What does Valentine’s Day have to do with gardens? Well, obviously, there are the sentiments of bucolic poetry and the commercialism of red roses, but is there more to it?
There is very little actual evidence about the saint himself. He was probably a Christian bishop in Italy, but there were almost certainly several other martyrs, named St. Valentine, whose stories may well have been included in the popular legend.
What does seems clear is the link between gardens and love.
During the Middle Ages, the Western tradition had no real room for the expression of “love” in its literature. For the medieval elite, marriage was not an institution for love, but for land and heirs; and since the Church forbade passion, “love” was simply a duty. However, the notion of idealized “love,” which was described by contemporaries as“Fin Amour” (refined love), ran counter to this utilitarian basis of marriage.
Literature explains this love from the 12th century onwards, where such sentiments were rooted in poetry, illustrations and even tapestries depicting brave men courting and idealizing women; where the setting for such devotion is often a garden.
At the century XIXon the way to the commercial hype of this date, there was an interesting resurgence of interest in medievalism.; que conduced writers and artists to revisit and rework the myths associated with romantic stories of this era in which the encuentran much evidence of medieval gardens.
Despite our research efforts, we believe that Valentine’s Day has very little real connection to gardens and only a very tenuous one to love, red roses, heart-shaped cushions, romantic dinners or chocolates, but…. that won’t stop us from dedicating a little sentimentality in his name!
Our recommendations for this date, let us know what you think!
A place: Giverny (France)
Giverny is one of the most romantic gardens in France, located in the house of the impressionist painter Claude Monet.
A flower: “Love-in-a-mist”.
“Love-in-a-mist” is one of its names in English and means love-in-a-mist, which is why we thought it was a good choice for today. The technical name in Spanish would be Nigella sativa, or fennel flower.
A drink: rosé champagne
A few bubbles always come in handy for any celebration, and why not try the pink champagnes that are so fashionable nowadays.
Happy Valentine’s Day!
