Early Gardening History - Colonial Flowers

The reference for the list below is Leonard Meager's English Gardener dated 1682, divided into what he deemed their proper categories, and in his own spellings.

This list provides insight into what plants and seeds were available at that time, giving us an idea of what the early settlers may have brought with them, what they grew and used the plants for, and in what sort of groupings they themselves considered them to belong in.

ANNUALS

Adonis-flower . . . African Marygolds . . . Scarlet Beans . . . Coventry Bell-flowers . . . Great blew bind-weed, or Connuvolus major . . . Small bindweed . . . Candy-tufts . . . Catch-fly . . . Fennelflower (or Nigella) . . . Fox-gloves, white and red . . . Small white flax . . . French Honey-suckles . . . Honesty, or white Sattin . . . Hollihocks, double and single . . . Larks-heels or Spurs . . . Lupins . . . Melancholy Gentleman . . . Mothmullins . . . Marygolds, double French . . . French Marygolds . . . Princes Feather, or Amoranthus . . . Pearl-grass . . . Tree Primrose . . . Double Poppies . . . Indian or Musk Scabious . . . Sianus or Bottles . . . Snap dragons . . . Spanish Saffron . . . Stock Gillyflowers . . . Venus Looking-glass

HARDY PLANTS

Champions . . . Canterbury Bells . . . Columbines . . . Cranes bill . . . Carnations or Gillyflower . . . Everlasting pease . . . Fraxanella . . . Goats Rue . . . Whitson Gillyflower . . . Wall Gillyflower . . . Stock Gillyflower . . . Hollihocks . . . Sweet John . . . White Marygold . . . None-such, or flower of Bristol . . . Pinks . . . Snapdragons . . . Spanish tufts . . . Throat-wort, a sort of Bell-flower . . . Valerian, red and the greek, both white and blue . . . Auster-aticus, or Italian starwort . . . Batchellor Buttons, or double Campions . . . Ladies Smocke-double . . . Live ever or life everlasting . . . Blew Marygolds . . . Peach-leaved Bell-flowwers, blue and white . . . Double Crowfoot . . . Crimson Cardinals-flower . . . Double Featherfew . . . Hungarian Dead-Nettle . . . Spanish knap-weed . . . Perwinkle . . . Double Rockets, or Whitson July-flowers . . . Double Sope-wort . . . Double Sweet-Williams . . . Willow-flower

BULBO'S AND TUBERO'S

Anemonies . . . Crown Imperials . . . Corn Flags . . . Fritillarias . . . Flowerdeluces . . . Hyacinths . . . Indian Juca . . . Kings-spear . . . Lillies . . . Molies . . . Martagons . . . Munks-hoods . . . Star Flowers . . . Tulips, abundant in varieties . . . Persian Lilly . . . Pionyes, six or seven varieties . . . Bulbo's Violets

OTHER PRETTY FLOWERS

Crocus and Saffron flowers . . . Colchecons . . . Grape-flowers . . . Hollow-root Flower, or ground honeysuckle . . . Barren-wort . . . Bears ear, or French cowslip . . . Hepaticas . . . Jerusalem cowslip . . . Crismass flower . . . Dasies . . . Indian Cresses, or Nastersian Indicum . . . Lily of the Valley . . . Marracock, or Passion-flower . . . Marvel of the World . . . Mandrake-Golden Mouse-ear . . . Navel Worts . . . Pances or Hearts-ease . . . Primroses and Polianters . . . Ranunculo's . . . Sow-bread . . . Spider-wort . . . Winter wolf-bane . . . Sultans flower . . . Turkey Cornflower

SWEET HERBS

Balm . . . Basil . . . Burnet . . . Coast-mary . . . Cammomile . . . Callamint . . . Hyssop . . . Lavender . . . musked Crainsbill (or Muskomy) . . . Mints (spear, red, water, basel, pide) . . . Marjoram (sweet, wintersweet, yellow, pide, pot or wild) . . . Maudlin or Sweet Maudlin . . . Penyroyal . . . Sage . . . Savoury (winter and summer) . . . Thyme (English or hard, French, pide, limon, musk, mastick) . . . Herb Mastick . . . Tansie

PHYSICK HERBS

Angelica . . . Asarabacka . . . Bears-foot (Setterwort) . . . Carduus . . . Dragons . . . Dittander . . . Elecampane . . . Fetherfew . . . Goats Rue . . . Germander . . . Garlick . . . Harts Tongue . . . Horse Raddish . . . Liverwort . . . Lavender Cotton . . . Liquorish . . . Master-wort . . . Marshmallows . . . Mother-wort . . . Pelletary of the Wall . . . Pionies . . . Rubarb . . . Rue . . . Solomon's Seal . . . Scordium . . . Scorsonera . . . Scurvy-grass . . . Southern-wood . . . Smalage . . . Sneese-wort . . . Greek Valerian . . . Great Valerian (or Setwell) . . . Winter Cherries . . . Wormwood (both English and Roman)

POT HERBS

Arach (red and white) . . . Blood-wort . . . Burage . . . Bugloss . . . Beetes . . . Carrots . . . Clary . . . Endive . . . Langebeff . . . Leeks . . . Marygolds . . . Nep . . . Orach . . . Parsley . . . Sives . . . Strawberries . . . Succory . . . Violets . . . Worts or Brocketts

SALLET HERBS

Alisanders . . . Beans (French and ordinary garden beans) . . . Beets . . . Cabbages . . . Carraway . . . Carrots . . . Corn-sallet . . . Colworts . . . Colliflowers . . . Cucumbers . . . Cress . . . Dill . . . Endive . . . Fennel . . . Hartichoaks . . . Lettice . . . Muskmillions . . . Mustard seed . . . Onions . . . Parsley . . . Parsnip . . . Potatoes (of Virginia, and Canada or Jerusalem Hartichoaks) . . . Purslain . . . Rocket . . . Rampions . . . Ramsons . . . Radish . . . Horse-radish . . . Shelot . . . Scorsonera . . . Skerrets . . . Sparragus . . . Sorrel (French and English) . . . Spinage . . . Tarragon . . . Turnips

PEASE

Hot-spurs pease . . . Redding pease . . . Sandwich pease . . . Sugar pease . . . Tufted or Rose pease . . . Gray Windsor pease . . . Great Maple pease . . . Great Bowlins pease . . . Great Blew pease

PICKLED FOR SALLETS (winter use)

Beetroots . . . Broom-buds . . . Cucumber . . . Elder buds . . . Hartichoaks . . . Leeke . . . Onions . . . Purslain . . . Tarragon . . . Turnip . . . Summer Savoury

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