One thing is patently obvious: Mother Nature loves math.

Sit back and take note of this fascinating story.

Step back in time to about the year 1190. Life then was so dramatically different, it may be hard to imagine exactly what was important to folks. Daily living was difficult and (not out of choice, perhaps) people in general probably were more in touch with nature. Thinkers of the day were in the practice of observing, evaluating and defining nature.

In the commercial city of Pisa, Italy, Leonardo Fibonacci studied mathematics. At the age of about 20, he began to travel extensively, first to Algeria, where he learned Indian numerals and Arabic calculating methods, and then throughout the learned portions of the world. During his lifetime, he compiled the mathematical knowledge of Greek, Arabic and Indian cultures. He made significant contributions to the fields of algebra and number theory. His work assisted in solving practical problems of business and surveying mathematics.

One of the most interesting contributions Fibonacci made to math involved number theory. In what has become known as the Fibonacci series, the mathematician described a series of numbers in which each member of the series is the sum of the two preceding numbers. For example, a series beginning 0, 1 … continues as 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21 and so on.

What is so fascinating about this and what could this have to do with gardening, you ask. Fact is, some of the things you observe in your yard and garden actually can be described in terms of the Fibonacci series.

Have you ever held up a pine cone and observed that the drooping “petals” of the cone wind or spiral around the center axis in an orderly manner? Have you ever looked at the mature seeds of a sunflower head and found that each seed is precisely wedged among the other seeds in a spiraling pattern? Have you ever noticed the papery, curling bracts that wind around the stems of some houseplants?

These plant parts and many other natural patterns often exhibit the Fibonacci series. The spiral growth of leaves on some trees, the “petals” of pine cones and the seed arrangements of sunflowers all are examples of this. So many of the spirals found in nature start out small and enlarge with a predicable pattern that can be mathematically defined using logarithmic formulas.

This captivating phenomenon isn’t limited to the realm of plants. Tornadoes, seashells, the aurora borealis, galaxies and even our DNA can be described mathematically using the Fibonacci series of numbers.

What does this say about nature? While on one hand nature appears to be quite chaotic – a weedy garden can be a representation of this – nature actually exhibits an extreme level of intelligence and order.

Looking for order among chaos is something that comes quite instinctively for some. While scientists such as Charles Darwin spent a lifetime ordering the natural world and made major contributions to humanity in doing so, many of us make our own attempts, however minor.

Cultivating a garden on some level is an endeavor to make order of nature in our own back yard. Perhaps we have no interest in defining the order of our garden mathematically, but it sure is interesting that that which seems so wild and free is actually, on an unseen level, quite logical, intelligent and already carefully defined without our intervention.

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, 512 North Ridge Road, Montville 04941, or e-mail dianagc@midcoast.com. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.