" "It was visited by all the gentlemen and gentlewomen for the size and beauty of its flower. But now it is so vulgar that no one cares about it".
Ulisse Aldrovandi on the first "Peruvian Chrysanthemum" seen in Italy (actually a sunflower), planted in Bologna in 1594. Seen above in his 18 volume Tavole di piante, available online in its entirety at the University of Bologna."
(this blog post is a complete lift from a post on the gardenhistorygirl blog. I hope she doesn't mind. I thought the description of the ageing sunflower was something the majority of Garden65 readers would find ruefully amusing.)
