史上已知第一份關於水中花園的書面記錄,是由鍊金術士、化學家約翰·格勞勃在1684年撰寫的:當時,格勞勃發現硫酸亞鐵晶體長出了一棵「鐵樹」,於是撰文記錄之[1]。其後,另一位化學家克萊尼斯·羅斯(William John Clunies Ross)也描述了用金屬鹽類長出水中花園的過程;他提出了水中花園背後的機理,但解释不了水中花园形态的多样性[1]。後來有一些研究探討了不同金属盐类形成结晶的差異和機理[2][3]。到了2000年代初,對水中花園的研究開始受到重視[4]。
^ 1.01.11.21.31.4Craig Collins; Wuzong Zhou; Alan L. Mackay; Jacek Klinowski. The 'silica garden': a hierarcharical nanostructure. Chemical Physics Letters. 1998, (286).
^ 2.02.1Julyan H. E. Cartwright; Bruno Escribano; C. Ignacio Sainz-Díaz. Chemical-Garden Formation, Morphology, and Composition. I. Effect of the Nature of the Cations. Langmuir (American Chemical Society). doi:10.1021/la104192y.
^Fabian Glaab; Julian Rieder; Regina Klein; Duane Choquesillo‐Lazarte; Emilio Melero‐Garcia; Juan‐Manuel García‐Ruiz; Werner Kunz; Matthias Kellermeier. Precipitation and Crystallization Kinetics in Silica Gardens (2017). doi:10.1002/cphc.201600748.
^ 4.04.14.2Stephanie Thouvenel-Romans; Oliver Steinbock. Oscillatory Growth of Silica Tubes in Chemical Gardens. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 2003, 125.
^Balköse, D.; Özkan, F.; Köktürk, U.; Ulutan, S.; Ülkü, S.; Nişli, G. Characterization of Hollow Chemical Garden Fibers from Metal Salts and Water Glass. Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology. 2002, 23 (3): 253. doi:10.1023/A:1013931116107.
^ 7.07.1Commercial Generic Bioprocessing Apparatus Science Insert - 02: Silicate Garden, Seed Germination, Plant Cell Culture and Yeast (CSI-02) - 11.22.16. National Aeronautics and Space Administration. [2017-05-03]. (原始内容存档于2017-05-03).
^'Chemical gardens' could hold the key to understanding the origins of life on Earth. American Chemical Society. 2013-03-20 [2017-05-02].