"The appeal of the Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare's Birthplace, &c. issued three months ago, for gifts of Elizabethan plants and flowers, wherewith to stock his 'Great Garden' at Stratford-upon-Avon, has had a very gratifying response. The King and Queen, Queen Alexandra and the Prince of Wales, have graciously interested themselves in the project, and have given practical support by valuable contributions of old-fashioned roses and other flowers. "From the gardens of all the Royal Palaces, which were known to Shakespeare, ample parcels of the same sorts of flowers as grew in them when he visited them have been forwarded to Stratford-upon-Avon. Thus, from Greenwich, where we know that he appeared as an actor before Queen Elizabeth at Christmas, 1594; from Windsor, where his Company performed before the same Queen--probably in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"--as well as from Frogmore, which that play proves his acquaintance with; from Hampton Court--out of the Old Tudor Garden, 'circum-mured with brick,' which he must have visited when he and his fellows of the 'King's Company of Actors' spent ten days there during the Christmastide of 1603-4, presenting six plays before King James and his Court--from the gardens of all these places large consignments of plants have reached Shakespeare's Garden. "From Wilton, likewise, where Shakespeare and his Company first acted before King James, a large number of specimens of every plant and flower wanted by the Trustees, has been sent by the present owner--the lineal descendant of the one, and the kinsman and representative of the other, of the two 'most noble and incomparable Paire of Brethren, William Earle of Pembroke and Philip Earle of Montgomery ... who prosequuted the Author living with so much favor'--to quote the words of the famous 'First Folio,' which was dedicated to them. "Similarly, from the gardens of other places, which Shakespeare must have known well, have come very welcome gifts, notably from Charlecote, close to Stratford--the beautiful home of the Lucys for 750 years, where Shakespeare is said when a youth to have poached the deer of Sir Thomas Lucy, who had him whipped for his offense--whence now comes a charming collection of the poet's favorite flowers from the direct lineal descendant and heiress of the original 'Justice Shallow.' "The trustees have also received choice batches of old-fashioned flowers from the gardens of medieval Castles mentioned in the plays--Glamis and Cawdor, for instance--and some which were probably well known to Shakespeare, such as Berkeley Castle; and from the great Tudor houses also, which he knew well, at any rate by repute, such as Knole, Burghley House, and Cobham Hall. The owner of Cobham Hall sends specimens of the famous 'Cobham' Rose, known to have been grown in the garden there for four or five hundred years. From Esher Place also--the 'Aster House' of 'King Henry VIII'--come many beautiful flowers and herbs.