Twin Peaks Set Decoration – ‘May’ from ‘Twelve Months of Flowers’ in Hayward House Foyer

Floral print decor runs rampant throughout David Lynch and Mark Frost’s Twin Peaks. From floral wallpaper found throughout the Palmer house to walls lined with flowers in Laura Palmer’s dreamworld, flowers are seen everywhere. I recently identified a floral print hanging in the Hayward’s dining room. This time, I travel across their home to look at a print found in the foyer from Robert Furber and Pieter Casteels’ “Twelve Months of Flowers.”

“MAY” FROM “TWELVE MONTHS OF FLOWERS IN THE HAYWARD HOUSE FOYER

In Twin Peaks episode 1.001, we see Donna Hayward walking down stairs to answer her front door. A floral print is seen hanging on the wall in the foyer.

The framed image contains a print of the “May” bouquet of flowers from Robert Furber and Pieter Casteels’ “Twelve Months of Flowers” book which was originally published in 1730. I found a replica of this print via a seller on Etsy that reprints Furber’s works from this book in various sizes.

The 33 flowers included in the May bouquet are as follows. Note I tried to keep the spellings the same as they would have been made in 1730.

1. Cinamon [sic] Rose
2. Narrow Leav’d Strip’d Flower de-luce
3. Columbine Strip’d
4. Bishop of Canterbury Tulip
5. Double Catch fly
6. Late white Hyacinth
7. Blen-bell Hyacinth
8. Mountain bulbed Gron foot
9. Belsilvia Anemone
10. Venetian Vetch
11. Blen Hyacinth of peru
12. China pink
13. Savoy Spider wort
14. Double Orange Lilly
15. White Hyacinth of peru
16. Pheasants eye
17. Purple Mallon
18. Arbor Judae
19. Embroidered Cranes bill
20. Dwarf Dutch Tulip
21. Indian Queen Ranunculus
22. Yellow Austrian rose
23. Double white Mountain Ranunculus
24. Dutch yellow Ranunculus
25. Indian King Ranunculus
26. Yellow globe flower
27. Red Austrian rose
28. Cytisus Secundus Clusii
29. Lotus with yellow flowers
30. Virginian Columbine
31. White Asphodil
32. Yellow Asphodil
33. Princess Pink

WHAT IS “TWELVE MONTHS OF FLOWERS?”

Robert Furber (1674–1756) was a British horticulturist and writer who had an ingenious idea to market his nursery in Kensington in London (near modern Hyde Park Gate/Gloucester Road). He was a member of the “English Society of Gardners”, a group formed in 1724 to “protect the reputations of plant growers by mutually agreeing to names for newly discovered plants.”

In 1730, he decided to publish a set of twelve prints of beautiful flowers that bloomed in a particular month. These images were inspired by a Flemish artist named Pieter Casteels III 1684-1749) and engraved by Henry Fletcher. Casteel’s floral plates were advertised in Fog’s Weekly Journal from September 25, 1731 as being “compleatly [sic] finished” and ready for delivery. They were originally sold on a subscription basis for £1 5s in uncolored form, or £2 12s 6d for a colored version.

For Furber’s “Twelve Months of Flowers,” each print contained approximately 30 different kinds of flowers which were each labeled and identified at the bottom of the print. It was no coincidence that the nearly 400 different flowering species depicted in the book were also available for sale at Furber’s nursery. The book was reprinted in 1982.

APPEARANCES IN TWIN PEAKS

After the initial appearance in Twin Peaks, episode 1.001, you can see this print hanging in the foyer in a handful of episodes. For episode 1.002, a Grandfather clock suddenly appears in the foyer. It’s not there earlier in the evening when Donna welcomes James into her home.

A sliver of the May print is seen with this closeup of the clock face. I never realized the clock appears and disappears like Special Agent Phillip Jeffries until writing this article.

At the beginning of the show’s second season, the print is barely seen during the Hayward supper club. Look carefully in the distance as Gersten Hayward announces the song she will play.

The framed image is also barely scene when Leland Palmer performs, “Get Happy” in episode 2.001.

As Donna Hayward runs to answer the phone in episode 2.002, you can see a sliver of Furber’s artwork.

We see an out-of-focus shot as Major Garland Briggs enters the Hayward’s home for Leland Palmer’s wake in episode 2.010.

The picture will finally appear again in the final two second season episodes of Twin Peaks. In episode 2.021, we get several shots inside the Hayward House.

As Donna Hayward confronts her parents about Benjamin Horne, we can see the image in the background illuminated by colorful stained glass.

The shot creeps closer to Donna with the May flowers seen out-of-focus in the distance.

A more in-focus shot is seen as Donna storms out of the home to attend the Miss Twin Peaks Contest.

In episode 2.022, the image will appear several more times including the initial shot with Donna Hayward speaking with her mother and Ben Horne.

A sliver of the image is seen during a close up of Donna crying about her real parents.

Ben, damnit! Doc Hayward’s embracing his daughter has the image slightly out of focus.

After Doc hits Ben, Donna, Eileen Hayward and Silvia Horne, step closer to the action. The May flower image is seen in the distance.

Donna’s final on screen appearance in episode 2.022 has her standing right in front of the framed image. You can see only a sliver of the frame.

I don’t think Robert Furber could have ever imagined his book about with a year of flowers would still be discussed nearly 300 years after it was first published.