Pompeii Gardens: Roses, Flowers and Peristyles

The Gardens of Pompeii

The gardens of Pompeii were the green heart of the Roman house and the city alike — courtyards filled with roses, violets, vines, fruit trees, and herbs, surrounded by columned walkways. Astonishingly, archaeologists have reconstructed these gardens in precise detail using the cavities left by decayed roots, preserved pollen and seeds, and the lush garden scenes painted on the walls.

This combination of evidence makes Pompeii unique. Almost nowhere else can the actual planting of an ancient garden be recovered, plant by plant and tree by tree. The result is that the pompeii gardens are not guesswork but a genuine botanical snapshot of a Roman city frozen in 79 AD — and several have been replanted so visitors can walk through them today.

How the Gardens Were Reconstructed

The breakthrough came from the American archaeologist Wilhelmina Jashemski, who from the 1950s onward applied to gardens the same logic Giuseppe Fiorelli had used for bodies. When a tree or shrub decays underground, its roots leave a hollow void in the hardened volcanic deposit. By carefully pouring plaster into these cavities, Jashemski recovered casts of root systems — revealing the exact species, size, and spacing of the plants that once grew there.

She combined these casts with other lines of evidence to read each garden:

• Root cavities — showing the position and scale of trees, vines, and shrubs.
• Carbonised seeds and wood — identifying species such as olive, fig, and cherry.
• Pollen analysis — revealing flowers and grasses that left no other trace.
• Garden frescoes — wall paintings depicting the very plants and birds of the courtyard, used as a cross-check.
• Planting features — pots, trenches, trellis holes, and irrigation channels in the soil.

What Grew in a Pompeian Garden

The reconstructed planting shows gardens that were both beautiful and productive. Ornamental beds mixed freely with food crops, so a single courtyard might combine scent, shade, and a harvest. Documented and likely plants include the following.

• Roses — the celebrated pompeii rose, grown in quantity for beauty and for industry.
• Violets, lilies, and other flowers — for colour, scent, and garland-making.
• Grapevines — trained on trellises for shade and wine; whole garden-vineyards existed.
• Fruit and nut trees — figs, olives, cherries, almonds, pears, and pomegranates.
• Herbs — culinary and medicinal plants such as rosemary, mint, and bay.
• Boxwood and ivy — clipped for hedging, borders, and decorative greenery.

Flowers, Perfume, and Garlands

The pompeii flowers were not only decorative. The area around Pompeii was a recognised centre of flower cultivation and the perfume trade. Roses and other blooms supplied workshops that produced scented oils (unguenta), while fresh flowers were woven into the garlands worn at banquets, weddings, and religious festivals. Several Pompeian businesses appear to have been involved in this fragrant industry, and the prominence of the pompeii roses in both gardens and economy reflects how deeply flowers were woven into daily Roman life. This world of scent and ornament sat alongside the city's broader culture and its love of decorated frescoes.

The Peristyle Garden at the Heart of the House

In the typical Roman house, the garden lived in the peristyle — a colonnaded courtyard at the rear, open to the sky. Surrounded by columns and often centred on a pool or fountain, the peristyle garden brought light, air, and nature into the home, and its walls were frequently painted with illusionistic garden scenes that made the space feel larger and greener still. To understand how this courtyard fitted into the layout of the Roman home, see the peristyle page.

Gardens You Can See Today

Several Pompeian gardens have been replanted to recreate their ancient appearance, using species documented at the site. The garden of the House of the Vettii is among the most admired, restored with beds, fountains, and statuary around its colonnade. The Garden of the Fugitives preserves a former vineyard whose vine layout was reconstructed from root cavities — and where plaster casts of victims lie among the rows, a haunting reminder that these green spaces were part of a living, dying city. Walking them today is the closest a visitor can come to standing in a Roman garden of the ancient city.

Related Pages

• Pompeii: The Ancient City
• The Peristyle Garden
• The Garden of the Fugitives
• The House of the Vettii