This plan for a parterre was designed by Joseph Paxton. It was published in 1838, in Paxton's Magazine of Botany. While the design is very similar to seventeenth century parterres, Paxton, who was the head gardener for the very wealthy Duke of Devonshire, made it clear to his readers that this was not intended to be an old fashioned garden when he explained that "We propose banishing entirely from the flower-garden all such plants as are perfectly hardy, or, in other words, those which are termed hardy herbaceous plants, and supplying their place with the more showy and favorite kinds which require protection during the winter. We would not, however, exclude those sorts which are ornamental, especially the dwarfer ones, but only those tall, straggling, uninteresting, or rather less interesting species, which are better adapted to the borders of shrubberies".
Paxton got his wish and hardy perennial flowers were banished from fashionable gardens until the 1870s. Many of them only survived in cottage gardens; this is why old fashioned perennials are still thought of as cottage garden flowers today. Parterres like the one at the top of this article were mainly planted with a few kinds of flowers, especially Pelargoniums, Verbenas, and Calceolarias.
The genus Pelargonium consists of about 250 species; most of them are native to South Africa. While the Dutch introduced a number of South African bulbs to Europe during the seventeenth century, Pelargonium triste was the only member of this family to be introduced during that century. A few more species were introduced in the eighteenth century, but many more arrived in the early nineteenth century. The earliest hybrid pelargoniums seem to have been developed for Napoleon's Empress Josephine in the first years of that century. These were the Zonal Geraniums which we are familiar with today.
There are about 250 species of Verbena, all native to North and South America. In 1826, Verbena melindres arrived in Europe from Argentina. It was soon followed by several other members of this family and horticulturists began to hybridize them; by 1842 named hybrids were being offered for sale.
Calceolarias are native to South and Central America; there are around 300 species in this family. The first introduction to Europe was Calceolaria pinnata in 1773. Calceolaria fothergilla was introduced in 1777, but there wasn't much interest in this genus until four more species were introduced in 1822. The first hybrids were produced in 1831 by a Dr. Graham; these were crossed with additional species introduced during the next two decades. By the 1850s there were huge hundreds of named hybrids on the market.
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