Exploring the Herb Garden at the Getty Villa

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A beautiful day and the blooming of spring brought me out of my stuffy cubicle and into the Herb Garden at the Getty Villa. As the sun streamed onto my shoulders, I inhaled the fresh sent of mixed herbs and flowers—basil and thyme, a hint of lavender, a sweet note of chamomile.

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Like nearly everything at the Villa, this herb garden was based upon the original garden at the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum. The herb garden, or kitchen garden, was typical of wealthy households in ancient Rome. Plants grown in this garden were used for medicinal, culinary, aromatic, and religious purposes. The Villa’s Herb Garden today contains many varieties of the herbs we all know and love: mint, basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram, and sage. But it also showcases plants that were used in ancient times for surprising purposes.

For example, costmary is available today, but rarely used. In ancient Roman times, the leaf of this plant was often used as a sedative tea. Later on in the Middle Ages, the leaf of this plant was typically used as a bookmark. (Side fact: this botanical bookmark was primarily used in the Bible, the most widely distributed book at the time, thereby earning it the nickname “Bible Leaf”). It was especially useful for this not only because of its long, flat leaf, but also because of  its properties as a silverfish repellent and an instant “pick-me-up” when its minty smell was inhaled—so you wouldn’t fall asleep during those long sermons.

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Another plant used in ancient times was lamb’s ear. This plant produces unbelievably soft leaves (hence the name), which ancient Mediterranean peoples used as a bandage for wounds.

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The Herb Garden also boasts a number of fruit trees, including apple, pomegranate, apricot, fig, quince, and pear, along with several grape vines that are sure to be plentiful in years to come (right now they are still young and small).

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The next time you’re at the Villa, make sure to stop by the Herb Garden, located immediately west of the large Outer Peristyle. Often missed because it can’t be seen from many Villa locations, this garden is a wonderfully peaceful stop on your tour.

 
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6 comments so far

  1. vickie long

    September 17th, 2010 at 8:13 am

    Can you tell me what cultivar of lavander is planted under the white arbor in the sculpture garden near the tram.

    Thank you,
    Vickie Long

  2. Kim Sadler

    September 23rd, 2010 at 9:49 am

    Vickie — Thanks for your question. The lavender planted at the Getty Center near the Lower Tram Station, by the arbor with the picnic tables, is Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas), cultivar ‘Otto Quast’. The same cultivar is also at the top of the hill, near the elevator leading from the Upper Tram Station to the Museum Entrance Hall, under the row of crepe myrtles. Here is a photo of the Spanish lavender by the picnic tables:
    Spanish lavender, Lavandula stoechas 'Otto Quast', at the Getty Center

  3. Lee

    June 20th, 2011 at 8:01 pm

    Hi,

    There is a patch of green-onion like plants at the Getty herb garden. But unlike other green onion plants with flower like seed pods, the plants grow several small bulbs at the tips of the leaves. I’ve always thought bulbs divide slightly below ground. Never have I seen leaves sprout bulbs at their tips. Can sometime please tell me what kind of plant/herb this is? It would make a addition to my own herb garden.

    Thanks,
    Lee

  4. Chayse

    June 30th, 2011 at 3:56 pm

    HI Lee,

    They are Egyptian Walking onions. When the bulbs mature on the stem tops, they dry out and bend over with the weight of the bulbs. The news bulbs sprout and so, the common name, walking onions. They grow year after year and the green stems can be harvested and used like green onions all year long.

  5. Roanne

    August 24th, 2011 at 3:53 pm

    Hi Kim, I really appreciate your post and love the Herb garden! I was there again this past weekend and asked an employee if the herbs, fruits or other produce were being used for cooking at all. I was extremely surprised to learn they are not. Would the getty be interested at all to start a program like this? I know plenty of food banks, restaurants that use local produce, or even public schools that could really use the amazing stuff grown at the villa!

    Best,
    Roanne

  6. Bobby Dias

    February 17th, 2012 at 8:28 am

    The lavender is from a seed packet from a Santa Barbara nursery/florist. Except for the garden with the succulents I planted all the plants at the Getty and the Getty Villa in the early 1960s. My idea for the tram and the parking garages at the Getty and the Getty Villa. Also, the areas for offices and other non-vistor areas at both were added on to the design by me, me feeding the architect about those items, plus the research/education building in back at the Getty. After getting to get to know me Mr. Getty pretty much let me add on what I wanted, including much of the glass doors and separation panels. When the the original floor marble started to arrive at the Getty cracked I choose replacements from local Los Angeles area stock wherever I could find some. Not quite as good a color scheme as originally planned but good considering the alternative. I chose the original marble at the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art and the Santa Barbara Museum Of Art and much of the Norton-Simon and some other California museums, myself raising the money to pay for the work-no charge by myself on any museum work.

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