The late forties, a slow commuter train, and outside the window — bright spots of flowers at the houses that stand along the railway. Red and Burgundy dahlias, salmon gladiolus, mixed colors zinnias. There were other flowers, but I didn’t know their names.
This is how I remember the suburb where my family lived at that time. Past year. Traveling with my family, I again saw these bright gardens at the village houses. But now, in addition to dahlias, I knew Golden balls, delphiniums, marigolds…
In villages, houses are usually separated from the street by a small decorative garden – front garden. “Front Garden”, as well as the Front Garden themselves, appeared somewhere in the first half of the XIX century. It comes from the French word “palissade”, which means palisade, fence: almost always this small garden is separated from the street by a fence.
The source of ornamental plants for village gardens in those ancient times were manor parks, Apothecary gardens and vegetable gardens. Since the end of the XVIII century in some cities began to appear private nurseries that brought seeds and planting material from France and Holland. And many estates had greenhouses where both ornamental and edible plants were grown.
In the second half of the XIX century, garden and Park construction was dominated by Victorian motifs, characterized by pomp and brightness. Accordingly, a large number of lush, beautiful-flowering plants were grown in parks. From there, they often migrated to rural gardens.
A small, tiny garden in front of the house presented changing pictures of nature – from the delicate colors of spring to the Golden colors of autumn. Daffodils and Muscari bloomed in the spring. And in summer, the front gardens were dominated by annually blooming, stable and unpretentious perennials that did not freeze out even in very harsh winters. And of course, the king of the front gardens – the Dahlia.
Grow there and annuals and biennials, which are usually sown on perennials and give good self-seeding. All these plants did not require much work, and the owner, even in the summer during the cold season, could set aside a little time to put her garden in order.
Often in the front garden grows a tree-Rowan, cherry, birch, less often-Linden or willow, very rarely a Christmas tree or pine. But next to the bench there are always fragrant shrubs: lilac, Jasmine, rose hips. And on the bench in the evening, you can gossip with your neighbors. Planting material was readily shared. A beautiful new plant, a successful planning solution quickly spread through the village. Therefore, very often all the village front gardens are similar to each other.
In the XX century, due to the lack of proper attention and care, only the most stable plant species were preserved, which either moved to neighboring gardens, or went wild. Many plants were included in local plant communities and are still found on the site of former manor parks, near the walls of former monasteries.
In some areas, in the 70-80 years of the last century, front gardens almost disappeared. Instead of flowers, they planted cabbage and potatoes. But it took another 20 years, and the front gardens began to be revived, but often with a different assortment. Now clematis, roses, and shrubs were planted near rural homes. It is gratifying that in flower shops you can meet Amateur flower growers from all areas who are keenly interested in flower innovations. Apparently, this is a feature of the people-the desire to decorate the surrounding nature.
In my garden, I found a good enough place for a front garden and planted in it the typical plants for village gardens. Daffodils bloom here in spring. In summer, delphiniums, Golden balls, lilacs, peonies, Solidago, roses bloom. The bright and lush flowering of the front garden is visible from afar and creates a cheerful mood.
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