Gilliflowers and Pansies for Themed Victorian Flower Gardens

Oct 14, 2010
Lorraine Syratt

Dianthus barbatus Sweet William - Willie Duffin

The gilliflower, the pansy and the heliotrope were as common to Victorian gardens and they are today. But some old treasured cultivars are lost or rare.

Old gardening books, plant catalogs, paintings and garden journals produced over a century ago, reveal the Victorian gardener's love of gardening, as well as the plants and plant varieties she chose. These documents give the contemporary gardener great insight into the tastes of the period. While some of the old plant varieties have been sadly lost to time and forgotten, most are easily available today. A purist garden designer intent on creating a 19th century themed garden may want to study those varieties and add them for scent, beauty and preservation.

Dianthus: The Victorian Gilliflower

Dianthus, known to the Victorian gardener as "gilliflower," and to contemporary gardeners as "pinks," is a scented flower much beloved by gardeners of the past. Some of the oldest and most scented varieties used in Victorian gardens are still available today. Gardeners should review the seed catalogs for Dad's Favorite, Sam Barlow, Inchmery and Paisley Gem. The genus Dianthus also includes Sweet William. Many of the old Sweet William cultivars from the Victorian period are lost, but there are still numerous contemporary cultivars available that are well suited to a traditional Victorian garden. Most Dianthus is hardy to zone 4.

Pansies and Violets

The Victorians loved pansies and violets, plants in the violaceae genus. In the 19th century, plant hunting was big business among botanists and horticulturalists. Numerous species of violets were brought from Asia to England and Europe. These were quickly hybridized for wonderfully scented varieties like Duchess de Parme, Czar and Perle Rose, all easily found today. The early pansy cultivars were bred from several species including V.cornuta, V.lutea and V.amoena. Further research through nurseries that specialize in the violaceae genus will assist in finding the older cultivars. Most flowers in the violet family are hardy to zone 3.

Heliotrope for Scent

Heliotrope was grown for its scent rather than its appearance. It is a genus of 250 species. Today, the most easily found cultivar is Marine, and only a handful of others are in cultivation. Sadly, most of the old cultivars may be quite difficult to find. Look for heliotropes with H. arorescens, then known as H. peruvianum, as well as H. corymbosum in the plant's heritage and the gardener will have a close Victorian heliotrope. Heliotrope is a tender perennial treated as an annual to gardens zone 4.

The list of old perennials used in Victorian gardens is long and there are numerous books on the subject for further research. A study of the history of very common flower cultivars will also help reveal whether or not the plant or plant variety was used in Victorian gardens.

To learn more please read Six Herbs for a Scented Garden, which discusses scented herbs used by Victorian gardeners. And in the article Flowers to Attract Hummingbirds to the Garden, the reader will find more scented plants popular in Victorian or 19th century gardens.

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