J. Paul Getty Villa's Mediterranean Gardens

Southern California is known for its Mediterranean climate. So I was delighted to see they had taken advantage of this in planning the Gardens at the J. Paul Getty Villa Museum, Malibu, California. The gray leaves of Olive trees and the dark orange blossoms of Pomegranate bushes set the tone for the grounds of this museum housing Greek art.

The museum itself is a replica of a first-century Roman country house, the Villa dei Papiri, that existed in Herculaneum, Italy, near Pompeii before its destruction by the eruption of Mt. Vesuviusin in 79 AD. On my recent trip there, a tour guide explained how people lived in 50 AD in Pompeii, if you were lucky enough to be one of the elite with a villa. Just as each room and courtyard had a particular purpose, so did each garden.

The first room, the reception room where all occasions of note were held, included a lovely white marble fountain with a skylight above it called a compluvium. From there, rain could be directed from the tiled roof through water spouts fashioned like lion's heads into the fountain or impluvium, creating a waterfall & reusing the rain. Practical, as well as delightful to the senses!

But it was the courtyard just beyond that caught my eye. This area was a square with rooms on all four sides and walkways all the way around lined with Roman pillars. From any of the rooms you could walk out to the sunny garden square. Again, this was a practical design in that it allowed sun & breezes into all the rooms, quite different from our world of air conditioners. And, this garden, too, had a fountain. It was a different shape: long and low, lined with statutes. What was its purpose, its function, so close to the dining and cooking area of the household? Turns out it was used to hold fresh fish and keep them on hand for dinner. How clever and lovely at once!

Beyond this was a more personal garden space with 2 fountains, the East Garden. The Romans lived as much outside as in, drinking in all the benefits of sunshine.

What really interested me was the herb garden. Why the vast expanse of herbs? Well, besides being lovely to walk through, and good for spicing food, they were the only medicine these people had! Lavender, mints, and oregano would have grown just as easily in the Mediterranean climate of Pompeii, as here at the Getty near the Pacific Ocean. While the debate still continues over the value of medicinal herbs, the Romans apparently had no such doubts about their benefits. Below is a list of the herbs so important to the Romans' daily lives:

Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium); Calamint (Calamintha officinalis)

Fennel Foeniculum vulgare; Lavender Lavandula spp.

Peppermint Mentha piperita ; English mint Mentha spicata

Horsemint Mentha sylvestris; Spearmint Mentha viridis

Catmint Nepeta cataria ; Feverfew Tanacetum vulgare

Rosemary Rosmarinus officinalis; Thyme Thymus vulgaris

Damask Rose Rosa damascene; Oregano Origanum vulgare

Marjoram Origanum majorana, Lamiaceae

Ref. http://www.getty.edu/visit/see_do/gardens.html for the herb list.

In fact, most everything the Romans planted had a practical use: Olive trees provided oil for cooking, for skin care, and olives for eating. Pomegranate trees were planted at the Getty alongside Orange trees lining both sides of a long swimming pool. Pomegranate fruit was high in antioxidants, Citrus fruit high in Vitamin C, and the citrus blossoms provided nectar for the honeybees. The Romans would use this honey as their only sweetener. Figs, grapes, apples & pears were also cultivated.

The gardens and their location near the ocean’s breezes made life in a 50 AD villa feel as if all your wants were taken care of. And, one could easily imagine strolling the grounds there.. full time!