Plants and gardens have been, and in many cases continue to be, cornerstones of religions. Plants imbued with symbolism and gardens created as an earthly expression of a paradisaical afterlife.
Think about it - the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil with its 'apple' (I know, the garden in Eden is supposed to have been a real place on Earth not an afterlife concept), the chahar bagh form of the Islamic garden, all those great Ancient Greek myths, the Epic of Gilgamesh, the lotus in Buddhism and the Island of the Blessed in Taoist mythology, etc., etc., etc.
So, my splendid new tome, Paradise Gardens is the story of plants and gardens within seventeen different global religions over a five millennia time frame. And, even though I say it myself it is a fascinating story. Moreover many of the religio-garden forms have been and are still an inspiration for secular gardens the world over.
For some more information about the book, check out its Amazon page....
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