Spring Parterre – Area vernalis
“The Spring Parterre comprises such plant species as should be covered during the winter and which start to develop (occasionally protected by windows) as spring approaches. Among these are numerous plants from Siberia. This parterre has a frame for climbing plants such as Convolvuli, Ipomaea, marrows, etc.”
Carl von Linné, Hortus Upsaliensis 1745
Besides Siberian plants, the parterre included spring-flowering bulbs. In his “Blomsteralmanach” (Calendar of Flora) from 1755, Linnaeus notes on the 12th of April that spring crocus Crocus vernus, snowdrop Galanthus nivalis, and spring snowflake Leucojum vernum all began blooming on the same day that the wagtail returned and the frogs began croaking. During the summer, most of the spring flowers have withered and the flowerbeds lie waste.