Your "alley board" may be simple rough cut lumber. Many alleys in the 19th
and early 20th century were lined with property fences made of cheap (rough
sawn) boards about an inch thick attached to the fence stretchers
vertically. Sometimes these fences are called paling fences but they can
have different names depending on where you are.

 

I will consult my heirloom gardening sources to see if I find 12 o'clocks.

 

Heidi Campbell-Shoaf, Curator

Historical Society of Frederick County

24 East Church Street

Frederick, Md. 21701

www.hsfcinfo.org

-----Original Message-----
From: Museum discussion list [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf
Of Peter Lake
Sent: Tuesday, January 23, 2007 3:59 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Victorian Garden Questions

 

Dear List,

 

The museum for which I work, Strawbery Banke Museum, is creating a 

children's garden this spring.  It will be physically attached to both a 

recreated high Victorian garden and a restored hothouse exhibit; therefore
we 

are aiming to make this new garden as historically authentic as possible.  

 

The current garden is based largely upon the writings of Sarah Parker Rice 

Goodwin, wife of the Civil War era New Hampshire governor.  Similarly, 

elements within the children's garden will have roots within Goodwin's
writing.  

One of these elements is the source of my question.

 

In her memoirs, Sarah Goodwin wrote a passage about a garden she 

experimented in as a child.  The bed's border was constructed with "alley 

board."  Beyond the assumption that the name refers to the boards' function 

of creating "alleys" between multiple beds, Sarah Goodwin gives us no other 

clues.  

 

So my question to the list is: what type of wood and what dimensions would 

in your experience fulfill the Victorian concept of "alley board"?       

 

And if you've read this far, another question Sarah Goodwin has evoked is
her 

reference to a plan called the 12 o'clock.  It is unlikely she was confusing
the 

plant with 4 o'clocks, but it's most likely a disused common name for a
midday 

blooming plant.  Any ideas?

 

Thank you in advance,

 

Peter Lake

Garden Interpreter 

Strawbery Banke Museum

[log in to unmask]

 

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