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Forthcoming events
Thursday 18 March 2010 - 10.30 am - Viterbo Botanical Gardens
AGM
Guided tour of the Botanical Gardens followed by a talk. Lunch followed by the AGM. All taking place in the facilities at the garden. Confirmation and further details towards end of February. Bookings by 10th March.
Friday 9 April - Bosco della Ragnai,
San Giovanni d'Asso
A return visit to Sheppard Craig's amazing creation to view the progress of the extension into the fields outside the Bosco.
Friday 7 May – Gramugnana di Lari
Jon and Astrid's garden
A return visit after four years for those who came before the garden was started.
Friday 18 June – Il Piano Grande, Norcia
A visit to see the splendid display of wild flowers that fill this vast extinct volcano.
Past events
October 2009
Visit to the Estate of Villa la Genga in Umbria, followed by the Plant Sale at the house and gardens of member Gary Gardenhire.
September 2009
Vivaio/Nursery of Ornamental Grass specialist Enrico Carlon
September 2009
Visit to Palladian Palace and grounds of Villa Pisani on Riviera Brenta outside Venice.
June 2009
Visit to Ligurian coast to Sculpture garden at La Marrana
June 2009
Overnight at Santa Margherita to the Abbey and gardens of the Abbey - La Cervara.
May 2009
Peony nursery and gardens followed by visit to gardens of collector Lupo Osti
May 2009
Visit to the famous Villa Lante.
April 2009
Camelia gardens near Lucca.
April 2009
Visit to Villa Massei with the famous garden of Paulk Gervais and Gil Cohen.
February 2009
Margheriti Nursery at Chiusi.
February 2009
Visit to Iris Origo’s garden at La Foce now in the hands of her daughter Benedetta.
June 2008
Thanks to the very able organisation of Madeleine David 15 members enjoyed visits between torrential storms to two spell binding 18th century classical Italianate gardens in the Piceno region of Le Marche on the Adriatic coast.
Il Giardino Buonaccorsi near the village of Potenzza Piceno is a near perfect example of the garden of its period. In the early 1700s Raimondo Buonaccorsi set about creating the garden started by his father; by 1726 he was the father of 18 children, which explains the many ‘giochi d’acqua’ including puppets, a grotto with a popping out devil and water jokes everywhere waiting to ambush you. However, amusing as these are, the original formality of the Italianate garden, still today as it was when created some 300 years ago, remains the most striking feature.
The five terraces are dominated by 200 lemon trees in a formal pattern interspersed with obelisks and fountains, stepping to an intricate pattern of stone-edged beds all filled with a myriad of bedding plants, as in the parterre of the terrace below: each year the 80-year-old gardener and his son raise between 14,000 and 16,000 plants. Below this is an avenue of bay trees, succeeded by the scented garden flanking the beautiful ‘limonaia’ on the lowest terrace.
Surveying all are 105 statues commissioned from the sculptor Orazio Mariali that range from Roman emperors, Commedia dell’Arte figures, mythological deities to masked dwarves and the family’s dogs.
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| The villa |
The terraces |
In the afternoon we proceeded to the fascinating Villa Scariglia.
The Italianate garden was added to the villa in 1700, designed and planted by the architect Giosofatti. It must be one of the most esoteric of all gardens. From a wide paved entrance flanked by manicured lawns one looks through the vast open entrance hall of the Villa to ‘il giardino segreto’ beyond, which cannot have been more than 15m square. It was simplicity itself, all green except for splashes of red from the occasional geranium, dominated by lemon trees, one in each of the eight squares of box and espaliered on the high surrounding walls. On all three sides above were balconies as if in a theatre, each containing its own parterre and its own particular statuary and from which one can look down on ‘the stalls’ as well as on other intimate gardens such as the rose garden and the rolling hills beyond, or up into the woods through a cypress-flanked avenue.
We had the further privilege of having a free run of the interior of this most beautiful, historic, lived-in family home, overseen by the charming housekeeper.
For those staying overnight or living in the area Madeleine had organised a guided tour of the historic and charmingly beautiful town of Asconi Piceno.
We could not claim that we had really experienced the Mediterranean garden in the truly academic sense of the word but nonetheless we were still in the Mediterranean experiencing the magic of the classical Italianate garden and I am sure I can speak for all of us in saying that it was a truly inspirational and memorable visit. Once more, thank you Madeleine.
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| The Secret Garden |
Cypress avenue |
May2008
Some 26 members enjoyed two days of memorable visits to gardens in the Lazio area south of Rome, thanks to the able organisation of Rory Stuart.
All three gardens had a similarity in that they were very well established, large and all rooted in the inspiration and dream of one person.
The first one was Torrecchia, the property of Principe Carlo Caracciolo, reached by an impressive 5 km drive through the wooded and pastured 650-hectare estate. After making our way a further 1 km up hill on foot, we entered through the arch of the medieval ruins of a castle into a charming shady courtyard in front of the 15th-century granary, now the principle residence.
Beyond stretched the two hectares of paradise surrounded by the remains of the wall of a 2nd-century encampment. The influence of Dan Pearson is very evident in the design and layout of the garden into many ‘rooms’, now so ably maintained and constantly artistically redesigned by the resident English gardener, Stuart Barfoot. One passes from the classical to the more modern/romantic part with Podranea ricasoliana tumbling up and over the ruins of the 13th-century medieval village.
Our principal memories are: the acres of immaculate lawns linking and carpeting the ‘rooms’; a mass of David Austin roses; the pergola cascading with climbing ‘Iceberg’ roses; a raised rectangular pool in the ruins of a courtyard surrounded by a profusion of annually sown wild flowers – daisies, poppies, nigella and allium, quite magical; the waterlily-covered lake with ruins towering above and water cascading over boulders, surrounded by massed planting of Iris foetidissima and arum lilies, Zantedeschia aethiopica; and, to crown it all, the return walk to the granary through a field sown with chamomile interspersed with the flecks of blue of Nigella damascena.
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| Gathering in courtyard |
Entrance to swimming pool |
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| Raised pool with wild flowers |
Field of Camomile/Nigella |
After a more than ample lunch, we proceeded for 40 minutes across the boring coastal plain to the oasis of the next garden, La Landriana.
In one sense this is the opposite of the previous garden: the preoccupation of those now managing the garden is to maintain it exactly as the founder planned it to be. Hence a general impression was that the garden was a bit tired and needed some new planting. The property was bought in 1956 by Marquese Gallarati-Scotti at a forced sale/auction; it was then totally devoid of any vegetation whatsoever and had to be cleared of mines before planting could begin. It was by chance that his wife Lavinia received the gift of a packet of seeds and for fun she sowed them: the event was sensational and so began the garden. Russell Page was called in in 1967 and we see his strong influence in the overall design – similar to that of Torrecchio - with many ‘rooms’.
The initial impact is striking with a long entrance walkway flanked by a walled bed of the rose ‘Bonica’ underplanted with Australian Violet, after which the rooms continue. The memories of this garden are the very strict identity of each ‘room’. Those that come into mind the strongest are: the Orange Garden underplanted with Lysimachia; the White Walk, a striking 100-metre descent flanked by white roses – ‘Sally Holmes’, ‘Penelope’, ‘Swany’ and ‘Iceberg’; the Italian Garden with immaculately trimmed bay hedges in squares and rectangles infilled with Euonymus and lilac-coloured verbena; the Spanish Pool, an idyllic calm space of water surrounded by camphor trees; the lake surrounded by Swamp cypress, Taxodium distichum, water iris and Gunnera manicata and surmounted by the Valley of the Old Roses. A striking feature of the garden is that it is practically one hundred percent underplanted, predominantly with Ophiopogon japonicus but also with Lippia repens (syn. Phyla nodiflora). I have mentioned only a few of the ‘rooms’. Lavinia died in 1997 but her influence and ideas for the garden continue to be rigidly followed, not necessarily to the best advantage… nothing in life can stand still.
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| Entrance with Rosa bonica |
Italian garden |
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| White rose walk |
Most members participating in the Saturday visit spent the night in a hotel in Sermoneta, a magical medieval hilltop village nestling under its castello: it must be one of the most beautiful villages in the world. The evening was rounded off with dinner served by the butcher and his family in the old macelleria.
And so to the miracle of Ninfa which must be one of the great gardening experiences of one’s life. It is breathtakingly beautiful, elegant yet natural, with the amazing juxtaposition of ancient Roman and medieval ruins with water and garden: the towering remains of a cathedral draped with Pandorea (jasminoides?). The important medieval town was razed to the ground and abandoned in the late 1300s and remained so until 1920 after the surrounding swamps had been drained. It was Ada, the English wife of the direct descendant of earlier owners, Duke Onorato Caetani, who with her son Gelasio had the vision and passion to create this masterpiece, followed by her daughter-in-law, Marguerite, an American, and in turn her daughter Lelia, the latter having the greatest impact on what we see today. When Lelia died childless, she left the estate to a Foundation controlled by her adopted son, Lauro Marchetti.
The romanticism of the experience comes from the artist in Lelia, as if everywhere has been brushed from a palette on to a canvas. It is difficult to relate any individual parts of the whole as all parts gently flow into one another. The most remarkable aspect for this particular season was the abundance of roses. It was particularly interesting to see more temperate trees from northern climates such as beech growing into enormous specimens alongside their Mediterranean cousins such as holm oak. Probably the greatest impact was that of the water: water everywhere, in lakes, streams, waterfalls, weirs, gushing down rills, flowing at up to 2,000 litres a second and all so artistically landscaped. One came away as if from a dream.
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The rock garden
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The river |
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| Entrance |
Branch Head, Jon Parker
With the retirement of Carol Smith, Jon Parker has become Branch Head, necessarily and ably assisted and 'directed' by his wife Astrid. Jon and Astrid have lived in Italy for the past 19 years, during which time they have moved house five times and on each occasion have had the challenge of creating a garden from scratch.
Jon writes: The accompanying photos of our previous garden at Terricciola (PI), after six years, were taken by Astrid for an art exhibition in Hobart, Tasmania.
Being a Villa, it had at least some of the structure of a garden of the long-ago past which over time had become totally abandoned and overgrown. We had to fell many trees to give light and air before we could proceed to plant. In front of the house we created a parterre and more formal garden, in keeping with the Palladian style of the house. The land then fell away steeply and on the first level, above a Roman Bath water feature (in other words a swimming pool), Astrid created a gravel garden full of heat- and sun-loving plants. Below this we landscaped a zigzag of interlinking terraces, the banks of which were heavily planted with teucrium, berberis, cotoneaster, bottle brush, phlomis, cistus and iris. A vertical dimension was given by agaves, mimosas, almonds and pomegranates. In the valley an avenue of cypresses led the eye to the hills beyond.
Some two years ago we moved to a property near the fortified town of Lari in the Pisan hills 20km from the coast. The old house needed total restoration, which took a year, and no such thing as a garden existed. We sit on a relatively small platform on the side of a hill with very steep inclines above and around, which were for the most part covered with Robinia pseudoacacia suckers and brambles. First we had to clear the land, then carve out manageable terraces on the hillside before planting could begin of what are now more than 1,500 trees and shrubs - mostly natives.
As ever, water was the big question. After one or two false starts an adequate water supply was eventually found in the bottom of the valley, and then another 96 meters down in the form of an artesian well. All rainwater is also collected into an ornamental 'lake'.
As the name of the property denotes it was originally, in the late 1600s, the dwelling of the local brickmaker. However, it eventually passed into farmers' hands and became an agricultural property, very much abandoned by the time we took it over, hence the old and unproductive fruit and olive trees that abound. We have continued the tradition and have planted more fruit and olive trees (Lari is one of the principal cherry-producing areas of Italy). However, we have also planted some 200 cypress trees (not only for the traditional Tuscan skyline but more importantly to reinforce the steep banks), many ash, walnut, lime, Robinia pseudoacacia, mimosa and poplar trees, as well as a specimen tree or two for hedging. The shrubs planted for the banks are principally rosemary, teucrium, atriplex and lentisk, and for the hedging bay and Elaeagnus.
Adjacent to the house on the east side Astrid has created a gravel Mediterranean garden including tuffa and brick paths and a simple fountain bubbling from a stone bowl. I should add that after a visit to Filippi's nursery at Mèze, on the occasion of the AGM of the MGS in France, this garden is now splitting at the seams! On the first terrace below the gravel garden we have created our Roman water feature (swimming pool in modern jargon), which looks down on to an intimate valley where sheep graze and give luscious ricotta and pecorino cheese. Around the pool we planted non-fruiting mulberries to give shade. Acting as a setting for the pool, Astrid's herbaceous border is full of alliums, hemerocallis, agapanthus, achillea, gaura and Verbena bonariensis, framed behind by the rose 'Buff Beauty'. The whole is enclosed by a rapidly growing bay hedge. |
