The Floricultural Cabinet and Florists’ Magazine
January to December 1845. Volume XIII
Edited by Joseph Harrison, Downham Nursery, Norfolk
Whittaker and Co., Ave Maria Lane, London, 1845
“Article IV.
Remarks on the gardens, &c., of Mexico, Extracted from Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Mexico.
By an Amateur Florist.
In the above-named work I have been much pleased to find numerous particulars relative to the gardens of Mexico, and of some of the finest plants of that country; and as we are indebted to that fine part of the world for many of our most beautiful flower-garden plants, I am persuaded it will be interesting to the readers of the CABINET to peruse anything of a floral character connected with Mexico, I therefore send the following for insertion.
‘The Garden of an Aztec Monarch—1400 to 1500 (A.D.)—Nezahualcoyotl’s fondness for magnificence was shown in his numerous villas, which were embellished with all that make a rural retreat delightful. His favourite residence was at Tezcotzinco, a conical hill about two leagues from the capital. It was laid out in terraces, or hanging gardens, having a flight of steps, 520 in number, many of them hewn into the natural porphyry. In the garden, on the summit, was a reservoir of water, fed by an aqueduct, that was carried over hill and valley for several miles, on huge buttresses of masonry. A large rock stood in the midst of this basin, sculptured with hieroglyphics representing the years of Nazahualcoyotl’s reign, and his principle achievements in each. On a lower level were three other conservatories, in each of which stood a marble statue of a woman, emblematic of the three states of the empire. Another tank contained a winged lion, cut out of the solid rock, bearing in its mouth the portrait of the emperor.’”
Remarks on the gardens, &c., of Mexico, Extracted from Prescott’s History of the Conquest of Mexico.
By an Amateur Florist.
In the above-named work I have been much pleased to find numerous particulars relative to the gardens of Mexico, and of some of the finest plants of that country; and as we are indebted to that fine part of the world for many of our most beautiful flower-garden plants, I am persuaded it will be interesting to the readers of the CABINET to peruse anything of a floral character connected with Mexico, I therefore send the following for insertion.
‘The Garden of an Aztec Monarch—1400 to 1500 (A.D.)—Nezahualcoyotl’s fondness for magnificence was shown in his numerous villas, which were embellished with all that make a rural retreat delightful. His favourite residence was at Tezcotzinco, a conical hill about two leagues from the capital. It was laid out in terraces, or hanging gardens, having a flight of steps, 520 in number, many of them hewn into the natural porphyry. In the garden, on the summit, was a reservoir of water, fed by an aqueduct, that was carried over hill and valley for several miles, on huge buttresses of masonry. A large rock stood in the midst of this basin, sculptured with hieroglyphics representing the years of Nazahualcoyotl’s reign, and his principle achievements in each. On a lower level were three other conservatories, in each of which stood a marble statue of a woman, emblematic of the three states of the empire. Another tank contained a winged lion, cut out of the solid rock, bearing in its mouth the portrait of the emperor.’”
© L.A. Davenport 2017-2024.
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