In the 17th and 18th centuries, gardens were significant in French political culture as the acquisition and control of territory became essential to state governance. Fortresses were built around France’s perimeter, woodlands were examined for improvement, and formal gardens were designed around royal houses to symbolize territorial control and demonstrate organized land management. Their designers showcased and tested the French ability to manage land and its resources, utilizing them to their benefit.

The gathering and exhibition of uncommon and exotic plants became strategically important under this situation. Colonial botany intertwined with state politics through activities such as discovering exotic species, studying their uses, gathering their different names, shipping them to France, showcasing them in botanical gardens, and systematically comparing them. These actions served as methods of territorial administration and natural history exploration.

Exotic flora had a minor yet significant impact on the military establishment of the state’s borders. Trees were utilized in the construction of fortresses and ships, serving as resources for protecting state borders both along coastlines and in the interior. The necessity for timber drove forest reform, leading to the introduction of new tree species and the development of procedures for transplanting huge specimens into French gardens. These activities served both military and horticultural purposes.

Pierre Belon, a botanist, introduced plane trees to France and made efforts, however unsuccessfully, to acclimate them to the French environment. Subsequently, others achieved success in incorporating plane trees as common features in French gardens, canal banks, and country roads. Botanist-explorers from North America, such as René-Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, and Michel Sarrazin, sent various trees like walnuts, mulberries, and oaks from Canada to the Jardin du Roi in France for reforestation purposes.

gardens were significant in French political culture as the acquisition and control of territory became essential to state governance.

On a symbolic level, the gathering and examination of foreign flora held significant political importance. French gardens demonstrated a clever utilization of land resources and the ability to control and enhance nature through informed human intervention, involving the identification and utilization of beneficial characteristics of new plant species. Botanical gardens in Montpellier, Paris, and some port cities were intentionally designed to showcase a diverse array of flora and enhance the quality of French living.

Formal gardens, especially at Versailles, showcased French expertise in cultivating dense woodlands, obtaining exotic plants, and utilizing horticulture successfully. Versailles stored an extensive assortment of delicate citrus fruits and palm trees in the Orangerie during winter, which were then brought out to perfume the chateau’s halls in winter or adorn the Parterre du Midi in the summer.

The botanical assets, delicate plants from the Mediterranean region, demonstrated French influence in and dominance over southern France. The flower beds around the house were filled with bulbs and exotic plants from the Baltic and Mediterranean regions, as well as distant trading stations, adding color and other sensory aspects to the king’s dominion. The potager, also known as the kitchen garden, was a place where a variety of pears, apples, melons, and vegetables were grown, including some that were cultivated out of season using glass enclosures. The rare plant collections showcased the ambition and intelligence of French naturalists and horticulturalists, as well as the monarchy’s political goal of exerting control over the natural world to enhance France’s prestige.

Land management played a distinctive significance in French politics as a legitimizing principle of power. Strolls in the gardens at Versailles were utilized by Louis XIV to showcase French dominance, portraying the expansive park as a representation of France’s territory for diplomatic reasons. The strategic and organized utilization of state land, including royal gardens and rural areas, served as a standard and ethical basis for political territorial control.

French political focus on territorial enhancement increased due to the significance of land control during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation in France. During the Wars of Religion, the equal military strength of Protestants and Catholics made it difficult to resolve the conflicts based on faith. Combat was both frequent and fierce, resulting in the loss of human lives and significant damage to the environment.