Pomegranate at Roman country house

This pomegranate tree is growing at the Getty Villa in LA. It is part of a reproduction of a Roman country house buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79.

Some Roman country houses where very elaborate.

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Thats a nice-looking tree!

I was in Rome awhile back and there were some murals from an old country house from Roman times they had recovered. Here is a picture I took of a pomegranate painted 2000 years ago:

So thats definitely an authentic plant to have at that house!

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Wow, those photos looked beautiful!!!

Tony

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That is one very good solution to ‘crummy poorly draining soil’ ! Find the most enormous ‘pot’ you can and fill it with perfect pomegranate soil! I think that is a great idea to add different heights to a garden, as well. But - difficult to find enough soil to accommodate a pot that size!

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Here is a remarkable quality Roman fresco unearthed at Pompeii, “Cockerel Pecking Pomegranate”: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BnR7X_dIAAAlqL9.jpg

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I do not know where a planter that size would be purchased. It did get me thinking how nice it would be to have some very large durable planters in the garden with close to perfect soil. I don’t know how much that planter cost the Getty Villa but I do know Getty set up his museum with over $600,000,000 so they can spend whatever they deem appropriate.

Oddly enough . . . I received an email from Houzz, with planter ideas. And guess what? Someone was using huge farming troughs as planters in their garden. Not quite as classy as the Roman version! But, what the heck?!! :wink:
Some people left them just the way they are - galvanized silver. Others cleverly painted them with Rustoleum. Very very good idea! They weren’t extremely expensive. (The dirt to fill them probably cost more than the planter!) Here are the links - Take a look! As we get older - it would be nice not to have to break our backs to weed our gardens!! One person pointed out that these containers are a solution for those whose efforts are ruined by moles and voles! GREAT idea!
[Galvanized-CopperPainted-Troughs|690x722]
(upload://jkPp0wPkQiStfNLpeHHVQWFG6TA.jpg)


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