G.Wonderful gardens. In May, spring gives us an explosion of colors and scents, which joyfully reactivates the senses. Before the summer heat, if the weather is good, the blooms appear at their maximum luxuriance. Contemplating its beauty is a fantastic stress reliever and a playful opportunity for a photo safari (on Instagram, the hashtag #fiori boasts 6.2 million posts). With Great Italian Gardensthe network that brings together 147 gardens in 19 regions, swe went to discover the most precious addresses around Italy.
Hunting for roses
The first flower delivery in history was invented by the British and it could only have the queen of flowers as its protagonist. As Nicoletta Campanella recalls in her book Rose Tea (Nicla Edizioni), Victorian-age tourists on holiday on the Cote d’Azur sent their loved ones a bouquet of these roses, which carried the French sun into rainy England.
Garden of the Rose © Great Italian Gardens Archive
From the nineteenth century to the present, roses in Europe have been the subject of fantastic hybridizations, which allow us to contemplate an enormous variety in many gardens, ranging from the ancient ones to the crossings obtained with the oriental ones. Among the latter, there are the reblooming Polyantha and Floribunda which, together with the carmine pink Queen Elisabeth, characterize the unmissable Viale delle Rose of Sigurtà Park in Valleggio sul Mincio (Verona), with 30 thousand specimens in bloom and with the Scaligero Castle in the background. Over 500 varieties of roses adorn the orchard and the staircase of the scenography Villa of the Porta Bozzolo in Casalzuigno (Varese), while al San Pelagio Castle in Due Carrare (Padua) the 200 varieties of roses, the result of research throughout Europe, coexist with the historic planes that are part of the collection of the Museo del Volo.
At one thousand meters above sea level, the Rose Garden of Ronzone (Trento). With 500 varieties, it represents a plunge into a world of flowers, which also includes the native alpine ones, all cured without chemistry. Not everyone knows that the apple tree and the rose are cousins: this garden located in Val di Nonkingdom of apples, is the right place to find out.
In Induno Olona (Varese), the Rose Garden of Peacenear the Municipality rest home, contains 612 varieties and it is a meeting place between visitors and the elderly, who use it as a healing garden. It is indeed present a multisensory journeyin which the roses with their colors and scents are the protagonists.
In Emilia, in Sasso Morelli near Imola (Bologna), Villa La Babina it hosts in its park numerous plants of the very fragrant Rose Great Italian Gardens. Further south, in Lazio, in Roccantica (Rieti), the Vacunae Rosae Rose Gardendedicated to an ancient goddess, is a casket of over five thousand varieties enclosed in two hectares, designed to stimulate the five senses of visitors, with the scent, the velvet of the petals, the colors, the sound of the waters, reserving the neighbor to taste Tenuta La Tacita restaurant.
Roses are the passion of Umberta Patrizi, owner of Patrizi Palace in Bracciano (Rome) and its park, which boasts some precious ancient roses such as the spectacular Blu Magenta. Finally, in the Landriana Gardens in Tor San Lorenzo, Ardea (Rome), designed by the great landscape architect Russell Page and divided into several roomsthe Valle delle Rose Antiche and the Valle delle Rose Mutabilis are amazing.
Peonies, the queens of the East
In the East, the floral queen crown goes to peonies, from flowers ephemeral as duration but majestic, which stand out for their size, shapes and colors. In Italy the main place to admire them in all their richness and variety is the Moutan Botanical Center, in Vitorchiano (Viterbo). It is a garden of 250 thousand plants of about 600 varieties, created by the entrepreneur Carlo Confidati, who for passion has managed to put together the largest collection of herbaceous and tree peonies in the world. During flowering, the gaze is lost in entire fields of polychrome flowers. Don’t miss the Rockii Peony, named in honor of the plant hunter Joseph Rock, who discovered it in the 1920s in a Tibetan monastery in Gansu. An explosion of azaleas Azaleas and rhododendrons belong to the same genus, Rhododendron. Already Pliny the Elder praised the beauty of the flowers, warning about the toxicity of the leaves. Obviously there is no risk of touching them, they are poisonous only if ingested. In May they are a riot of colors: from the most classic pink and red to purple, orange and white.
Also Azaleas and Rhododendrons
In northern Italy the gardens of the villas on the lakes are rich in these plants. On the Lario, Villa Carlotta in Tremezzo (Como) boasts a fantastic collection, created in the late nineteenth century. This visit can be combined with that of Villa Melzi d’Eril, in Bellagio, which is right on the opposite shore (reachable by boat), whose park is dotted with colorful azalea and rhododendron bushes. On Lake Maggiore, there is plenty of choice: fromIsola Madrewhere rhododendrons interact with the other plant essences of the rich botanical garden, a Villa Taranto in Verbania, where the Bosco dei Rododendri stands out. In the collection, there is also the Rhododendron augustinii, with lavender blue flowers, originally from China. Towards the end of the month the Basin of Rhododendrons ofOasis Zegna in Trivero (Biella) is a show that combines the beauty of these plants with the atmosphere of a mountain garden. Finally, in Switzerland, a Carona the San Grato Parkat an altitude of 690 meters, allows you to enjoy the flowering of azaleas and rhododendrons together with a unique view of Lake Lugano.
The majestic irises
The irises are to be contemplated in Tuscany, if only because they are the emblem of Florence, often wrongly identified with the lily. In fact, wild irises grew in the surrounding countryside and inspired the town’s coat of arms. The right place to admire them is the Medici park Villa La Massalocated along the Arno, in Candeli, seven kilometers from Florence. It boasts a splendid Iris Garden, designed by Maria Chiara Pozzana, overlooking the river with a polychrome collection of tall, medium and dwarf re-flowering. You walk among the paths, among olive trees, cypresses and lemon trees, in the quiet of the Tuscan countryside.
Flower gardens: The Irises of Villa La Massa. Photo: Fani Kurti © Archivio Villa La Massa
The essence of heaven, in a book
For the 25th anniversary of the birth of the Grandi Giardini Italiani network, a volume celebrates the most beautiful green spaces in the country. A heritage to defend
They are found in the plains, in the mountains, along the lakes, near the sea. They are historical, esoteric, hidden, imaginative, Mediterranean and contemporary. The 147 gardens that join the Grandi Giardini Italiani networkwhich enhances and promotes these treasures, are the protagonists of the volume Great Italian Gardens. The essence of heavenpublished by Franco Maria Ricci (pp. 276, euro 70) to celebrate 25 years of the network.
To tell them is Delfina Rattazzi, writer and journalist, together with the art historian Carla Napoleone, who completes the tour with a literary walk. Their two essays are preceded by an introduction by Judith Wade, CEO and founder of Grandi Giardini Italiani who, with visionary talent and entrepreneurial spirit, understood the potential inherent in networking. Wade has brought together owners descended from ancient families, entrepreneurs, entities, regions and municipalities, offering the tools for promote Horticultural Tourism. After a quarter of a century, it has largely won the challenge: today green tourism is constantly growing, it is no longer an elitist phenomenon and offers conspicuous help in maintaining this heritage. And above all, it has allowed us to save it from oblivion: because the gardens live in the eyes of the beholder.
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