ABSTRACT
Introduction of foreign plants into English gardens represented a physical incorporation of the new world within the soil of the old. New World discovery was predicated on the pursuit of new routes for the spice trade; the slave trade facilitated and sustained the viability of colonialism. Slaves were headed to the Americas from Europe and Africa as a source of cheap labor for colonial mines and plantations. American plants were sent back to Europe and to other destinations where European merchants had trade connections, such as Africa and Asia. The slave trade, used to transport horticulture, supported and sustained the aristocratic and merchant culture of conspicuous consumption. In a Renaissance garden's natural setting outdoors, its aesthetics were structured as a balance between nature and art. Reflecting the garden scenery of flowers, the Ovidian-like male characters, which had been turned into flowers, were to be re-transformed into handsome young men. The botanical garden design reflected a symbolic representation of the world.
