Even though the Romans secularized the garden and invented the idea of the garden as an exterior room horticulture for the Romans was, in many instances, purely ornamental and a testament to pleasure and wealth the gods were still felt to be present in the gardens where their floral offerings were grown. And while the miracle of life still took place in the garden, outdoor space was, first and foremost, a reflection of its owner. Nowhere is this more evident than in the grandeur of seventeenth-century Versailles, perhaps, in terms of the influence of its garden design, one of the most significant gardens ever created. Rediscovering gardening as an instrument of grace, to use May Sarton s words, requires that we go back in time to recover our sense of wonder. Much separates us from those who discovered the power of the seed but now, thousands of years later at the dawn of a new millennium, more and more of us are experiencing the sense of spirit our ancestors on the planet acknowledged in the soil beneath their feet and in the seed itself.
Gardening engages all five of the human senses as few activities do.
We see, smell, feel, hear, and even taste as we garden, and, because all of our senses are involved, what we experience is vivid and specific. The simple acts of gardening digging, tamping, working the dirt, and watering have echoes that reach back to childhood, whether we played in the suburbs or in a city park. As we garden we experience time past and present. Touching the earth digging, planting, harvesting connects us literally and spiritually to all those who have dug, planted, and harvested before us. Working in the garden permits us to begin to understand the woven pattern of relationships in nature, and teaches us that nothing in nature is either independent or isolated.