Gardens and Plants of the Getty Villa is the long-awaited companion volume to Plants in the Getty's Central Garden published in 2004. In the first part of the book, garden historian Patrick Bowe explores the design, planting, and uses of the ancient Roman garden and describes how J. Paul Getty s vision to create such a garden in California was brought to reality.
The second part includes a sumptuously illustrated guide to the plants in each of the five gardens at the Villa. Bowe introduces each of the gardens, describing the underlying concepts and the relationship to the ancient Roman models as well as their architectural and sculptural elements present. He also documents how plantings have been renewed in light of new knowledge emerging from excavations conducted in the Roman gardens of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Horticulturist Michael DeHart provides informative descriptions of the growing habits and characteristics for each of the plants, citing medicinal, culinary, and ritual uses for many of them.