The History of Plants and Gardens: From Cave Walls to Modern Horticulture

Plant classification dates to 18,000 BC (Lascaux caves). Hippocrates (4th c. BC) documented 400 medicinal plants; half remain in use. Aristotle cataloged herbs; Theophrastus founded botanical inquiry. Dioscorides' De Materia Medica (1st c. AD) served 16 centuries. Galen (2nd c. AD) was Rome's herbal authority.

Early focus: wild medicinal plants, not cultivation. Monasteries preserved herbal gardens from 529 AD; Charlemagne spread St. Gall's model. Crusades introduced new species, though superstitions constrained botany. Royalty later championed grand palace gardens — Napoleon's Josephine amassed Europe's largest rose collection.

In Britain, Druidic traditions merged with Roman plants. Henry VIII chartered herbalists (1511), separating them from barber-surgeons — a rift persisting today. Turner, Culpeper, and Gerard advanced English botany. By 1850, herbs (peppermint, lavender, foxglove, etc.) were commercial crops.

Cottage gardens sustained communities with food, remedies, flowers. Colonial discoveries, guided by indigenous knowledge, expanded cultivation. Modern horticulture explodes commercially (medicinal herbs, drugs) while remaining a beloved pastime for beauty, indoor decoration, and aesthetic well-being worldwide.