Contrived, colourful, and cultured, the garden of the Tudor period was a paradise on earth, given over to pleasurable pastimes. Artificiality was the fashion of the age, with clipped and twined plants vying for space between brightly painted woodwork, and patterned beds of coloured soils. Renaissance discoveries reared their head in royal gardens, as traditional gold and green heraldic figures mingled with fantastical sundials and glittering fountains. Walls kept out the wild world beyond, whilst mounts permitted glimpses to new parklands, and provided raised platforms for the banqueting houses of the wealthy. Ever-changing with newly introduced exotic plants and yet never changing with year round knot gardens, the Tudor garden was an exciting pageant which this book seeks to explore. From the Trade Paperback edition.