when Adam walked in the Garden of Eden on the first day, ‘he smelled wonderful scents and enjoyed beautiful sights’. But this sense of blissful ease was not to last, for both Judaism and Christianity refer back to the Garden as a place of original ease, a lost paradise, where humanity and nature were in accord with the divine, God.
In the beginning, God created a garden called Eden. Eden is traditionally located in Mesopotamia, probably in the northern part of the region since an apple tree was able to grow there without irrigation. Before the fall, Eden was a fertile, fragrant oasis of delight, magically calm except for the sweet sounds of water and laughter. Since the dawn of civilisation, human kind has ceaselessly endeavoured to recreate this mythical paradise.
(G. Van Zuylen, Visions of Paradise)
This is doubtless the root of our search to create an arcadian paradise over the centuries: an attempt to recreate a sense of perfect harmony. This is even more relevant today when the pressure and problems facing both the individual and society at large seem to be increasing. The Prince of Wales finds his garden at Highgrove in Gloucestershire:
… a place of escape from the noise, rush and often the brutality of the world. It is a place where both humans and wildlife can take sanctuary. The garden in this way can become a glimpse of Paradise; a sacred space where humanity, nature and the Divine meet in harmony.
(Martin Palmer and David Manning, Sacred Gardens)
Blue lotus (Nymphaea caerulea), considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians.
photo-oasis
THE GREEK AND ROMAN LEGACY
The concise botanical knowledge and skill of the ancient Egyptians was developed by several outstanding Greek men of learning, many of whom studied at the great library of Alexandria. Herodotus and Democrates, who visited Egypt during the fifth century BC, also transmitted directly what they had learned about perfumery and natural therapeutics from the Egyptian physicians. Hippocrates, who was born in Greece about 460 BC and is universally revered as the ‘Father of Medicine’, prescribed various aromatic remedies; indeed, from Greek medical practice there is derived the term ‘iatralypte’, from the physician who cured exclusively through the use of aromatic preparations. Later, Theophrastus (371–287 BC) described over 550 species of plants and the distinguishing nature of scents in his Enquiry into Plants, written about 340 BC. Many familiar fragrant flowers and herbs are mentioned in this work, such as narcissi and lilies, but it is Dioscorides (40–90 AD) who is better known for his De Materia Medica, which described the medicinal use of over 600 plants.
By the fourth century BC the Greeks were also cultivating flower gardens dedicated to the gods and these in turn influenced gardening in Rome. Both the Greek and Roman visions of the ideal garden were influenced by the classical Persian paradise garden, and were usually laid out to a formal design with fruit-bearing trees, herbs and running water. Many aromatic plants were named after nymphs or lovers in Greek legend, such as Artemis or Narcissus. According to myth, it was Apollo who taught the healer Aesclepius that the fragrant lily-of-the-valley could be used as a tonic for the heart. The favoured flower of the Greeks, however, was the rose – the flower of Aphrodite, the goddess of love.
Sadly, under the Romans the rose later became a flaunted symbol of ostentation. Nero had his banqueting floors strewn with rose petals. Roses were also used in garlands for military heroes and were considered essential to everyday life. They also enjoyed a position of great prominence in the Roman garden, which was otherwise mainly given over to aromatic herbs. In their pursuit of sensuous pleasure, the Romans devoted an entire street in Capua simply to the manufacture of different types of scented substances, especially rosewater.
Lily-of-the-valley (Convallaria majalis), according to myth, given to the healer Aesclepius by Apollo.
Elena Elisseeva
The Roman knowledge of herbs and aromatic plants was derived mainly from the Greeks, in particular from Dioscorides. Their horticultural knowledge also spread throughout the Roman Empire and much of this knowledge was later preserved in the monasteries. With the conquest of Britain, the Romans brought with them a number of flowering fragrant fruit trees, such as the cherry, pear, quince and peach, and introduced many other familiar plants from their colonies along the Mediterranean coast. Amongst these were such well-known ones as chervil, chives, parsley, rue, onion, fennel, rosemary, southernwood, borage, sage and thyme. Such plants adapted well to more temperate climates and formed the basis for the ‘herbaries’ or herb gardens of the great monasteries which sprang up all over Europe in medieval times. This herbal legacy bequeathed by the Romans also proved invaluable for the development of herbal medicine in Britain. The earliest English herbal, written about the time of the Norman conquest and still preserved in the British Museum, owes its origin to a book written by a Roman doctor, Apuleius Platonicus.
THE MEDIEVAL MONASTIC GARDEN
During the Middle Ages, the monasteries not only served as spiritual centres to the community but they were also seats of learning. The study of plants was one of the main areas of intellectual endeavour since herbal medicine was the most common method of treating illness. Concern for physical healing was a mark of Christian philosophy and thus based primarily on practical considerations. Thus the ‘cloister’ garden developed which was devoted to growing useful medicinal herbs and aromatic plants, as well as providing a place of contemplation for the monks.
This style of garden, known in medieval England as the ‘cloister garth’, was a large, enclosed garden with a beautifully kept green lawn in the centre of the monastery or cathedral. Surrounded by stone cloisters with a covered arcade, it provided a place where the monks could stroll in leisurely contemplation or sit at peaceful leisure and view the passing day.
These cloister garths were formally laid out, and often divided into four sections similar to Roman villa gardens. It was originally as a reaction against urbanised Rome that monastic Christianity had arisen with its keen interest in agriculture and gardening – yet Rome still proved pivotal in its horticultural influence in Britain. Water was frequently found in these gardens, as in the early Islamic paradise gardens, and the monks could meditate on the elements. The formal ordering of the cloister garden was also conducive to a state of restful ease – a tranquil haven where the monks or nuns could find the peace that ‘passeth all understanding’. Sometimes an orchard was planted at the sacred eastern end and was used as a place for contemplation on death and the eternal life. The ‘physic’ garden was generally found to the north of the eastern end of the church or sometimes in the cloisters or courtyards besides the church. The famous Benedictine monastery of St Gall in Switzerland, founded in the year 610 AD, served for centuries as an ideal model for monastic gardens throughout Europe. Here, the cloister garth provides the central feature or focal point of the whole design and was divided into four equal sections by footpaths:
The garth is square, an ideal plan based on the description of the Temple built by the Israelites.
(Aben and de Wit, The Enclosed Garden)
Traditional cloister garths can still be found throughout Europe and America, for example at Wells Cathedral, Somerset, in England; at the Basilica of St Francis, Assisi, in Italy; and at the National Cathedral, Washington, in the USA. Within the enclosure, as at St Galls, there were generally two herb gardens: one was the physic garden or infirmary garden, planted with healing medicinal herbs; the second was the kitchen garden. Here, culinary herbs
