Italy again

I wonder if Italy has the record for Botanical gardens. The official website Italia has a complete list - about thirty seven. In Rome there is Ninfa and, also a really great idea, Latium in the heart of (Travestere) which is a 'scent and touch' garden for the visually impaired.

The first was... you've got it .... the Vatican's in the 13th century; Salerno's dates from the 14th century and Padua, Pisa and Florence - the Giadino dei Semplici - all date from the 16th century. However it was the 18th -19th centuries when these botanical gardens were mainly developed.
The University gardens in Catania, Sicily has a garden specifically dealing with the flora of the volcanic soil. Turin in Piedmont is very important as a centre of learning and study of Italian botany; their herbarium being second only to Florence.
And for those interested in such matters I found a couple of sites giving some of the patron saints of gardens and gardening.....

• St. Patrick for organic gardening
• St Fiacre for gardening
• St Francis for herbs and vegetables
• St Bernardo Abad is patron of the Beekeeper
• St Dorothy for fruit trees
  

I did find one piece on www.ecologicagardens.com about Italy which struck several vibrant chords with me. This writer is also very involved with design and structure as well and is best read in its entirety but here are some bits that caught my attention."... the roots of the authentic Italian garden have unknowingly displayed a surprising respect for the local landscape and native species within that landscape ..." Here is a photo I took outside the walls of Bavagna which really gives a sense of that.







The landscape is of course indomitable and I put up a photo of a visit to Umbria of my partner's sister and husband working hard on the slopes of their land to create a little piece for a vegetable garden.








If you stop for a minute to wipe your brow at least the view is a consolation.






And for a lovely fictional read connected with Umbria and a garden, how about William Trevor's "My House in Umbria" which can be found in Penguin Books 'Two Lives' (1992). If you cant be bothered to read then there is always the film which is lovely too.

"We must have a garden,' I had repeatedly said that winter and supring, saying it mainly to myself. 'It is ridiculous that a house like this does not have a garden to it.' ....One April passing through a railway station here in Italy I noticed a great display of azaleas in pots....Ever since I had longed for an azalea garden......"