The Getty Museum building recreates an ancient Roman villa on the shores of the Pacific Ocean, where guests can feel that they are visiting the Villa dei Papiri before it was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The climate of southern California has made it possible to plant the gardens with dozens of herbs, flowers, and fruit trees known to the Greeks and Romans. In classical times they were practical as well as beautiful, providing color, perfume, home medicines, and flavorings for food and drink. Martha Breen Bredemeyer, a San Francisco Bay area artist, was inspired to paint two dozen of the garden's herbs. Her watercolor gouaches combine vibrant color with the fragile delicacy of these short-lived plants while her pen-and-ink drawings share their wiry grace. Jeanne D'Andrea discusses twenty-one of the herbs in detail after presenting their place in myth, medicine, and home in the introduction.

Publisher description

Horticultural Reviews presents state-of-the-art reviews on topics in horticultural science and technology covering both basic and applied research. Topics covered include the horticulture of fruits, vegetables, nut crops, and ornamentals. These review articles, written by world authorities, bridge the gap between the specialized researcher and the broader community of horticultural scientists and teachers. All contributions are anonymously reviewed and edited by Professor Jules Janick of Purdue University, USA, and published in the form of one or two volumes per year. Recently published articles include: Artificial Pollination in Tree Crop Production (v34) Cider Apples and Cider-Making Techniques in Europe and North America (v34) Garlic: Botany and Horticulture (v33) Controlling Biotic Factors That Cause Postharvest Losses of Fresh Market Tomatoes (v33) Taxus spp.: Botany, Horticulture, and Source of Anti-Cancer Compounds (v32) The Invasive Plant Debate: A Horticultural Perspective (v32)

Learn how to use twenty-eight popular, easy-to-grow herbs to treat everyday ailments and maintain good health. From selecting plants to harvesting and storing them to making remedies and savories of all sorts, The Herb Gardener's Essential Guide presents an abundance of practical and satisfying ways to incorporate herbs into a healthier lifestyle and diet. Utilizing both herbs and essential oils, this beautifully illustrated guide explains how to choose and make the ideal herbal mixture for a wide variety of medicinal and culinary uses. Need help getting to sleep? Try a cup of Thyme to Settle Tea. Add a sweet, spicy flavor to roast meat or vegetables with Coriander Spiced Butter. Ease muscle pain and stiffness with soothing Rosemary Warming Massage Oil. Featuring an ailments-and-issues guide, instructions for creating a personalized apothecary garden, and detailed profiles for each of the herbs, this accessible book belongs on every gardener's shelf.

The aim of this book is to bring together current knowledge of thirty of the most commonly used culinary herbs and spices globally in an accessible dictionary format.