bignesse this flower beareth a weak seed something like sweet Madeling-seed and that will seldome grow and I suppose that Emrose-seed never grew though it be commonly sold for that purpose yet I have found by experience that it will not grow and as many Gardeners as ever I had conference with did ever affirm such a thing to be true therefore if you will have Emrose you must set them of the root and I will be brief and willing to show you where and how The fittest season for setting of them is in June the Moon being at the full but if opportunity doth not then serve you may plant them any time betwixt that and the latter end of August but as I said before it is best to remove them in June for then there will be the stalks above ground and some flowers and afterwards there will be none so that in the taking of them up you may cut them with a spade but that 's not all you 'll never find all your roots unless you will sift the earth and that is a great deal of trouble The fittest place in planting of these roots is in beds amongst your Cloves or else at the edge of your borders where you plant Tulips and sometimes in beds by themselves for the common sort make a little trail of an inch deep then break the roots into a many small peeces and lay them into this trail at a hands breadth distance the least peece will grow and flower the next year following Here followeth experiments worthy of observation Emrose-roots must be removed once in two years because they do so increase and multiply so that you shall have twenty or thirty roots about one old bearer these being so thick and growing barren will cause them to bear very poorly which is a very sufficient reason that they must be removed every year or every other year at least Secondly Whether there might be any alteration in the colour by any skill or care that may be used Many men have said this may be done and they have given some blind reasons for it which I shall wave and tell you how you may propagate the natural growth viz. Take Tulip-roots Lettice Sheeps-dung Strong-waters mix these together into a salve and apply it to the root and so commit the root to the earth and it will cause this root to send forth a large flower and more speedilier than those that are not so ordered those roots ought to be planted in a box for to have them come timely not but that any Emrose-roots will endure any weather Lastly To produce Emrose at all times in the year is easily done if the Winter be not too violent First take notice that you may take up Emrose-roots at any time and keep them in your house though for a year then set them again and they will grow Having this advantage if you have a desire to have them in Harvest you must plant them in the later end of May and they will flower at that time and to have them flower later plant them at the later end of July Now observe that there is such a Law and Nature that any Herb being deprived of its natural season yet it will bud forth its flower afterwards having liberty alwayes provided it be sheltered from the cold so it is plain that a man may put such flowers as have bullous roots you may put them forward or backward by keeping of them in season or out of season out of the earth African By some called the African-Marigold all that can be spoken of this flower is that it serveth for beautifying of a Garden for they flower towards the later end of Summer when most flowers are nigh done another thing they have not been long in England it came to use first out of Africa and you know that things that are new are rare in estimation It rises first like young ashes in shape and colour afterwards spreadeth it self into many branches and before it flowereth it riseth to be a yard high the flowers are in shape like the double Marigold but three times as big and of a yellow colour if you smell to it it will put you in mind of honey the seeds are small and black something like Oats this seed is ripe about September the branch and root dieth presently after It is propagated by sowing of it in hot beds as you may see of Amorantus in this Book this must be done in the beginning of March so that they may be ready to transplant into borders at the beginning of May so that you may have them to flower timely The
William but it is strong it supporteth it self at the top of every stalk spring many small branches of an equal height atop of every branch is a Flower of a pritty Pink speckled colour the Flower is five leaves in number at the outer part of every leaf of the Flower groweth a prickle This Flower flourisheth most in the latter end of July For the propagating of them I will be short with you the time is in the latter end of April the place is in the quarter which you reserve for Flowers in that manner as I have shown you of other small seeds of Flowers in which bed you may let them stand till they flower soon after they have yeelded their seed the whole plant perisheth Lupins Many sorts there are viz. the blew the yellow the white the purple and the great Lupin these and all these differ as well in shape as in colour they differ also in growth every sort of seed hath a difference in greatnesse and in colour also to puzzle my self and trouble the Reader with the description of each is altogether needlesse I shall give you some observations how all sorts of Lupins may be raised of the seed and not stand to name in particular how each is to be raised for one direction will serve for them all The time of planting of all sorts of Lupins is in the middle of April and so till May the place is in beds or borders according as your fancy is or the quantity of your seed if you have a great quantity then you may plant them in trails in beds or borders in manner as they plant Peas these are for the blew and yellow which are the ordinary sorts but the greater sorts require more room Lastly Observe that any sort of Lupins committed to the earth in their season will spring up without any further care so they need nothing but weeding in the latter end of July all sorts of Lupins come to flower which are very beautifull in a Garden after the shading of the Flower springeth cods in the shape of a Bean-cod bigger or lesser according to their kinds the cods are rough like a Peach the seed will come to perfection in the latter end of August and may be set again in the same Garden where it grew for many years and it will not degenerate Ladies-Thistle It hath only one stalk upon a root with long leaves and as broad as a mans hand these leaves are prickley and of the colour of a Cardus-leaf the plant never groweth to above two foot high and in August it flowereth the flower is of the colour of the great wild thistle-flower but greater and without prickles the seed is long and rough of a gray colour This plant is set of the seed in the later end of March the place is in a border when you intend to have them flower each seed being set half afoot asunder and half an inch deep it cometh up suddenly and flowereth the same year and the time as aforesaid the branch when Winter cometh dieth and springeth again in March the third Winter after it soon dieth root and branch Lowe in idle Lowe in idle or two faces under a hood is a Flower that is much like Violets in all respects but only it flowereth at such times at Violets does not that is in June and July this Flower beareth a seed of which it may be raised if slips might not be had The time for setting of them in the slip or sowing of them in the seed is in March the place is either in the side borders of high walks or on the edge of low borders in manner as I told you of Cowslips if you sow them of the seed then you shall make drils by a line with a stick half an inch deep each drill at a foot asunder if it be on the side border of your high walks if on your low borders one is sufficient in these drils thinly cast your seed then cover it and it will grow up and cover the whole border suddenly where it will alwayes remain for it renewes its nature by the branches taking root as they lie on the ground Ladies-liveries This is not a Flower yet many people fancy to have it in the Garden of pleasure because it hath such a pretty property with it for it shouteth up with many blades like spire-grasse of an inch in breadth each blade is striped red white yellow and green some call it Truelowe-grasse it hath a root like such grasse though it runne not so farre this root if you set in any part of your Garden there it will grow and continue alwayes This plant I thought fit to set down for brevities sake because I would not exempt any Ladies-smocks Otherwise called Blew-caps and White-caps It is a plant that the nethermost leaves keep green all the year those leaves are green and jagged of the length of a mans finger set on close to the ground in the midst of these leaves riseth a stalk with a few smaller leaves on it and on the top of the stalk are four or five Flowers white or blew according to their kind This Flower is single with five leaves in shape and bignesse like a Dogg-rose the time they chiefly flower in is in April and May it seldom bringeth seed to perfection This plant is set of the slip at any time of the Spring or the fall in the edge of borders for the keeping of them up and for the beautifying of the Garden if you set them in the fall it is much better than in the Spring for those that are set in the Spring in dry weather usually cometh presently after then your borders will be so dry without watering will cause the slips to die those that are set at Michaelmas will be well rooted by that time the Summer cometh and so flower in their season these slips being thus planted continue always nothing dieth but the stalk whereon is the Flower which you shall cut off after the Flower fadeth for the keeping of your border handsome Marmadle deparve Or otherwise called the Worlds wonder and I think it no wonder that it should be so called for it hath a quality naturally as no other Flower hath and that is this it beareth a Flower of one colour as it may be to day and on the morrow after of another and sometimes two or three colours at once the colours are chiefly these first red white purple peach yellow and cinamon these are distinct colours there are mixt also as the white and the red the purple and the yellow and so of the rest the shape of this Flower is much like a heart with the smallest end upward no bigger than an Acron this Flower is of no continuance for it continues not long upon the stock not touched and being pulled off it withereth presently so that it is of no use but for the ornament
and a Garden kind of the Garden kind there is only double and single one description will serve for both Burnats have winged leaves rising thick from the very root being much crumpled and jagged and of a palish green colour through the midst of them riseth a stalk two foot high whereon are many branches and at the top of each groweth a knob something like a button red and white speckled in which groweth yellow seed something like redish seed the branch dieth yearly Of this seed this Herb is sown or set of the slip in March or April in the end of a bed or border by it self where it will grow and flourish according to the description it requireth no more care than to cleanse it from weeds this herb is used in Claret-wine and in sallets in the beginning of March for it springeth very early Betony Garden Betony is so well known I need not write the description of it therefore take the ordering of it as followeth This herb is set of the slip only for it never beareth seed to any perfection the time for setting of it is in March or April the place for it is usually in the edge of borders or otherwise for to have a great quantity of it for stilling of it in cordiall waters then in beds by it self without any curiosity for it is a hardy herb and will continue a long time being once planted Camomill Is known so well and the manner and time for setting of it so I shall wave that and speak of the place only the first fit place that I shall name is round upon the edge of borders next to gravell walks the second place is upon banks of earth made couch-fashion to the end that a man might sleep upon a Camomill bed the third way is to set walks with it and of each side of the walk a water table laid with white sand which is a very pleasant sight the fourth way is to distinguish knots with it and that is thus set Camomill in the same form as you would lay Grass-work and truly the best Garden that ever I saw in his Majesties Dominions had a knot thus set Lastly Be pleased to take notice that Camomill set as was prescribed must be kept mown and clipt once or twice a week for the summer time or else it will grow out of form and hollow at the bottome and soon decay Comfrey A description of it is vain and a direction for the planting of it is needless for it will grow in any place where it is set I only name it to put you in mind of the planting of it somewhere about your house for its vertue is generall for man and beast as the Physicians Herbals will show you and I hope you will bestow the labour to plant it once for inso doing you need not do it more Cives Sometimes called Rush Leeks Chives and Chivet I hope that by one of these names there is no man but will know them the ready way for setting of them is to slip them into as many heads as they have and that will be sometimes twenty on one bed so done prick them into a bed finely digged and raked at two fingers distance so that they may come to cover the body themselves for the keeping of the ground moist and for the less expence in weeding and there they will alwayes remain yet they ought to be removed after they have stood four years because they will grow so thick that they will want moisture Cammell Beg. The leaves of this keepeth close to the ground and something resemble Violet leaves but only thicker and of a darker green and in the middle standeth a stalk some eight inches in heighth whereon groweth one knapped Flower like the Flower of Betony the stalk and some part of the leaves die yearly and the under leaves alwaies keep green This plant is set of the slip only which must have part of the root and branch the best place for setting of it in is upon the edge of borders for the keeping of them up this herb is for speciall uses being employed physically Chervill It is called Merah Chervill sweet Chervill and sweet Sisly it is supposed there were three kinds of them that is the wild Chervill the sallet Chervill and the sweet Chervill one description will serve for the Garden kinds Both sorts the leaves resemble tongue-grass but of a fresher green colour the stalks rising up a yard high spreading with white Flowers at the top after which comes long black shining seeds the herb is sweet to smell and tast where once it is growing it continueth many years but the branch perisheth in the winter This herb is sown only of the seed that is to say there is no other way of gaining of it there are two seasons for the sowing of it the one is in the beginning of April and the other in the latter end of August these are the times the place is in a bed amongst sweet herbs in manner as I shewed you of Basill so done it will come up according as it was described Carowaies At the first coming up a man at a distance may very well take them for Carots but as they grow up bigger they differ more for the Caroway is of a darker green and yeeldeth its seed like the Fennell The time and the only time for sowing of Carowaies is in the latter end of August for I have often tried it in the Spring and I could never have it to grow and I sowed but once in August and it prospered very well therefore sow it in August and the next summer it will yeeld seed and after the branch dieth but springeth again and yeeldeth seed every summer for many years without any care Clary The leaves are thick gross and woolly and of a light brownish colour very broad spreading upon the ground as it were and in the middle riseth a stalk of two foot high with many branches spreading whereon are many Flowers like those of Sage and each Flower leaveth its seed behind it like that of Radish but something smaller This herb is sown of the seed and it requireth a good ground and to grow in a bed by itself there is two seasons for the sowing of it one in the Spring and the other in the fall that which is sowed in the fall a hard winter will kill it therefore it is best to sow it in the Spring the vulgar uses of this herb is for frying with eggs and other things for it strengtheneth the back and encreaseth venery Course-Mary Or Ale-Coust and by some Balsom-herb it is known of a long whitish leaf sharp pointed at both ends and finely cut about the edges the stalk hath many such like leaves though smaller with a tust at the top when it flowereth like that of sweet Maudlin and it never yeeldeth seed This herb is set of the slip only I hope I need not stand to shew
judgement yet some alteration may be but not according to mans expectation for sow a Turnip in a sandy ground which is that which his nature requires and sow it in the rankest ground that is and it is a Turnip still so Imperial roots being set in these substances it will be an Imperial still and therefore they are but conceits and not experiments which I can affirm for truth yet some alterations will be and many times contrary to what a man doth expect every seed will spring up to be the like of his mother yet some difference may be in shape and forme as one Physiognomy of a brother may differ from another and that is not as man pleaseth Let this suffice Cornflag This is a flower which springeth of a bullous-root rising with many leaves two foot high in the shape of a sword in the middle of those rise in the branch with shorter leaves one in the same forme as the other this beareth a flower resembling the Flowerdeluce in shape a matter of six leaves and every leaf is of three fingers breadth purple at the top and blew towards the bottome this flower is in his prime in May and the seed is ripe in June then dieth the branch the root remaineth in the ground and springeth yearly The ordering of them I shall set down in few words First If you have them not you shall procure the seed in the moneth of August then you shall sow it in this manner Prepare a border of good mould under some wall where it may be sheltered from the cold Winter your bed being finely raked cast your seed on it of such a thickness as reason shall best direct you then riddle a quantity of fine mould and cast upon these seeds so that they may be covered half an inch deep this done you shall see your seed spring up a matter of three weeks after with a single blade shelter these all the Winter there and in the latter end of March replant them into the out-borders of your garden of pleasure at a foot distance one range in a border the second year they will flower the fourth year you shall replant them again for otherwise they will grow so thick that it will spoil their flowering and for planting of them take slips which are took from the root in the moneth of March and set them one chase in a border as I told you of seedlings Thus much for our English Corn-flag There is also the Indean Corn-flag which is of a more statelier growth a curiouser colour and tenderer in nature but it flowereth at the same times and is sown and planted at the same seasons as the former only with a great deal more care for the seed root or branch will not endure the cold Winter therefore we sow it in boxes transplant it into others and by putting these boxes into houses in the Winter giving of them air in seasonable dayes we raise and preserve this Italian Corn-flag now concerning any experiment of alteration I never could find any man of such an ambitious desire as to do any such thing but for the setting forward of the nature of it water it with such a water wherein hath been Sheeps-dung and Pigeons-dung So I cease and proceed to the worthiest of flowers which is Cornation Gilliflowers Of Gilliflowers there are divers kinds as the Cornation-Gilliflower the Clove-gilliflower the Wall-Gilliflower these I shall referre to another place and speak here only of the Cornation-Gilliflower which for beauty and delicious smels and excellent properties deserves letters of gold I wonder that Solomon did not write of this Flower when he compared his Spouse to the Lilly of the valley but whether there were any of these flowers in those dayes or in those places we will not enquire but proceed to the flower it self To give a description of it were vanity being so generally known by every one yet few know the nature of it therefore I shall only speak of the titles of them and proceed to the ordering of them They are only tituled and distinguished by their colours chiefly thus the Crystaline the Granado the fair maid of Kent the Fools-coat the Dover the Bandeleer the mixt Clove the painted Lady the old Mans Head the London-white the Emperors-robes the Patern of Nature the Scarlet the Wine-colour the Widdow the Peach-colour the Purple these and all these are intermixt which doth make so many mixt colours that I will not stand to name but will proceed to sowing planting and replanting First Of these I 'll begin with sowing and therein are matters of consequence first it is the way to have plenty and store of these flowers Secondly it is the chiefest art in the practice indoubling and redoubling of them For sowing of them you ought to consider what ground is fit for them it must be a well tempered ground by no means too rank and in a convenient place where it may be warmed by the reflection of the Sun the place appointed dig it and cleanse it from stones then lay it out into small beds of two foot and a half in breadth then rake them finely take a quantity of seed and sow it of a thickness as you think best then get a little fine mould and riddle through a riddle cover these seeds with it a matter of three quarters of an inch thick these seeds will come up the sixteenth day with two spindles like grasse Now I have shown you the manner of sowing of them now you must consider the times and the seasons for them The season fit for it is the first full Moon in April and the first full Moon in May and likewise in August the same manner as I told you Now observe those that are sown in April ought to be watered in the dry weather and in the first full Moon of August they ought to be replanted to a better earth in some border by a wall-side where they may be sheltered from the cold the Winter following The planting of them is done thus when your border is digged and evenly raked then go to your place where your seedlings grew then take them up with a setting stick which is the fittest instrument for that purpose so done prune them which is to cut off all the superfluous grosse top blades slipping off some of the under blades then go to your place as before mentioned and by a direct line set the one from the other six inches distance and so let them stand while the next March covering of them from frost and snow a nights then in March you may remove them into knots or pots or any other proper place where you shall have a desire or shall stand for the beauty of your Garden these plants being set in a better mould than before and diligently watered will come to flower by the next July following Thus much of the seedlings sown in August Now for those that are sown in the
second and the ordinary way of raising of them is in the middle of April it is done thus when you have prepared a bed fit for that purpose then sow them you must get other earth and cover them with for if you should rake them you cannot cover the seeds they being so long they will not fall in then cover them as I directed you three quarters of an inch thick this done if the weather be seasonable you shall see your seed come up the eighth day and when they have stood in this bed five weeks you may replant them into borders two rowes in a border each plant nine inches asunder there let them remain they 'll come to flower in August or in September A little after the seed cometh to perfection and the plant dieth you may pull it up and hang it in the roof of the house while it is dry and this will cause the seed to ripen then you may rub it out and sow this seed for two years and the third year you must change it or else your flowers will degenerate and grow single Everlasting-Pea It cometh up with many branches out of one root these branches run out to four-foot length much like the veines of Cucumbers on the stalks are narrow small leaves set on close to the stalk without any stem and at the top of every branch runneth spindles which will take hold of any thing that they are nigh they spring up at the first of April and flower in the later end of May the flower is mixt with a blew and purple colout of the bignesse of the Snap-Dragon flower the seed of it is like a small gray pea The time of planting of it is in the beginning of April the place fit for it is in some border next a wall where you may prick them down athalf afoot distance they 'll spring up in a fortnights time and after they are of a pretty height you must support them with small sticks they seldome flower the first year but the second year and so onward so they 'll continue alwies with you Hence it is they call it Everlasting-Pea The branch dieth every Winter and springeth again as was said I shall not trouble you with any more directions for the propagating of it it being of such a hardy nature that it is altogether needlesse Everlasting-life It is so called by reason of its long continuance on the stalk and being gathered it will keep fresh two moneths in the house I 'll give you a short description of it it springeth up about the beginning of May and by August it flowereth it rises up with a stalk two-foot high there is but one flower of a stalk and that putteth out like the Fennel-flower with many small leaves like the inner part of a Marigold this flower is white it seldome or never leaveth seed behind it the branch dieth yearly and the root remaineth in the ground which is like the root of the Spare-mint If you will have this Flower in your Garden you must procure the root in the Spring-time then provide a bed by it self dresse it in order as you do for any other flower then plant three chace of these slips in a bed the bed being two foot and a half in breadth water them well at the first planting plant nothing else amongst them for they increase and spread mightily this done you shall have them to flower that Summer and continue with you alwayes they being cleansed from weeds Flower-deluce I cannot describe them more than they have been by others as to the preheminence of them the King of France's Arms is a witnesse and our English Quoin is a testimony that this flower is and was in great estimation Farther consider that no inferiour person dares put this flower in his Coat of Armes though he may put it in his Gardens waving this Discourse I will shew you the ordering of them This Flower leaveth a tender seed therefore if you have a desire to sow them of the seed you must have a special care in the ordering of it the time is in the later end of April in a natural fertile earth the Moon being in the increase this being done in manner as I told you of Cornation Gilliflower-seed the twentieth day it will come up with one blade which groweth very slowly therefore it must be diligently weeded and the first Winter it must be covered from the cold the second year they 'll get strength and shift very well for themselves the third year they flower but you must take notice that they must be rep anted every year about that time that they were sown I have discoursed with many Gardeners and one amongst the rest told me that he could have them to flower in any moneth in the Summer time I demanded of him how He told me it was by housing of the root in boxes of earth in the Winter time giving of them the benefit of the Sunne when opportunity did serve and by watering of them now and then with warm water and this will cause them to spring forth presently and flower by the later end of April saith he Now reason told me that it could not be so soon yet it may cause it to flower a moneth before its natural season as any man of natural reason may understand Now to have the flower late you must nip off the springs as fast as they begin to spindle to flower till the middle of June and then forbear this will cause them to flower about about Michalmas The next thing is to know the right manner of planting and replanting of them for the increase of their number and the perfecting of their nature First The time for planting and replanting of them is in the later end of July or the beginning of August presently after they are flowering the place fit for it for the preheminence of your Garden is in the intervals of your Herb-work or in the trails of Grasse-work The manner is as followeth when you have taken up your roots slip the small suckers from the old bearers and set them in a border by themselves at a hand breadth distance there let them stand while that time twelve moneth then replant them into those places where you do your old bearers some of them will flower the first year others not till the second after their planting The manner of planting the great bearers is to make holes at a foot distance in those respective places as I told you putting of them no deeper in the earth than they may be just covered Now we will enquire of colours and colouring of this Flower the natural colour is the blew the colours held most in estimation is the white and blew the yellow and white the blew and purple there is another colour that I have been told of that is the red and white Experiments of force of nature may be as easily
told you and after it hath yeelded its Flower it dieth Catterpillars Is a plant men fancie to have in a Garden because it beareth a seed so much like a Catterpillar that at a distance one may take the seed for it the branches of this plant lieth on the ground like Clovergrass with many knots and small green leaves it beareth a Flower like the Broom-flower This plant though it be little worth yet it hath a peevish nature for one must sow the seed many times before they will grow if it be not ordered carefully the surest way to get them is to prick in some of these seeds on your hot beds with choice seed and at the replanting water them well at the first and afterward they will grow very well and yeeld their seed in August presently after root and branch perisheth Lillies I write Lillies because they be of the plurall number for there are many kinds of the wild sort the water-Lillie the Lillie of the vale the garden-Lillies are these the white the red the yellow or cur-Lillie the worthiest of all both for pleasure and antiquity for use and vertue is the white Lillie Although that all these are generally known by the sight yet the nature and the properties are not so well known therefore I shall describe them to you this Lillie beareth a seed in four quarters being but a small seed and small in quantity and if you sow it it will be long before it come to perfection and seeing the root is so common I think it needlesse to bestow the pains to shew you the difficulty of the raising of them from the seed In planting of them take notice that the root seems to be set with leaves like a Hartichoke and brittle therefore you must be carefull in the taking of them up and planting of them again for fear of breaking of them the place fit for the planting of them is under some stone or brick wall which incloseth your Garden on the Sunnie part thereof for of all Flowers this delighteth most in heat and drithe When you have provided your ground in such a fit place the manner of planting of them is thus lay a line upon your border in the midst thereof so that you may plant but one row in a border then the way is to make a trench with your planting hoe a matter of four inches deep then set your great Lilly-roots such as bore Lillies the last year in this drill a matter of six inches difference one from another the suckers are best planted by themselves at four inches distance in another place those you may set with a Diber the time for this is in August for that is presently after they have done flowering some will plant them in February and March but they will prosper nothing so well as those that were planted as aforesaid it may be a reason because they spring in February and the removing of them in the Spring will hinder their growth Some would have Lillies to be coloured by art and they have set down directions for it and that is you shall take them up out of the ground about Michalmas and hang them up in the smoke for the space of a moneth and then steep them in Claret-wine two daies and two nights then commit them to the earth again and this they say will alter the colour Gravos Marcombe is the Author of this I answer to the first of these for the keeping of the root so long in the smoke I have not the faith to believe that ever they will grow when they are committed to the earth for sure in that time they will be dried up so that they will have no more moisture than a dried chip for if you be pleased to take notice of this root there is no substance in it as in others no sooner is it out of the earth but presently it withereth and falleth asunder I thought good to give you these reasons that you might not lose your labour about what Authors have said concerning the alteration of Lillies But if you have any desire to make any incisions by applying of liquors do it seasonably at the removing of the root for it is so loose a root that the liquor will go into every part but I think it a needlesse curiosity for thereis no Lillet o compare with the white Lillie nor no Lillie that there is any likenesse of altering of the colour but it and why should you alter the best to make it the worst Red Lillies and yellow Lillies or cur Lillies these differ not from the white but that they are of a contrary colour and growth not to half the stature they differ not in nature as the one is propagated so is the other The last observation of Lillies all sorts of Lillies being once planted there they continue yet if they be not removed every year or every other year at the least and the suckers taken away and set in another place they will grow small and wild To conclude Lillies were held in great estimation in Solomons daies when he commended his Spouse to the Lilly of the valley You may consider that it was the Flower that he took most delight in or at least the admirablest Flower that was in those daies but as the world hath grown in years so doth it still grow in knowledge more every day than other for I am perswaded that the most part of the Flowers cultivated in a Garden do grow naturally in some part or other after the similitude which we have them in though not in that perfection that they are brought to with diligence care and industry Larks-heel Larks-heel or Larks-spur it is a plant so well known I need not give a description of them therefore take the nature of them as followeth they are a plant that are propagated only of the seed it is a plant that dieth every year and springeth no more therefore they must be sown yearly if you will have them every year The time of sowing of the seed is in April the place fit for them is in a bed by themselves in your quarter of Flowers for they spread a great deal of ground and will not let any thing grow nigh them if the plants grow too thick you 'll do well to pull some of them up and plant them again or throw them away whether you please for the rest will prosper much the better In August these plants usually flower and after the flower fadeth there springeth a cod wherein are eight or ten seeds small round coal black and rough of Larks-heel there are three sorts of colours though but one in nature those are the perfect white blew and purple very pritty Flowers they are all London-pride It 's a plant that dieth every year and when it is at its full growth the plant is a foot and an half high with a stalk like the sweet
conjecture because I have not set down rules for inoculation and transforming of shape and altering of sent and colour nor any objections to the contrary that I do not understand whether any such thing may be done yea or no. To this I answer That these intercisions or supplies are but conceits took up upon trust and never made good by practice and therefore I shall not dispense with the time to answer them in particular and swell up my Book about such uncertain vain and needlesse curiosities which are unpractical and that which is more they were never affected so I wave the Discourse Snap-Dragons They are not distinct kinds but distinct colours viz. the white the red and the peach colour so I will give a description which shall serve for all This plant spreadeth at the middle with many branches the bottom of the stalk is bare without branch or leaf the top of the plant riseth by degrees above the rest whereon are many small leaves green and sharp pointed of the same colour of the stalk on every branch are many Flowers knit double in the shape of a Peas blossome the time of flowering is chiefly in July the seed is ripe soon after which lieth in bags it is very small and of a brown colour after the seed is ripe the uppermost branches die the lowermost spring again two year after its first flowering then root and branch dieth This plant is propagated of the seed only the time is in March or August but it is best in August it is done as followeth Prepare a bed or a border and there sow the seed in manner as I told you of others so done it will come up in a fortnights space it need not be removed all the care is to shelter it the Winter following from the frost and snow the Summer following these plants will flower and continue with you according to the description Sweet Williams It is a plant that springeth every year when it is at its full growth it lieth one half of the ground the other rising up the whole branches being nigh three foot in length with many knots or joints where springeth many small leaves set close on to the stalk betwixt the stalk and the leaves springeth tufts whereon are many small Flowers four leaves in number of a Pink colour rising all of a height that at a distance you would take it for one united Flower this plant continueth flowering both June and July it seldom or never beareth seed to perfection Now this plant is set of the slip in March or September the slips must be such as have part of the root and of the branch and that is easie to be had where they grow for the root spreadeth in the ground mightily The place for planting of them is in banks or border sides I shall not need to stand to declare every particular of it but as you set the Bachelors-buttons so set these where they are once planted they alwayes continue they need no more trouble but after their flowering cut off the old vines and they will spring anew again Scarlet Beans Various are the wayes which I could enter upon the description and the ordering of this plant or Flower which I shall omit The description is thus This plant riseth in all respects like the Kidney or French Bean the Flower is of a scarlet colour which continueth long on the stalk and after it fadeth springeth cods wherein are likely five Beans something bigger than the Kidney-bean in the same shape and of an intermixt purple and red colour these Beans or seeds are set in the middle of April and so till May-day if opportunity do not then serve or the weather contrary to the season The place fit for it is in out-borders of Gardens of pleasure where they may runne up against the trees or supported with sticks against the wall this done by the later end of July they will come to flower and yeeld their seed ripe in the middle of September and then dieth the plant Lastly This plant yeeldeth a great increase of seed which you may plant again and it will prosper very well without any changing for three years These Beans are very good for to eat insomuch that they are prized before the Kidney-bean If you have a great quantity of the seed and would plant them for food you may do it in a Kitchen-garden the ground being hot and sandy well dunged plant them in rowes of two foot and an half distance and when they are grown up if they be stuck with small sticks they will be much the better yet they will bring a good increase without Snails They are so called because the seed is twisted much like it in shape and bignesse and of the colour of a dry Tobacco-leaf This seed is ordinary to be bought at most seedmens and if you set it in the Spring time it will grow and bring forth its seed the same year and after that the plant dieth Snow-drops They rise with many spirish blades thick and of a soft substance set close to the ground bending with their tops down to the ground again through which rise many small stalks of half a foot in length upon which groweth Flowers of the bignesse and shape of an Acorn five leaves in number of a milk white colour bending downward The time of this Flower is in the beginning of April the roots are bullous-roots which you may transplant after their flowering The place that they are commonly planted in is upon borders in intervales with Crokus and other Flowers with bullous-roots Let this short direction serve for I think it is as much as is needfull it being a Flower of such a hardy nature Start up and kisse me Or otherwise called Wag-wantons This is a plant that riseth to half a foot in height with many small brown leaves with a few branches spreading from the stalk whereon groweth Flowers of a sky colour being but a small Flower spreading of it self full abroad in the middle standeth three or four knots alwayes wagging of the colour of the flower the time this flowereth is in April and after the Flower is gone are round husks wherein is seed much like Violet seed This plant is sown of the seed or set of the slip in March in manner as you do Violets and such like I cannot stand to dispense any more time about it but must go to that of more consequence which is Tulips I am come now to that Flower which Authors have left a large description of to posterity and also vain disputes how Tulips are made by art into those several colours that they are in To give an answer to those things I shall omit the pains and not raise my discourse out of other mens words so I 'll set down what I have found by experience and what the nature of them is First In nature Here is a wonderfull work and many rare
Brobston's Garden where you may be satisfied whether I have given you a right information of it yea or no. Horn-Fig-trees It is a tree hath few branches scattering one from another with here and there a leaf the bark of the body is of a brown colour the whole tree groweth to be a little higher than a man atop of every branch putteth forth a kind of a fruit like a Key ball and at the first it hath a kind of a red husk on it which maketh it appear at a distance like a Flower and when that sheddeth the fruit is as hard that is underneath and as rough as the Pyone Apple This tree is raised either of the seed or slip but best of the seed for it is done with as much ease as the Pippin-kernels are raised but it is hard to procure the seed or slip for the tree is very scarce Creeping Vine So called because if it be set against a wall or a house it will take hold it self without any nailing and run up to the very top and needeth no care but pruneing you may say what need it have any pruneing seeing every branch will take hold of the wall I answer the reason is because one branch will grow over another else and therefore they must be prevented while they are young by cutting off I need not trouble my self in setting down waies for the planting of them for it is done with as much ease as the ordinary Vine Lowaray This tree groweth to ten foot high with branches springing from the body of the root even from the very bottome to the top being very strait shoots covered with a grey bark the leaves are of a pale colour round at the bottome and sharp at the top at the and of every old branch springeth a Flower in the form that the Vine putteth forth her Flower but of a blew colour This tree is raised of the sucker which springeth from the root these being taken away in September and set in any ordinary earth they will grow as soon as a willow the place that they are usually set in is by bowers to the end that they may cover them for you may bend this tree which way you please and they will not break Laurell Is so generally known that I need not speak any thing in describing of it I shall only speak two or three words of the raising of it and the place of planting of it in for ornament First for the raising of it if you have good store of Laurell trees at Michaelmas cut off so many young branches as you can that are two foot in length and longer the longer the better then find out a place that is very moist earth and rich lying something in the shade there plant your cuttings laying of them slope-waies so that there be a foot of them in the ground and the rest above thus done let these cuttings remain there till the next March and by that time they will have roots of an inch long then you may transplant them to wall-sides or pales where they may be set at four foot distance and kept nailed to the walls or pales those that have great store of them make hedges of them by walks sides supporting of them with poles and so keep them cut at the top about London they make a great profit of the cuttings of Laurell Lowrex This plant spreadeth like a bush even close to the ground and seldome groweth to be three foot high the leaves are green and two inches in breadth made of the fashion of a long ovall and are so thick set on that a man cannot see into the body of the plant this plant keepeth green all the year and beareth a berry but it never cometh to any perfection therefore it is set of the slip and the least slip of this plant will grow The raising of it and planting of it is as I told you of the Laurell cuttings therefore let one direction serve for both the place that this plant is set in is in physick-Gardens because it is a physicall plant Lorestrinus The branches of this plant are weak so they are usually planted against walls arbors or upon frames of close walks it keepeth its leaves green all the year which are of a brownish green shooteth out with long branches like the young Vine shoots and the old shoots beareth a tufty white Flower which flourisheth in May. This plant is planted of the slip as most plants are that keepeth green all the year so I shall not need to insist upon the manner of it for it is done with as much ease as any of the other so nothing remains but that it be planted in the places according to the description Lignae-vitae Is a tree that is not very common I do not know that ever I saw above three of them in my life yet if the slips of them may be had I am confident that it would grow almost any where but it never beareth seed which cometh to perfection and that maketh it so much a stranger in England and for your better understanding I give you this short description it is a tree which hath branches like the Saven the body of it is smooth and strait and of a ruddy colour with never a twig upon it but at the very top which is very pleasant to behold this tree at his full growth is as big as a mans thigh and a matter of twelve foot in heighth the body of it is the best wood in the world for musicall instruments and for your new Engine turning-work I think it needless to speak any thing of the propagating of it more than I have Mirtill-trees Of Mirtils there is the sweet Mirtill the smooth Mirtill and the prickly Mirtill and some will have them distinguished into more names yet he that knoweth the one may easily know the other All Mirtils keep green all the year and have a thick leaf as broad as a groat that they call the prickly Mirtill hath a sharp-pointed leaf full of veins the sweet Mirtils leaves are smooth and round that they call the smooth Mirtill differeth not in any thing from the sweet but only the sweet hath a bloom which hath a sweet savour no Mirtill tree groweth to any great stature for it is a great tree counted that is so big as a mans thigh and six foot high The propagating of each of these sorts is chiefly of the berry or seed on this wise prepare boxes of as good mould as may be had set the seeds therein so done let the boxes be sheltered anights the time for this is in the beginning of April this observed if the seed be good it will come up in a little more than three weeks space let the plants stand in these boxes till the next September then draw out such plants as stand too thick and plant them in other boxes and let some remain in the same where they may stand
alwaies if the boxes be big enough and deep enough these plants must be housed in the winter as long as they stand in boxes but some when they are three years growth transplant them against walls where they will prosper very well if it be upon the South part thereof Orange-trees And Lemon-trees will grow very well in England if they have houses built on purpose so that they may be wheeled in and out upon truckels in the boxes of earth that they grow in but yet they seldome bring any fruit to any perfection they are only for a sight they are pleasant trees to behold for their leaf never fadeth but keepeth green all the year I think I may spare the labour to give any further information of them or any directions for the propagating of them for I think few of my countreymen will dispence of so much charge for to have nothing but a sight for it Pomegranate-tree Is the stateliest tree in shape or growth of all others it is a tree also that never fadeth its leaf the leaves are long and of a yellowish green colour of a thick substance this plant groweth not to its full stature in England and I never saw it out therefore I cannot give a right description of it these plants will be raised no where but at home which is in Spain and being brought hither when they are young plants in boxes of earth they may be preserved in warm chambers to bring untimely fruit Peach-trees Of Peaches there is the double Peach-flower the smooth Peach and the rough Peach the early Peach and the winter Peach all these are planted against walls at twelve foot distance and preserved as you may see of Apricocks for the raising of them I shall wave it here and speak of it in the Treatise of fruit-trees I only name them here because they are cultivated in the Garden of pleasure Perry winckle It runneth training on the ground with many joynts whereat shoot out leaves of a dark green shining leaves somewhat like the Bay leaves but not half so big at every joynt cometh Flowers of a paleblew colour some are white some of a dark reddish colour the root is a little bigger than a rush the branches creepeth far about This plant is set of the slip only and it may be set any where it refuseth no ground being set either in the Spring or the fall the best place to set it in is upon bank-sides where little or nothing will grow this taketh root and spreadeth a great deal of ground presently and keepeth the bank whole of it self without weeds for it killeth them Sweet-Bryer It is planted underneath windows for its sweet savour sake the suckers that come from it may be planted they will grow up very well but to have great store of sweet-Bryer save the seeds while the Spring of the year and then sow it in beds of loose earth and it will grow without fail the plant sprung of that seed by that time a twelve moneth they will be big enough to transplant into hedge-rows as some have them planted round their quarters of their Gardens others plant them in maze-form keeping of the sides cut and the top and pleasant walking it is there Tamarus Is a tree so well known that it needeth no description it is usually planted to grow over doors or bowers for it shadeth and covereth much it 's a tree that never beareth seed therefore it is only planted of the sucker or the slips which comes from the body or the root being took of in September and planted where you have a desire they should grow and it may be done without any curiosity The Gilli-Rose Or the Gilderland-Rose it riseth to six foot high with a body as big as a mans wrist with a reddish bark the leaves resemble the Vine leaf though much less and of a darker colour upon one branch groweth but one Flower after the Flower sheddeth there appeareth a seed but it never cometh to perfection this tree decayeth not in eight or nine years where it liketh its air and earth Of the sucker this Rose may be raised the time for getting and setting of the sucker is in February the latter end thereof placing of it in a very warm place so done it will come to flower the third year after another way is which is more certainer for to inoculate it upon a Damask-Rose stock The Province-Rose There be two or three sorts and that is the Provincerosal the Province-vicar the red Province and the damask Province a great enlargement I could make upon these but the summe of all is Province-Roses must be inoculated upon damask Rose stocks so I shall give you the way of inoculation and that briefly First Observe the time and that is about the first of June when the plant is full of sap now followeth the manner Go to a Province-Rose tree and cut off one of the likeliest young shouts that you can see then go to a young damask-Rose stock which must not be above a year old this observed take off a bud from off the cutting which you brought from the Province-rose the bud took off evenly and square then lay it upon the damask-rose stock a matter of a foot from the ground let it be so mark out just such a proportion of bark by that then take it out with the point of your knife then set the other in its room which if you did it artificially will just fill up the place or else it is worth nothing but if it do joyn right then it is very likely if will grow then bind it with a little flax leaving the middle open for the bud to grow out set two or three of these buds of one stock but if one grow it is enough Now when you see the bud incorporated with the stock then unbind them for the band will do them hurt after the bud is shotten forth an handfull length then cut the stock off above it these are certain and easie wayes of inoculation of Roses but if you are not satisfied with these short directions see the Treatise of inoculation for fruit trees The Cinamon-Rose A great quoil there is about this Rose Some think it was coloured by a morical substance being a damask Rose before Others are of that opinion that it was inoculated upon a Barbary stock but whilst men hold these opinions it doth plainly appear that they do believe that colours in Flowers were made by mans art but I am not of that opinion for I believe they are only preserved by mans industry and all mans art is to find out the working nature and all that is here required in the promoting of this plant in its own nature is to inoculate it upon a damask Rose stock which may stand in a warm convenient place where the unkind Winter may not nip it Vines Of Vines there are many kinds and many Authors have given large descriptions praises and directions for
is black and three square pretty great and weighty It is propagated either of the seed or slip if you sow it of the seed it is no great matter when nor is it material where it being committed to any ordinary digged earth it cometh up naturally and continueth there alwayes The leaves of it are boiled with Beef and in the Spring time it is used for a Pot-herb the root is used for sauce Annis It will grow in England if it be carefully manured but seeing that the leaves of this plant are for no use it will be lost labour to raise it considering the seed may be bought any where All-Hail All-hail or Clowns All-hail by others Woundwort It hath leaves thick and round of the breadth of a six-pence gray rough and full of sap the branches that they grow on lie on the ground much like Germander but it runneth not out so long it beareth a little blewish Flower but never leaveth seed to perfection the nethermost leaves keep green all the year This Herb set of the slip in the Spring time in borders or any ordinary earth and it will prosper very well and spring yearly Bares-britch This Herb doth resemble the smooth Thistle rising up with a stalk and at the top the leaves turn something round and in the middle springeth tufty downy Flowers of a brownish colour growing in rough husks and underneath is grayish rough seeds This plant groweth wild in some parts but it is nursed up in Gardens for physical uses it is usually set of the slip in the Spring and it flowereth that Summer and after it hath yeelded its seed three times the plant dieth Balm Balm beareth a seed which it may be raised of but the Herb is so common that it is needless to trouble you with its description The time that they usually set the slip of this Herb is in the beginning of April if in case that you can get but few of the roots they may be slipt into many parts and each part will grow if it have but part of the branch with it The place that it is usually planted in is in beds by it self of two foot and an half broad four rows of it in a bed and let it have all the bed to it self and let it be well watered at the first planting it requireth no more trouble but springeth yearly The dead branches would be cut off when Winter cometh Basyll Garden seed Basyll hath one upright stalk rising up to one foot high whereon are set small branches with two leaves upon a joint set one against another whereat spring a small Flower whitish in colour and after it fadeth it leaveth one seed in a bag which is black and something bigger than Hysop-seed this Herb hath the sweetest sent of all others at the approaching of Winter this Herb dieth it is propagated only of the seed the time for it is in the later end of April in this manner dig a bed finely in a quarter which is reserved for sweet Herbs rake it likewise then sow your seed on it and cover it with a little fine mould thinly Now observe if that it be like to rain after the bed ought to be covered for if the seed take wet before its gemination it turneth all to a gelly and so is lost Lastly This seed cometh up the ninth or tenth day and then it would be watered in dry weather till such time as it covereth the bed The use of this Herb is for broth or for stewing meats and the like Blessed-Thistle It is called Cardus Benedictus Holy-thistle and Cardus I suppose it need not any further description This Herb is raised of the seed only in March it must be sown in a loose rich earth in a warm place under some pale hedge or walk you should prick in the seeds with your finger in the bed at three fingers breadth asunder for if it should be raked the beards that are at the end of the seeds would not let them be covered and that is the reason I advise you to prick them in with your finger The second season of sowing of it is in the later end of April then it may be sown without any trouble in any ordinary earth and will prosper very well and so this Herb dieth at the approaching of Winter then you may save the seed and sow it in the Spring in like manner as I told you Bares-foot This Herb shooteth up branches two foot high with many joints whereat shoot out springs with five dark green leaves upon them shaped like a Bares-foot and pale coloured Flowers fashioned like a cup hanging with the top downward This Flower is upon the branch in May it hath clumped roots which spread in the ground and are of a stinking savour This Herb is set of this root onely either in the Spring or in the fall it delighteth in a shadie place where if you set it it will grow without any more trouble and spring every year after according to the description Bugloss I suppose this is so well known it needeth no description Bugloss may be sown either in March or the later end of August thinly for it spreadeth much ground if it be sown in the Spring it will be late in the Summer before it come to flower therefore it is best to sow it in August It continueth three year before it dieth but the branches die every year only the root remains which springeth again The vulgar uses of this Herb is the Flowers and the leaves are put into Claret-wine and Beer to give it a pleapleasant taste the Flowers also are used in Sallets and Syrups Burrage This Herb is much like the former but that it groweth not to such a stature and the leaves are shorter and broader I need not write any thing of the time of sowing of it for sow it when you will it will come up at its natural season and if you suffer it to seed the seed that falleth comes up naturally and in time will overspread the Garden therefore I advise you to sow it in some reversion or some waste place in the Garden Bloodwort Bloodwort hath leaves shaped and striped like the Harts-tongue leaf but they are of a red colour these leaves are set on close to the ground through which rise stalks like the dock and beareth a seed in like manner which is red and three square glistering like the Sorel seed This Herb is sowed of the seed in the Spring time it would be in a small bed by itself it cometh up soon after its sowing and will come to cover the bed suddenly it beareth not seed till the second Summer after its sowing and the fourth year it dieth but it seldom leaveth the ground without young in the stead for if you suffer it to bear seed as it falleth it cometh up naturally This Herb is very good in broth and bloud puddings of all sorts Burnat There is a wild kind
every particular of it but as you set sweet Maudlin so set this the time for it is in March and where it is once planted it flourisheth every summer for many years after this herb is used in Ale and clarified Whey Cummin Besides it is called Bullwort Amios Bishops-weed and Cummin-royall for a better knowledge of it it groweth four foot high with round stalks and many branches growing of them with long green leaves from the top of the branches are white fussy Flowers after this fadeth the seed soon appeareth which is like Parsly-seed but four times as big the root and branch perisheth every winter It must be sown in the Spring in a good earth which is very moist and it will prosper as was said the common use of this seed is to tole Pigeons to a Dove-coat there are besides speciall and physicall uses which I need not to set down it is so largely spoken of in many Herbals Coriander It resembleth Flax and beareth its seed much like it but it is hollow something big and very light and of a whitish colour the plant peritheth as soon as the seed is ripe The time of sowing Coriander seed is toward May day there be those that sowes half acres of it and more I suppose I cannot give them directions but what I have observed from them I will give you they usually sow in a light rich ground and but thinly for each plant spreadeth much ground the use of this is for strong waters the seed of it I mean whereby those that sow it have great profit Celandine The leaves are in the form of Turnip-leaves of a whitish yellow colour and full of yellow sap the root is reddish and full of yellow sap also the branches rise to a foot and an half high full of yellow Flowers and yeeldeth small seeds And for the ordering of it I will be short with you if it be sown in any place in digged earth it will grow and prosper and never forsake you and if you did but know the worth of it you would not neglect the doing of it Dragons I shall not need to stand long to describe it for it is very easie to be known by this that is the lowermost part of them are absolutely like a Snake and as big as the biggest Snake whatsoever and two foot from the ground spreadeth out winged leaves made in the shape of a Dragons-claw of a whitish green colour above that riseth that which we may call the Flower it is made in the fashion of that they call Cookowpintle and in this lieth much small seed which is as small as the smallest of a brownish colour the branch fadeth every Winter and springeth again the first of April and at the seventh or eighth year dieth root and branch but it leaveth suckers behind it Of the sucker this Herb is to be planted in the choisest earth that may be had or else it will not prosper the time for it is about the middle of April of the seed also this plant may be raised but it is very difficult I cannot permit the time to explain every particular of it Dill. This Herb is not without its vertue nor is it fit I should exempt it out of the inventory and I know that you need not my judgment in the sowing of it for nature doth it better than you or I for sow it when you will it will come up at its natural season Evat It hath long slender stalks rising to three foot high beset with leaves round about one against another in shape and colour like that of Arssmart and on the top standeth downy white Flowers which the wind carry away it never yeeldeth seed the leaves have little sent but as bitter as wormwood in taste the root is like Spare-mint root in tufts spreading far of the root this Herb is planted wither in the Spring or Autumn and it will grow almost in any place where it is set and never decay this is a special Herb in Physick and will well reward your labour if you know the worth of it Fether-few Otherwise called white Wort in the North of England they call it white Rue I suppose I need not give any description of so common an Herb. This Herb may be set of the 〈…〉 either in the Spring or the fall refuseth no ground and continueth many years without any replanting if men that live in the Countrey and have Cattel did but know the worth of this Herb they would find that it would do them as much good as a Horse-Doctor Fennell There be three sorts of Fennell viz. Fennell-flower sweet Fennell and the ordinary great Fennell The first two dieth yearly being sown of the seed so I shall only trouble you with the common Fennell and I suppose that can be no great trouble to you for put either seed or slip in the earth and it will grow French Honey-suckles French Honey-suckles has not long been inhabited in England therefore I will give a description This Herb hath leaves a foot long coming forth even from the root in some places two inches in breadth and in other places a hand breadth scolloping out with five or six scollops between the bottom and the top being of a fresh green colour and smooth it hath branches springing up to four foot high with many of those said leaves on them and many yellowish Flowers which leave a brown rough flat seed behind them the nethermost branches green all the year This Herb is propagated of seed or slip but chiefly of the seed the time for sowing of the seed is in April the place is in a border where it shall remain the season being temperate and the earth good it cometh up suddenly but it beareth no Flower till the second year French-Mallows This Herb hath strait stalks which grow up to three or four foot high if it be not cut it hath a round jagged crumpley and pale coloured leaf something broader than a mans hand with many small white Flowers of the stalks made of five leaves a peece each Flower yeeldeth one seed and of a three cornered fashion and of a gray colour This Herb is to be sown only in the Spring not in beds in a quarter where pot-herbs are sown but in a bed by it self and if the ground be good the seed cometh up the sixth day and by August it cometh to flower according to the description and when the Winter cometh on it perisheth but whilest it is young it is very good in Sallets and it is a good pot-herb at all times whilst it is green Gromwel Two kinds there are the wood Gromwel and the Garden Gromwel There is a great deal of difference betwixt these two kinds I shall onely describe the Garden kind It hath woody branches like the Mustard-branches but slenderer and lower many short leaves and blewish Flowers standing in brown husks and in each husk after the Flower fadeth
there appeareth one seed in a husk which are small and of a sky colour glistering like pearls the branches perish yearly but if you suffer the seed to shade it cometh up naturally of it self So if I should give any directions for times and seasons of sowing it it were needlesse for the description sheweth it so there is no more to be said sow it when you will it will come up at its own season The virtue of these seeds are incomparable for curing of the stone and gravel and women when they be in labour Gladin It springeth up with spiry blades like the flag and beareth a Flower something like the Flower-deluce but of a yellow colour it hath double roots spreading in the ground Of the root this Herb or Flower is set without any curiosity and in any ordinary place and there it will continue alwayes and flower in July the root of it is excellent in Physick Gooses-tongue A common thing it is to give three or four names to one and the same thing for fear there should be any mistake in the name I will give you this short description of it This Herb is in all parts at the first springing like sweet Maudlin only it is of a darker green colour and afterward it rises up with branches spreading beset with jagged leaves and tufts atop of downy stuff like that of Coursemary it never yeeldeth seed it hath a sweet savour and stringed roots whereby it spreadeth and increaseth This Herb is set of the slip which is taken from the root in a bed in a quarter amongst pot-herbs where it will grow without any industry and continue alwayes green it should have the top branches cut off at the comeing in of Winter Note also this Herb is one of the best of pot herbs Germander It runneth with small branches on the ground which will take root it is set thick with small leaves of a brownish colour it beareth the smallest Flower of any other and no seed it keepeth green all the year and never decayeth Now this Herb is set only of the slip in border sides for the keeping of them up Others distinguish knots with it it must be kept alwayes cut for it runneth and spreadeth farre else Note it is a stinking Herb yet sovereigne in Physick Garlick It is a needlesse curiosity to describe that which all men know so well and to pen down the vertues it were double labour seeing the Physicians have done it so often so I will onely put you in mind of the setting of it in March and taking of it up at Michaelmas for your several uses so that you might not want it when you have occasion for it and that my Physical Garden should not be without it Horse-Redish At its first springing it hath jagged and torn leaves as it were of a light green colour the next that spring are broader and longer and only cut a little on the edges then runneth up spindle stalks whereon are white Flowers seldom any seed to perfection The manner of planting of this is of the root and so easie and so plain that you cannot misle for put the least piece of the root of it in the ground and it will spring up as was said and in three years time it will come to be as big as the small of a mans leg and then it should be taken up for the vertue that is in it or else it will decay and be worth nothing Herb grasse Herb-grass or Rue It is a common Herb yet there is great difficulty in the planting of it for it will not grow in any place let the earth be never so good for where it doth like it groweth very slowly and so doth all sorts of Herbs and trees that have most vertue in them Secondly It is to be observed that this Herb is to be propagated of the slip only for it never beareth any seed therefore take the observations in the planting of it as followeth In September get the slips of this Herb which must be slipt from the body and not from the branches this observed then look out a convenient border either under a wall a hedge or a pale to the end that it may have shadow and if it be possible under the shadow of a Bay-tree for this Herb is an hot Herb and delighteth least in the Sunne of all others as for example Pulse which is cold as Musmillions and Cucumbers these are cooler and desire the benefit of the Sun and heat of manure Thirdly You see it is plain that Herb-grass requireth a shady place where it may have the Sunne only some small part of the day then ser it as I told you in a shady border and let the earth be very good though Authors have said that it abhorreth dung yet I have found by continual experience that dung well qualified maketh it prosper mightily so nothing remains but that you set it so and it will prosper very well but the first year and the second it will grow but very slowly till it be well rooted and afterward it will flourish for nine or ten years if no accident befall it as some suppose that if an evil woman break any of it that it will soon fade and die presently after if it be so my judgement is that there be few or no women can break off this Herb but it must of necessity die To prove whether it be so or no it would take up an extraordinary Discourse which I shall wave and leave this vertuous Herb to be propagated by your care for your use and profit Hore-hound Of these there are two sorts there are the wild kind which hath a stinking smell but that which I here prescribe and intend to treat of is the sweet Hore-hound which is nursed in Gardens for its Physical vertues I suppose it is needless to give any description of it The way of propagating of it is of the slip which hath part of the root the time for doing of it is either in the Spring or in the fall according as opportunity shall best serve The manner of it is without any difficulty even as I told of Betony and so done it prospereth very well and springeth every year after Hyssop There is only two sorts that is the yellow and the green they differ not in nature though in vertue one direction will serve for both in the propagating of it and therein I shall be very brief The best and the easiest way for raising Hislop is of the seed First The ordinary way of raising of it of the seed is in the later end of April the place fit for it is in beds two foot and an half in breadth in the quarter with the sweet Herbs in that form as you may see in the draft-work in the beginning of this Treatise I shall save the labour to write the manner of sowing of it but so as Basil is sown so is this The second way of sowing of
according to the description that would be cut off at the Winters approaching and that is all that need to be done till the third year and then the root ought to be took up for its use and vertue the use is for Diers for dying and the Physical vertues the Herbals will shew you Marygolds There be double and single flowered ones and both of them yeeldeth seed and if it be sown in any place which is digged it will grow and keep the Garden full but if the ground be barren they will degenerate and turn single The use of the Flower of this Herb is for the pot for broth and the like and those that do think of the Winter in the Summer do gather the Flowers and dry them in the shade and put them up in paper bags for the like uses and others viz. for to make Posit-drinks for those that have any distemper at their hearts It is also thought that it is as effectual as Saffron Mother-wort It hath brownish strong stalks rising two or three foot high with many leaves cut deep into the very stem something like the Vine-leaf rough and crumpled of a sad green colour but many veins therein there are many branches and one stalk which also yeeld at the tops thereof a purple coloured Flower as small as that of Balm but in the same manner as that of Hore-hound after which come small blackish seeds in great plenty The bottome of the plant keepeth green many years before the root perisheth This Herb will seldom grow of the seed therefore it must be set of the slip or sucker which is taken partly from the root The time for it is either in the Spring or fall in a border or a bed of good earth where it will prosper and come to perfection according to the description Nip Garden Nip is much like Balm in the leaf but that they are sharper pointed whiter and hoary growing on four square stalks shoot up to three foot high with many small branches set thereunto having smaller leaves than those at the bottome This Herb yeeldeth a strong sent something sweet like Balm the Flowers grow in large tufs at the tops of each branch something like that of Sparemint of a whitish purple colour The root remaineth in the ground like that of the Mint and all the Winter some of the nether most leaves keep green The seed that this Herb yeeldeth is like Purslain in all respects but only it hath one white speck and that is where it grew to the cod and at that place it springeth its branch again Of the seed or slip this Herb may be propagated the seed if it hit it is long before it comes to perfection and it is very tickle in gemination as I have found by experience The best time for sowing of it if you will go to the trouble is in the later end of August but I think it better to set it of the slip if it may be had for that way it will prosper very well in any ordinary earth The time and manner of doing of it is as I told you of Balm in the former part of this Treatise in a bed by it self Orpine It hath round and brittle stalks with fat and fleshy leaves of a pale green colour the Flowers are white growing in tufts the roots are divers thick round tubelous roots and the branches fade yearly This Herb is set of the root onely in a bed reserved for it self The time is either in the Spring or fall and without any curiosity being committed to the earth in its season it will grow and flower as was said Pepperwort The root sendeth up leaves in shape like the Coursemary cut on the edges carrying the colour of the Horse-reddish leaves it hath a hard small round stalk with many branches like the same very thinly set with leaves and at the top of every branch are small white Flowers which leaveth a small seed that seldome cometh to perfection after the seed falleth the branch dieth and the root remaineth in the ground which sendeth up the like again This root is something like the wild Parsnip The way of propagating of this Herb is of the root the time for it is in March the manner thus Cut your roots into short pieces of three inches in length so done a bed of earth prepared for that purpose then prick in them pieces of roots at half a foot distance by May they will shoot up with leaves and by the later end of Summer with stalks as was said Now note that these roots must remain in that place untouched three years if you would have them at their full vertue and then they may be took up and the roots set again Pot-Margerum I imagine it is altogether needlesse to describe it seeing it is so common an Herb therefore take the propagating of it by seed and slip as followeth First Of the seed The season for it is either in the latter end of April or the latter end of August the place is in a bed by it self in a quarter with other sweet Herbs and done in the manner as I shewed you of Basil Secondly Of the slip that is done at the same seasons but sometimes not in the same places for we set it on border sides to keep them up where it will spring as well as in a bed and it will continue alwayes where it is once rooted in bed or border for it putteth forth side suckers which flourish after the old plant dieth I think it is but lost labour to write any thing more of it the Herb being so hardy and so well known Prick-Madam Or Prick my Dame Divers trailing branches upon the ground it hath composed of a soft substance not divided into branches or leaves but all parts alike which are round prickles like those of the Furse but as big as a Goose quill if you touch it a small matter breaketh it and it is not prickley at all though it seem so to be the colour of it is a blewish green and beareth a yellow Flower in August and a long seed a little after like that of Muscove but seldom to perfection This Herb is set of the slip in borders sides either in the Spring or the fall one chase in a border upon the uppermost edge thereof for after it is rooted it runneth upon the ground like Penny-royal and taketh root with its branches therefore it would be kept cut in order by a direct line at the nethermost part of the border and then it appeareth pretily it keepeth green all the year and continueth many so This Herb is eaten in Sallets in the Spring time Purple-grasse In Physicians Herbals I cannot finde this Herb named or described therefore I will describe this Herb and its vertues This Herb runneth on the ground like Clover-grasse with leaves and stalks of a purple-colour spotted as it were with blackish bloud and beareth a Flower
propagating of it and that in particular First China Rubarb which Physicians make such division in names and quoil about the nature of it so that they say it is unpossible to produce any plants in our English clymate to be so vertuous as that which comes out of its naturall Countrey But I will not dispute this but prosecute the raising of it as briefly as may be The season fit for the sowing of it is in the beginning of April the place must be where it may have the benefit of the Sunne and a shelter from the cold the earth as loose and as fat as may be such a place provided cast it up into a bed and prick in the seeds half an inch deep so done let the bed be sheltered with a mat at nights and in three weeks space the seed will come up by the latter end of May the plants need not be covered till the next Winter following and then it must be sheltered likewise and in the Spring following it would be transplanted into a like earth and that Summer some of it will spindle to seed and the third year it cometh to its full growth the fifth year it hath its whole vertue the vertue is in the root chiefly and then it is taken up Monks Rubarb and bastard Rubarb may be raised of the seed at that time as I told you of the China Rubarb with lesse curiosity and trouble especially the bastard Rubarb True it is I should insist upon some particulars further in the ordering of this but that I have been something large in the information so that I cannot permit any more time about it but must speak something of others Spare-mint Of Mint there are many sorts as Mackarel Mint Horse-Mint white Mint and wild Mint these I wave Of Spare-mints there are two sorts that is smooth Mint and crudled Mint or crumpled Mint The way of propagating of them both is of the root and in this manner for the saving of labour and the surenesse of the work for to have the roots to grow that is thus when you have prepared a bed or a border where you have a desire they shall grow then make three or four drils in the bed with a planting Hoe then lay your roots into those drils with the Spire end upward so done fill up the drils again with the head of your rake let this be done either in March or September and those roots will spring without any further care and never leave you nor forsake you Saffren If you please to look into the Alphabetical Table there is Crokus named and in the page Saffron-Crokus exprest Now what is to be understood by this is that Saffron-Crokus or Crokus differeth not in shape from this but in colours as blew Crokus and yellow which are sometimes called Saffron-Crokus because they differ not in form but in vertue This Saffron which I here prescribe is planted only for its vertue and profit which it returneth to the Planter thereof as in Cambridgeshire and Saffronwalden where they plant many achers thereof Now I 'll speak a word or two in reference to the planting of it This Herb or Flower is planted of the sucker from the root for it never beareth seed The time that it is chiefly planted in is presently after its flowering which is in April the manner is without any difficulty for if the root be committed to the earth it will grow so therefore there needeth nothing but to set every plant decently in order so that every plant may have its proportion of ground which would be four inches Lastly Observe that in the gathering of the Saffron that you must be carefull to see to it every morning for the Saffron cometh up in the middle of the Flower like horns as it were and the Sunne causeth them to perish two or three dayes therefore it is that I counsell you to be watchfull over it Sage I discovered Roman Sage to you or the Sage-tree This Herb is the common English Sage and of that there is red and green a man would think that it were a needless thing to write any thing of the propagating of it seeing every one can say set Sage in May and it will never decay truly that is a long day but if that were true the last Winter would not have killed the most of the Sage about London But so set Sage in the beginning of May in good earth cast into beds of half a foot high and two foot and an half broad setting three chase in each bed of slips each slip half a foot asunder watering of it well at the first planting till it hath taken root and then this Sage set in May may not for six or seven yeares decay Summer-savoury So called because it perisheth so soon as the Winter approacheth This Herb is raised of the seed only the season for it is in the later end of April after this manner Prepare a bed of earth in a quarter amongst the other sweet Herbs and the bed being finely raked then cast the seed thereon then get some fine mould well ridled and cast thinly thereon so that it cover the seed not above half an inch thick yet I know some Ideots have written that they should be covered three inches thick and in so doing you had as good cover it three yards thick for any expectation of the growth of the seed To be short the seed sown as I told you will come up in a weeks space and covereth the bed suddenly and needeth no replanting or any more trouble but only cleansing from weeds Setterwort Or black Eleyvert it is known of a stinking smell it is much like the Bears foot it hath winged leaves and runneth up with stalks like Parsnips and beareth the seed in like manner the root lieth in a clumper as big as a bushell if it have stood long the root of this herb yeeldeth such a strong stinking smell so that a man in the digging of it up will be even sick with it so that of all herbs or roots of herbs there is none that yeeldeth so noisome a savour of this root this plant doth encrease and if any part of it be set in any kind of digged earth it will grow without any further trouble and spring every year after but observe the time and that may be at any time but when the branch flourisheth and he that will not observe this and bestow this small pains to have this vertuous herb in his Garden if he have Cattell he is a very unwise man if he did but know what diseases it doth prevent in Cattell Stone-crop This is not unlike Prick-Madam in any thing but that it is smaller with divers trailing branches upon the ground set with fat roundish blewish green sprouts pointed at the ends it beareth a Flower which standeth somewhat loosely not composed together but stands stragling this herb also keepeth green all the year Of the slip it is propagated by setting