Your “alley board” may be simple rough cut lumber. Many alleys in the 19^th and early 20^th 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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