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A blog, a medieval garden at The Cloisters, and thou

Posted December 30th, 2010 by Sheila Scarborough

The Cloisters gardens (courtesy TimWilson at Flickr CC)What do the Web and the Middle Ages have in common?

Use the electronic one to enjoy the other.

One of my favorite, most atmospheric art museums is The Cloisters, which is the medieval arts branch of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

They are particularly well-known for their period garden, filled with historic herbs that sound so much more elegant with their Latin names….Calamintha nepeta, Tanacetum parthenium, Origanum dictamnus….

On my last visit there, I sat on one of the benches, closed my eyes and listened to the Gregorian chants that were piped through the outdoor speakers into the garden, and enjoyed the chance to drift back into history while firmly ensconced in the modern world.

Now, if I want to dive into gardening at The Cloisters or medieval agriculture or plants in medieval art, I can visit their blog, The Medieval Garden Enclosed.  The major blog post author seems to be staff horticulturist Deirdre Larkin, who is featured in this article about the Cloisters gardens in The Herb Companion.

Holy smokes, but do I love the deep dives that you can make into the most obscure subjects, courtesy of the Internet.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, December 30th, 2010 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Art and Art Museums, City or urban travel, Sheila projects, US travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “A blog, a medieval garden at The Cloisters, and thou”

  1. Tweets that mention Did you know that The Cloisters has a blog about medieval gardening? Me, either. -- Topsy.com Says:
    December 31st, 2010 at 2:17 am

    [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Sheila Scarborough. Sheila Scarborough said: Did you know that The Cloisters has a blog about medieval gardening? Me, either. http://is.gd/jOsem [...]

  2. Deonne Kahler Says:
    December 31st, 2010 at 10:59 am

    I love the Cloisters! When I lived in Manhattan I’d go and feel like I wasn’t even in New York anymore. It’s a magical place.

  3. Sheila Says:
    December 31st, 2010 at 3:49 pm

    Hi Deonne – it is, indeed (and was also the start of my medieval chant and polyphony music collection!)

  4. Alison Wellner Says:
    January 1st, 2011 at 1:06 pm

    I’ve really got to revisit The Cloisters. I went when I was really little, on a very dark and rainy day, and the place scared the crap out of me. I was wailing and sobbing…and can you believe, I haven’t been back since?!?

  5. Sheila Says:
    January 1st, 2011 at 6:39 pm

    Hi Alison – hey, I can see that happening to a kid, with all of the medieval stuff around, suits of armor (probably containing ghosts!) and fortress-like building. I promise, you’ll have a lot more fun if you go back now. :)

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