Smaller Scale Gardens from the 14th-16th Centuries
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa


Some Period Sources:

What did they grow?

What did they use it for?

Tusser: Seedes and herbes for the Kitchen
  • Avens (Herb Bennet)
  • Betanie (betony)
  • Bleets or beets, white or yellow
  • Bloodwort (Probably red-veined dock)
  • Buglas (bugloss, probably alkanet)
  • Burnet
  • Burrage (Borage)
  • Cabbage [remoue in June]
  • Clarie (Clary Sage)
  • Coleworts
  • Cresses
  • Endiue (Endive)
  • Fenell (Fennel)
  • French Mallows
  • French Saffron set in August
  • Langdebiefe (oxtongue)
  • Leekes [remoue in June]
  • Lettis [remoue in May]
  • Longwort
  • Liuerwort
  • Marigolds often cut (Calendula)
  • Mercurie (might be annual mercury- DO NOT EAT)
  • Mints at all times
  • Nep (Possibly nepeta, specifically lesser calamint)
  • Onions [from December to March]
  • Orach or arach, redde and white
  • Patience (Probably Patience Dock)
  • Perceley (Parsley)
  • Peneriall (Pennyroyal - DO NOT EAT)
  • Primerose (Primrose)
  • Poret (possibly scallions?)
  • Rosemary in the spring time
  • Sage Red and White
  • Saffron [set in August]
  • Summer sauerie
  • Sorell
  • Spinage (spinach)
  • Suckerie (succory/chicory)
  • Siethes
  • Tansie (Tansy - DO NOT EAT)
  • Time (Thyme)
  • Violets of all sorts
  • Winter sauerie
Tusser herbs and roots for sallets and sauce
  • Alexanders, at all times
  • Artichoke
  • Blessed thistle, or Carduus benedictus
  • Cucumbers in April and May
  • Cresses, sowe with Lettice in the spring
  • Endiue
  • Mustard seeds, sow in the spring and at Mihelmas (Sept. 29)


  • Musk million (Muskmelon), in April and May
  • Mints
  • Purslane
  • Radish, and after remove them
  • Rampions (Campanula rapunculus)
  • Rokat, in April (Rocket, aka Arugula)
  • Sage
  • Sorrell
  • Spinage, for the summer (Spinach)
  • Sea holie (Eryngos)
  • Sperage, let grow two years, and then remove (Asparagus)
  • Skirrets, set these plants in March
  • Suckerie (succory/chicory)
  • Tarragon, set in slips in March
  • Violets, of all colors

Tusser: Herbs and rootes to boil or to butter
  • Bennes, set in winter (beans, probably fava)
  • Cabbage, sowe in March, and after remove
  • Carrets (Carrots, probably red and white)
  • Citrons, sowe in May (???!)
  • Goordes in May (Lagenaria species)
  • Nanewes sowe in June
  • Pompions in May (Pumpkins, but a lagenaria species)
  • Parseneps in winter (Parsnips)
  • Runciuall pease set in winter (Rouncival, a type of pea)
  • Rapes sowe in June (probably rutabaga/swedes)
  • Turneps in March and April (Turnips)

Tusser, Strewing Herbs of all sorts:
  • Bassell [basil], fine and busht, sowe in May.
  • Bawlme (Lemon Balm), set in Marche
  • Camamel [Camomile]
  • Costemary [Costmary/Bible Leaf]
  • Cowsleps and paggles (Cowslips)
  • Daisies of all sorts
  • Sweet fennell
  • Germander
  • Hop, set in Februarie.
  • Lavender
  • Lavender spike
  • Lavender cotten (santolina)
  • Marjorom, knotted, sow or set, at the spring (Marjoram, probably Sweet marjoram annual)
  • Mawdelin (probably Sweet Maudlin/Sweet Yarrow, achillea ageratum)
  • Penal ryall [Pennyroyal]
  • Roses of all sorts, in January and September
  • Red myntes [peppermint?]
  • Sage
  • Tansey
  • Violets
  • Winter savery.
Tusser: Herbs, branches, and flowers, for windows and pots
  • Baies (Bay laurel?), sowe or set in plants in Januarie
  • Batchelers buttons
  • Botles, blew, red, and tawnie (probably cornflower, Centaurea species)
  • Collembines (columbines)
  • Campions
  • Cousleps (Cowslips)
  • Daffadondillies (Daffodils)
  • Eglantine, or sweet brier
  • Fetherfew (Feverfew)
  • Flower armor sowe in May (Fleur-amor, possibly a kind of amaranth)
  • Flower gentle, white and red (flower-gentle, probably a species of amaranth)
  • Flower nice
  • Gileflowers, red white and carnations, set in spring, and at Harvest in pots, paile sor tubs, or for sommer in beds (Gillyflowers / carnations)
  • Gileflowers, red white and carnations, set in spring, and at Harvest in pots, paile sor tubs, or for sommer in beds (Gillyflowers / carnations)
  • Holiokes, red white and carnations (hollyhocks)
  • Indian eie, sowe in May, or set in slips in March (?)
  • Lavender of all sorts
  • Larkes foot (possibly larkspur?)
  • Laus tibi (a white-flowered narcissus)
  • Lillium cum valium (Lily of the Valley)
  • Lilies, red and white, sowe or set in March and September
  • Marigolds double (calendula)
  • Nigella Romana (Nigela flower, love-in-a-mist)
  • Pauncies or hartesease (Pansies or johnny-jump-ups)
  • Paggles, green and yellow (cowslip relative)
  • Pinkes of all sorts (Dianthus)
  • Queenes gilliflowers (probably dame's-rocket)
  • Rosemarie
  • Roses of all Sorts
  • Snag dragons (Snapdragons)
  • Sops in wine (clove pink)
  • Sweete Williams (Dianthus barbatus)
  • Sweete Johns (another Dianthus barbatus)
  • Star of Bethlehem (probably Ornithogalum umbellatum, grass lily)
  • Star of Jerusalem
  • Stocke gilleflowers of all sorts (probably stock flower)
  • Tuft gilleflowers (possibly maiden pinks, Dianthus deltoides)
  • Veluet flowers, or french Marigolds (?? probably not tagetes)
  • Violets, yellow (?) and white
  • Wall gilleflowers of all sorts (probably wallflower)
Tusser: herbs to still in Sommer
  • Blessed Thistle
  • Betanie (Betony)
  • Dill
  • Endive
  • Eiebright (Eyebright)
  • Fennell
  • Fumetorie (Common fumitory? This grows wild)
  • Isop (Hyssop)
  • Mints
  • Plantine (Plantain, also grows wild)
  • Roses red and damaske
  • Respies (?)
  • Saxefrage (Saxifrage, but what kind?)
  • Strawberies
  • Sorell
  • Suckerie (Chicory)
  • Woodrofe for sweet waters and cakes (Woodruff? "Wood's rose" and Wood rose are native to N. America)
Tusser: Necessarie herbes to growe in the garden for Physick, not rehearsed before
  • Annis (Aniseed, Pimpinella anisum)
  • Archangel (probably Angelica)
  • Betanie
  • Charuiel
  • Cinqfile (Cinquefoil)
  • Cummin (Cumin)
  • Dragons
  • Detanie, or garden ginger (Dittany?)
  • Gromel seed, for the stone (gromwell?)
  • Hartstong
  • Horehound
  • Lovage for the stone
  • Licoras (Liquorice)
  • Mandrake (POISON!)
  • Mogwort (Mugwort)
  • Pionees (Peonies)
  • Poppie (probably corn poppy)
  • Rew (Rue, hazardous to consume, skin irritant)
  • Rubarb
  • Smalach (Smallage, aka wild celery), for swellings
  • Saxefrage, for the stone
  • Savin, for the bots (POISON)
  • Stitchwort (greater stitchwort is also called star-of-bethlehem)!
  • Valerian
  • Woodbine (prob. European Honeysuckle)