Earthly Paradise–A History of European Gardens: A Four-Part Course with Dr. Alette Fleischer

The English philosopher Francis Bacon wrote in 1597 that “God Almightie first Planted a Garden. And indeed, it is the Purest of Humane pleasures. It is the Greatest Refreshment to the Spirits of Man”. The Garden of Eden has inspired more gardens than any other in Western history. Bacon states that gardening is pleasurable, and it provides nourishment for the body and the soul.  This is still the case today: flowers and kitchen herbs grown in pots on a windowsill satisfy our need to garden in modern times.

Throughout our four sessions, we will dive into 800 years of garden history. From the thirteenth to the sixteenth century, we’ll explore how a garden reflected the idea of a Biblical paradise—a walled hortus filled with beautiful, edible, and medicinal plants. 

During the age of exploration in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, we’ll discover how exotic flowers and fruits were introduced to the European garden—vast geometrically-shaped spaces, with manicured lawns and clipped hedges—which symbolized human control over nature. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we’ll see the rise of the English landscape garden. Garden architects replicated nature’s true essence in meandering paths, waterways, and garden follies, giving the visitor the feeling of walking in a landscape painting. Culminating with the twentieth century, we’ll learn how garden design was influenced by Modernism, and then finally giving way to a more organic way of gardening, where a gardener followed nature, rather than vice versa.

Led by a passionate expert on garden history, Alette Fleischer, this in-depth course will give an overview of garden history in Europe. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased knowledge of the difference in garden styles and that gardening still is the Purest Human Pleasure.