| In the beginning there was a garden with natural | | | | of the Ancient World, are built by King |
| water fountains. Creation's garden. And life was | | | | Nebuchadnezzar II (with help, no doubt, from a |
| good. All plants were natives. Food was pure and | | | | few thousand slaves). The gardens are laid out on |
| abundant. Predators and prey were in balance | | | | a brick terrace about 400 feet square and 75 |
| (which is not to say they were equal). Then | | | | feet above the ground. Irrigation screws are |
| people got involved and introduced concrete | | | | designed to lift water from the Euphrates River |
| fountains and many other things. They brought | | | | to the gardens. 301 B.C. In the History of Plants |
| with them their urge for order and control, and a | | | | and Theoretical Botany, Theophrastus (considered |
| robust curiosity fed by experimentation. Soon, the | | | | the Father of Botany) describes plant diseases, |
| earth was plowed into furrows and crops planted | | | | such as rusts and mildews, and explains how to |
| in rows. The best specimens were selected for | | | | hand-pollinate fig trees to maximize productivity. |
| breeding. Yet even after farmers began growing | | | | 149 B.C. Cato the Elder, in De Agriculture, urges |
| food for whole communities, and pharmacists | | | | farmers to plant grapes and olives (because they |
| took responsibility for mass-producing medicine, | | | | draw moisture and nutrients from the subsoil) |
| people continued to tend gardens. For sustenance, | | | | instead of planting drought-susceptible grain. 900 |
| yes, but also to create beauty, retain a | | | | A.D. Tofu becomes a dietary staple in China. 1305 |
| connection to nature, and enjoy the simple | | | | Opus Ruralium Commodorum, by Bolognese |
| pleasure of digging in dirt. Cast stone fountains | | | | agriculturist Petrus de Crescentiis, is the first book |
| were a way to carry water to the gardens. For a | | | | on agriculture to appear in Europe since the |
| clearer picture of what a cast stone fountain | | | | second century. 1354 The Alhambra, built by the |
| looks like visit For nearly... well...forever, gardeners | | | | Moors in Spain, is completed. The Islamic-style |
| and farmers grew plants using common sense, | | | | garden features enclosed courts surrounded by |
| careful observation, and the resources nature | | | | arcades, planted with trees and shrubs and |
| provided. Today, we call that approach "organic." | | | | enhanced with tile, fountains, and pools. 1510 |
| But that term became necessary only to | | | | Sunflowers from the Americas are introduced to |
| distinguish those time-tested tactics from the | | | | Europe by the Spanish. In many countries they |
| shortsighted chemical practices foisted on the | | | | become a major oilseed crop. In others, they are |
| public in the name of progress within the last | | | | bird food. 1528 Sweet potatoes, and haricot, |
| century. The garden was, and always will be, our | | | | cocoa, and vanilla beans, are introduced to Spain |
| connection to the earth. The garden may be the | | | | by Hernando Cortes, who presents some of the |
| true water fountain of youth. 7,000 B.C. Barley, | | | | beans to Pope Clement VII. Until then, fava beans |
| millet, and lentils are cultivated in Thessaly, one of | | | | have been the only beans known to Europeans. |
| the Greek isles. 5,000 B.C. The staples of Native | | | | 1540 A potato from South America reaches Pope |
| American cuisine, corn (maize) and common | | | | Paul III via Spain. The pope gives the tuber to a |
| beans, are cultivated in the Western Hemisphere. | | | | Frenchman, who introduces it into France as an |
| 4,0000 B.C. Hello, variety: The people of the Indus | | | | ornamental plant. Stay tuned for French fries. |
| Valley (what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan) are | | | | Gardening continued to evolve with the addition of |
| raising wheat, barley, peas, sesame seeds, | | | | water wall fountains, new vegetables, fruits, |
| mangoes, and dates on irrigated fields, as well as | | | | flowers and bulbs from various parts of the world. |
| bananas, citrus, and grapes for wine in smaller | | | | For a distinctive water wall fountain idea visit |
| plots. 3,000 B.C. Potatoes are cultivated and | | | | Machinery and chemicals also evolved as the |
| harvested in the Andes Mountains. 2,700 B.C. The | | | | demand to feed the world increased. Today, we |
| Egyptians already know and grow 500 medicinal | | | | face the overuse of synthetic nitrogen by |
| plants. 2,700 B.C. Olive trees are raised in Crete. | | | | farmers that causes soil to age the equivalent of |
| 2,000 B. C. Watermelon is cultivated in Africa; figs | | | | 5,000 years. The good news is that composting |
| are cultivated in Arabia; tea and bananas, in India; | | | | can replenish depleted soils in just one season. |
| and apples, in the Indus Valley. 1,900 B.C. The | | | | Elizabeth Jean is an outdoor gardening writer and |
| Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III commissions more | | | | frequent contributor to Garden-Fountains.com, a |
| than 500 public gardens. 600 B.C. The Hanging | | | | popular internet destination for water fountains |
| Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders | | | | and garden statuary. |