The
The courtyard is alternately known as the Voorhies Garden of Ladyes. A pamphlet from the garden reads as such:
Introduction by Marijane Osborn
The Voorhies courtyard Garden of Ladyes is a theme garden based on new English Roses named after women in famous works of English literature ... All but one of the patented hybrid teas we have chosen for this garden have been created by David Austin ("Father of the English Rose"), who likes to name his flowers after characters in English literature, especially those found in the works of Chaucer and Shakespeare. Most of the roses here are named for main characters, but a few represent secondary characters, which makes it a bit more tantalizing to remember who they were, what work they appeared in, and what they did there. Each kind of rose is labeled on its first appearance, going clockwise around the garden from A Street.
The garden in general is planted to resemble an English country garden, with due respect to the climate of Northern California. You will find, as the folksong says, "lavender, sage, rosemary, and thyme," plus foxgloves, peonies, violets, lilies, the English cottage-door climber clematis, and many other traditional garden flowers. Lovely Pertelote lurks somewhere in the foliage, no doubt searching out those herbs she talked so much about in Chaucer's tale. Other surprises include two "vignettes" representing scenes in famous stories or poems.
Map legend: 1) Perdita 2) Fair Bianca 3) Hero 4) Charlotte 5) Laura & Lizzie 6) Jane Austen 7) Constance 8) Proud Titania 9) Sweet Juliet 10) Tamora 11) The Dark Lady 12) The Squire 13) Wise Portia 14) Pretty Jessica 15) The Wife of Bath
