TUSCANY IL GIARDINO DEI TAROCCHI The majestic works of Niki de Saint Phalle immersed in the Mediterranean landscape Photographs and text ©Cristina Archinto "La Papessa" It was 1974 when Niki de Saint Phalle, forced to undergo a period of convalescence in St. Moritz, met the art collector Marella Agnelli and wife of Gianni Agnelli. The two women immediately like each other and the artist tells her about the project that has been whirling in her head for a while now. Once back in Italy Marella, together with her brothers Carlo and Nicola Caracciolo, decide to make a lot of their land in Garavicchio, in Tuscany, available to her for the creation of Il Giardino dei Tarocchi, a perfect union between art, nature and spirituality. A place where monumental sculptures with round features and bright colors, unique in their kind, suck you into a fantastic world and psychedelic dreams, while maintaining complete harmony with a soft and typically Mediterranean landscape. The courtyard of the"L'imperatore" Niki de Saint Phalle (1930-2002) was a celebrated American-born French artist, known for her artistic versatility across multiple media, including sculpture, painting, installation and performance. Born in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France, of French-American parents, Niki spent part of her youth in the United States and her artistic career began in the 1950s, with paintings influenced by the Nouveau Réalisme art movement. However, over time she has become particularly famous for her monumental sculptural works. Saint Phalle's artistic practice in general is infused with symbolism, feminism and a bold and provocative approach. Many of his sculptural works represent vigorous and assertive female figures, often painted in bright and bold colours. Saint Phalle has used art as a tool for personal expression and as a means to address social issues, such as women's liberation and the denunciation of gender-based violence. The interior of "L'imperatrice" The fact remains that one of his most representative projects is certainly The Tarot Garden, a sculptural complex, where the different Arcana of the tarot are represented, a work of love and dedication, created with the help of Jean Tinguely and Doc Winsen, where the imposing and majestic statues seem to come to life. The mythological and mystical figures carved in stone and metal dominate the landscape with their enigmatic presence. Each card represents a unique and complex personality, conveying a sense of ancient wisdom and power. Starting with “The Magician”, as the artist calls him “The great juggler. The God who created the wonderful farce of this world in which we live” and the “Popess, the high priestess of female power”. These two works were built in 1980 together with the most iconic of the architecture-sculptures of this place the "Empress-Sphinx". Placed in a dominant position with respect to the rest of the park, this imposing and opulent figure recalls the Nanas, round and joyful female figures who embody a positive and powerful image of women, born starting from the 1960s. Just as Mondrian had transformed his Paris apartment into a gigantic painting, Niki lived inside the Empress for the entire time the garden was being built. Even today the furnishings are presented as an integral part of the enormous sculpture, a colorful apartment in which the shapes and colors blend with the surrounding environment of the Mediterranean scrub with trees and shrubs resistant to drought and high summer temperatures. "La forza" Plants such as juniper, mastic, phillyrea, helichrysum, cistus, laurel, heather, strawberry tree and alaterno are the frame for these giant works of art. There are also several specimens of olive trees, which, reflecting themselves thanks to the small mosaic-style reflective parts of the works, light up as if they were the real protagonists. Plants such as juniper, mastic, phillyrea, helichrysum, cistus, laurel, heather, arbutus and alaternus are the frame for these giant works of art. There are also several specimens of olive trees, which, reflecting themselves thanks to the small mosaic-style reflective parts of the works, light up as if they were the real protagonists. The mosaics that cover the figures were made with the trecadis technique which consists in the application of fragments of ceramic, glass and mirror, cut irregularly, fixed on white plaster. The purpose of this technique is to be able to create constructions resembling living creatures. An example of this is "La forza" where a tender girl dominates a fearsome green dragon, keeping it tied to an invisible leash, or "The devil" with its multicolored wings. "La'Imperatrice", the stairs of "Il mago" and "La luna" Discovering all the cards with the artist's exact wording is very interesting and opens the door to new awareness. Just like the thought that it took the artist more than twenty years to create this garden, in fact demonstrates how connected she was with this enormous work of hers and the personal commitment she invested in it. Also the presence of a local team of people, which the artist has formed and which continues to maintain the garden, testifies to his willingness to involve the local community a lot and to ensure that his work is preserved and cared for over time. "La temperanza" Niki de Saint Phalle is regarded as a highly influential figure in contemporary art and her work continues to be exhibited in leading museums and galleries around the world. His artistic legacy is characterized by his ability to transform personal pain into works of beauty and joy, inspiring generations of artists and art lovers and walking in his garden is a real path towards art in all its forms , a spiritual journey full of messages, which pushes you to reflections out of the ordinary, almost to the limit. GALLERY Photos ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Info: Official website Other GARDENS and PARKS Villa Marlia Giardini Botanici di Villa Taranto Giardini Botanici di Villa Taranto I giardini di Villa Melzi I giardini di Villa Melzi Parco giardini di Sicurtà Parco giardini di Sicurtà Gairdino di Villa Lante Villa Lante parco del Flauto Magico Parco Flauto Magico Bomarzo

AMSTERDAM BOTANICAL GARDEN OF AMSTERDAM From Ortus Medicus to Ortus Botanicus Photos Cristina Archinto Text Carla DeAgostini I t was1638 when the plague hit Amsterdam and medicinal plants represented the only way to cure and prevent it. It was for this reason that in the same year was created the Hortus Medicus , a place where doctors and pharmacists met in order to learn and share their botanical and medical knowledge, always enriching the collection of medicinal plants. The first who catalogued the whole collection was, in 1646, the director of that year Snippendaal: it took him a whole year to count the 796 species of plants, and to write the catalog, but thanks to his hard work Carl Nilsson Linnaeus in 1753 succeeded in writing his fundamental work Species Plantarum . Meanwhile in 1682, thanks to the commercial contacts of the East India Company and to the help of collectors from the Netherlands, the Garden acquired many species, not only medicinal, but also greenhouse and ornamental, which transformed the old Hortus from Medicus to Botanicus, a new center of intense research and trade. Also in this period, the botanical illustrators Jan and Maria Moninckx were commissioned to document the new collection, and they created the Moninckx Atlas : not the usual herbarium with dried plants, but a catalog containing graphic reproductions of the most recent and exotic plants. The task, which ended in 1749, required the production of nine volumes, and involved other expert watercolorists Such as Johanna H. Herolt, daughter of Sibylla Merian, and Alida Withoos, daughter of Mathias Withoos, the painter of still life master of Gaspar Van Wittel. Even today the Moninckx Atlas is considered the main testimony of the extraordinary contribution of women to the birth of scientific drawing. ​ Today, the Hortus Botanicus covers little more than one hectare but boasts an enormous variety of plant: there are about 4,000 species, including those grown outdoors and those housed in its seven greenhouses, just over 1% of the world's plant diversity and it is a place rich in history, where modern events of emancipation and cutting-edge studies are intertwined for their attention to both the past and the present. An example is the semi circular garden reorganized in Systemic Garden in 1863. The semicircle shape in fact represents the systematic classification of plants: species that are closely related are found growing near each other, while those that have little in common are grown far away. Currently, they are classified according to the Angiosperma Phylogeny Group (APG), among the most advanced technologies of "molecular systematics," based on similarities in genetic material. Here, if summer is a riot of blooms, winter lets the symmetrical lines of boxwood hedges emerge. A true masterpiece of modern architecture is the Three Climates Greenhouse, designed in 1993 by Zwarts & Jansma Architects, which brings together three different climatic environments: the subtropics, the desert and the tropics. A suspended walkway allows visitors to pass from one area to the another, each with its own temperature, humidity and air circulation. Walkers enjoy the view of the tangle of lianas and leaves, look closely at the tree canopy while catching a glimpse of the sky through the glass roof as they pass through dry scrub, jungle and desert. In the first one he comes across geraniums, agapanthus and gerberas, then reaches the humid subtropical climate where the protagonist is the abundance of water, and finally the desert section, where cacti and majestic succulents from faraway deserts stand out. Instead in the Palms Greenhouse you can admire, next to giant palms specimens, the famous 350-year-old Cyca Encephalartos altensteinii, purchased in 1850 by William III. The Hortus boasts the presence of 60 different species of cycads, protected and safeguarded also thanks to the collaboration with other gardens, through the exchange of pollen, seeds or young plants. Hundreds of tropical butterflies color the small Butterfly House, fluttering over an interesting collection of tropical plants linked to trade with the Americas, such as coffee, tea or chocolate. The Garden also specializes in South African, Australian and carnivorous plant families. The Hortus Botanicus of Amsterdam , with its history and collections, is now an internationally recognized historical, herbalist and scientific heritage, but it is also a pleasant stop to get lost in during a trip to the Dutch city par excellence GALLERY Info: Official website Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO FEATURED Illustrations by Maria Moninckx and Maria Sibylla Merian FEMALE BOTANICAL ILLUSTRATIONS: THE MONINCKX ATLAS The Moninckx Atlas is a collection of botanical images, containing watercolor and gouache reproductions of 425 exotic plants from Asia, South Africa and South America, planted in the Botanical Garden of Amsterdam. This collection, divided into nine books, takes its name from the two artists who contributed the most to its creation: Jan and Maria Moninckx. Maria Moninckx was born in The Hague around 1673, and was the daughter of an important painter, Johannes Moninckx, and Ariaentje Pieters, also an artist. Renowned in the field as a floral painter, for the Atlas performs 101 illustrations. The side by side, in addition to Jan Moninckx, two other women Johanna Herolt-Graff, daughter of Maria Sibylla Merian whose books are still considered masterpieces of painting and precursors of modern entomology, and Alida Withoos. Both botanical illustrators of the time, they are part of a discipline underestimated in the artistic field but of extreme importance in the scientific world, as an aid to the classification and study of plant morphology, since unlike herbals it provides a representation of both the shape and the details of the various species. In this case, botanical illustrators study closely not only plants and flowers but the life of insects themselves, often achieving important, as well as ignored, scientific results. For example, Maria Sibylla Merian between 1679 and 1683 printed The marvelous metamorphosis of caterpillars and their singular feeding on flowers , a work where she illustrates more than 176 animal species, from silkworms to butterflies, in every stage of development with as many species of flowers and plants on which the animal feeds. In fact, every table shows data about the times of metamorphosis, nutrition and life cycle of each one. Precisely because of this precision Merian is today considered the first entomologist in the history of science, a recognition that will be given only in the twentieth century, after centuries in the shadows, renowned only in expert circles of the sector. These illustrations therefore represent not only an essential tool for study, but also an emancipation from the prejudice according to which science, and therefore botany, was, and often still is, a male prerogative only. more botanical gardens and nurseries Orto botanico di Napoli Orto Botanico di Zurigo e la Serra Malgascia Giardino Botanico Nuova Gussonea Orto Botanico di Catania Orto Botanico di Ginevra Centro Botanico Moutan Orto Botanico di Palermo Roseto di Roma

PARIS Parc de Bercy By CARLA DE AGOSTINI One of the most evocative and unexpected places in Paris is undoubtedly Bercy Park, whose web of paths, rails and reflections of water cannot fail to fascinate. With its 13.5 hectares in the 12th arrondissement, Bercy amazes passers-by with clues that tell of a place of contrasts. Although it was created between 1993 and 1997, it still retains much of its past: the vineyard, the kerbs and the rails bear witness to the site's industrial past. The contemporary design by architects B. Huet, M. Ferrand, J. Feugas, B. Leroy, frames a 19th-century garden, designed by landscape architects I. Le Caisne and P. R. Leroy. Le Caisne and P. Raguin. The area on which the Park stands has undergone many transformations. It was occupied by coppice woods until the 13th century, and from the 17th century until the Revolution it became a holiday resort along the river. During the process of industrialisation of the city, the site became one of the most important wine warehouses in Paris: the cellier du monde - the world's wine cellar. Its strategic location allowed it to be unaffected by customs but still be strategically positioned thanks to its trade route via the Seine with Burgundy. The park alternates between ponds and architectural works, green and wooded areas. Three main areas are clearly recognisable. Les Parterres, in the centre, consists of a chessboard of nine themed gardens, in homage to biodiversity, where various ateliers host frequent events dedicated to botany, organised by citizens or professionals. La Grande Prairie, to the west, consists of grass carpets crossed by avenues and dotted with trees and gazebos, where groups of young people often enjoy the beauty of the place. And finally, the Jardin Romantique, to the east, where you can admire oaks, birches, cherry trees, shrubs of all kinds, and, above all, the water features of the pond bordered by reeds and water lilies where you can meet ducks and herons. This last part of the park is very rich and elaborate. The amphitheatre recalling the ancient village of Bercy, the Pavillon du Lac, right in the middle of the pond, is home to exhibitions and temporary displays, as well as the Agence Parisienne du Climat de Paris, in charge of the city's energy transition. The helicoidal ramp leading to the Bélvèdere is the highest observation point from which you can admire a splendid panorama and the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, otherwise accessible by the Simone de Beauvoir footbridge. With its 200 centenary trees, mostly plane trees, horse chestnuts and birches, the Jardin Romantique has a special bucolic charm, enriched by over 1,200 new species of shrubs and flowers. Among the willows and majestic oaks, it is a popular destination for Parisians who enjoy reading and going on interesting walks, immersed in a small natural paradise, protected from the hustle and bustle of greater Paris. Translation by Greta Arancia Sanna GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Info: Official website Highlights Male fern - Dryopteris filix-mas Ferns are the oldest plants on our planet and are estimated to have been present for 350 million years. Its scientific name Dryopteris derives from drys oak and pteris fern, as it is very common in shady chestnut and oak forests. Ferns have always been used as dyes because of their tannin content, and were also used to make mattresses and pillows, and their good smell kept fleas away. Ferns are also the subject of many legends and myths throughout Europe, one of which tells us that on the night of 23-24 June, the feast of St John the Baptist, the fern produces a snow-white flower that has the power to make you invisible, like its seeds. Even Shakespeare was aware of this and quotes it in his Henry IV: 'We steal as if we were in an iron barrel, perfectly safe, we have the recipe for fern seeds, we walk invisible'. more gardens and parks Parco del Paterno del Toscano Villa Lante Labirinto della Masone Villa d'Este Giardino di Kenroku-en Giardino dell'impossibile Giardino di Ninfa Villa Pizzo

LOMBARDY Lago di Como ​ VILLA PIZZO BY ALESSANDRA VALENTINELLI Villa ''Il Pizzo'' overlooks Lake Como set into a long series of terraces, seemingly carved out of the mountain. Situated on a promontory called ''Pizzo'', which in Como dialect means ‘point' or ‘spit', the site was bought in 1435 by Giovanni Mugiasca, a rich merchant from Como. The Mugiasca family built their country house here which only became a refined residence in 1569. In 1630 they fled here to escape the dreaded Manzonian Plague, offering hospitality to several friends in exchange for manual work which involved digging, levelling and terracing the land. Thus the present structure of the garden was created, later to be enlarged at the end of the 18th century by Bishop Giambattista Mugiasca. In the 19th century important improvements were undertaken by the architect Simone Cantoni and subsequently, on the extinction of the Mugiasca family, the complex passed to Arch-Duke Ranieri of Hapsburg, Viceroy of Lombardy-Veneto, who gave free rein to his passion for botany, summoning the famous gardener Villoresi from Monza Royal Palace. In 1865 the ''Pizzo'' passed to a French noblewoman Madame Musard, mistress of King William II of Holland, who dedicated herself to embellishing the Villa and Garden, subsequently leaving it to the Volpi-Bassani family, whose descendants are the present owners. In the areas nearest to the main buildings are geometric paths running between the flowerbeds, clipped topiary hedges and baroque fountains, typical of formal Italian gardens. The long, renowned Cypress Avenue distinguishes the Villa, even from the lake. Towards Moltrasio the garden increasingly conforms to the English romantic style, more luxuriant, with tall trees interlaced with a system of small paths bordered by a water grotto, pools, streams and the ''Fountain of Alessandro Volta'', often a guest of the Mugiasca family in Villa Pizzo. Among the illustrious personages who frequented the Villa during the Mugiasca ownership, there was also the famous scientist Alessandro Volta, remembered by a monument that the owners had built following his death in 1827. This is the very first historical monument dedicated to Volta. When the Mugiasca family died out, it was Ranieri d'Asburgo, viceroy of Lombardo-Veneto, who bought the property. He found at Pizzo the ideal place of rest and refuge from the complex political events of the time. At Pizzo the viceroy Ranieri did not arrive alone, but accompanied by the famous landscape architect Villoresi, already designer of the Villa Reale in Monza, who gave a unique and definitive structure to the large park around the Villa. Following the turbulent political events of the end of the nineteenth century, which resulted in the "Moti del 48", the viceroy left the Villa, which was purchased by the charming Parisian madame Elise Musard, who gave a very recognizable feminine touch to the Villa, dyeing it pink, as it has remained until today. When Madame Musard tragically left the Villa, the Volpi-Bassani family bought it and lived it respecting the architectural and stylistic choices of the past and adding elements of great value that can still be admired today in the park such as the family Mausoleum, built by renowned architect Luca Beltrami and the large dock, which overlooks the lake giving a wonderful panoramic view. The simple and geometric architecture of the Villa, with the sobriety of its decorations that intersect with the irregularity and variety of shapes, colors and styles of the gardens, combined with the uniqueness of the history and events that took place in Villa Pizzo over the centuries, make Pizzo a unique place on Lake Como. ​ Gallery Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Links VILLA PIZZO MORE GARDENS AND PARKS Giardini Villa la Pergola Villa Lante Labirinto della Masone Giardino di Kenroku-en Giardino dell'impossibile Giardino di Ninfa Castello di Masino Parchi di Parigi

CAMPANIA BOTANIC GARDEN OF NAPLES By CARLA DE AGOSTINI On May 18th 1809, a 'Royal Botanical Garden for the education of the public and for the multiplication of spices useful to health, agriculture and industry' opened in Naples on Via Foria. The decree by which Joseph Bonaparte established it in 1807 concisely expresses the educational, medical, economic and productive aims of the new place. The foundations on which the Parthenopean kitchen garden is based will immediately distinguish it for the multiplicity of its functions and for its diversified plant heritage. Today it is managed by the Federico II University and is the second largest in Italy, after Padua, for exotic plant groups: twenty-five thousand plants of nine thousand species combined. After being devastated by Allied troops during the Second World War, the garden was reborn in 1948 with the construction of new greenhouses, the modernisation of the water supply and the increase in the collections of Cycadales, succulents and ferns. At the time of its foundation, the city of Naples was dominated by the French, and it immediately became one of the most prestigious scientific institutions of southern Italy. The first director was the Italian botanist Michele Tenore and it was he who, in a career spanning almost fifty years from 1808 to 1860, scientifically organised the garden and promoted its innovative botanical concept to Europe's leading botanical institutions. The initial importance of research was soon complemented by the social importance of architect Vincenzo Paoletti's decision to enhance the landscape by creating a "public promenade" for visitors, with wide tree-lined avenues and pleasant paths through the greenery. This choice has continued to the present day, with free access to the vegetable garden to allow everyone, from children to the elderly, to enjoy a place of such great interest all year round. The garden now boasts a Filiceto, a Palm Grove, a Desert area and a collection of Cycadales of considerable importance. In the Filiceto, located in a hollow, the conditions of shade and humidity necessary for growing ferns are reproduced. From the Latin fĭlix, the Filiceto is surrounded by a belt of trees that protects the area from excessive sunlight, while streams and an artificial pond, together with abundant and frequent watering, maintain the ideal microclimate. From here, where water reserves are plentiful, an ecological itinerary begins, illustrating the importance of water in biodiversity, and ends in the desert, where water resources are scarce. In the collection of succulent plants of the Desert, arranged on sandy soil to prevent stagnation and with some specimens covered in winter, there are remarkable specimens of mammilaria, notocactus, Wilcoxia Viperina, Opuntia and American Agave. The primitive world of the Cycadales holds the record for the oldest seeded plants alive today, and the Botanical Garden has one of the most important collections of these in the world, both in terms of the number of species and genera, so much so that some of the genus Dion are grown only in Naples. Also of note here is the Cycas revoluta donated in 1813 by Maria Carolina Bonaparte, consort of the King of Naples Joachim Murat, in gratitude for the Terrazza Carolina, a structure of the garden that has now disappeared. At present, the plant, which is almost 200 years old, has reached a remarkable height of about 5 metres. Cycas revoluta is the only species of the Cycadaceae family that has had great success as an ornamental plant; it is widely found in parks and gardens in mild climate regions. The common name Cycas is not a diminutive but is linked to its similarity to palms: it derives from koykas, a word of Greek origin used to indicate an unidentified palm. The garden also includes a citrus grove, the Chalet, an area designed for the visually impaired, and the Serra Merola, which recreates tropical rainforests and the coastal ecosystem of Mexican mangroves. The most recently established area is dedicated to the plants of the Bible, hosting some of the species mentioned in the most significant episodes of the Old and New Testament, such as myrrh or olive trees. The area reserved for Magnoliophyta is still under construction and will show the evolution of flowering plants, in line with the most recent discoveries in Systematic Botany. A visit to the Parthenopean garden represents not only an opportunity to learn about and explore the world of botany but also a unique opportunity to enjoy an unexpectedly calm, unique and original Naples just a few steps from the busy Via Foria. Translation Greta Arancia Sanna GALLERY Info: Official website Magnolia Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO more botanical gardens and nurseries Orto Botanico di Zurigo e la Serra Malgascia Giardino Botanico Nuova Gussonea Orto Botanico di Catania Orto Botanico di Ginevra Centro Botanico Moutan Orto Botanico di Palermo Roseto di Roma Chicago Batanical Garden

FRANCE A pond in the shade of a Cercidiphyllum from Japan Jardin Des Plantes of nantes ​ A History of Seeds and Sailors Photographs and text by Cristina Archinto T he history of France, it is well known, abounds with seafarers and colonies but not everyone knows that from the very beginning the attention given to botany was almost on a par with that of England. In the heart of the Loire region, in Nantes, not far from the railway station, there is a garden, or rather, to be more precise, a Jardin des Plantes, truly noteworthy, not only because it is very well maintained, even in these times of drought and decidedly high temperatures, but because its history, which has always been linked to French explorers, has brought truly remarkable botanical specimens from all over the world. ​ River Loira Its history has distant roots; it was in 1688 when a group of local pharmacists decided to create, more for pleasure than anything else, a small 'apothecary's garden' (Jardin des Apothicaires ). But it was only with the arrival of Pierre Chirac, doctor and superintendent of the royal medicinal plant gardens, that the garden developed into an official 'royal plant garden'. This was due both to its geographical location - Nantes lies on the Loire, a river navigable as far as Paris and an ideal place for the acclimatisation of new plants - and, above all, to what the doctor was able to achieve by exploiting his social position: a royal decree, dated 1726 by Louis XV, obliging 'all captains of ships in Nantes to bring back seeds and plants from colonies in foreign countries and deliver them to the Jardin des Plantes in Nantes', from that moment on, Chirac was supplied with a considerable amount of 'raw material' and the garden began its strong growth. Collections of annuals But its history is long and has other protagonists; first there was Jean Alexandre Hectot, who in 1806 became director of the garden, relocated to its current location and to whom we owe the great collections, including that of magnolias . Then there was Antoine Noisette, a well-known landscape gardener of the time, who in 1822 was asked to redevelop the garden to open it to the public but, as he had set up a plant trade at the same time, the gardener over time concentrated more on sales than on growing the garden and in 1835 was dismissed. Subsequently, Jean-Marie Écorchard arrived to restore the garden from a personal nursery to the botanical garden of Nantes. Thanks also to the continual contributions of sailors who had not lost the habit of providing new plants, including Captain Mathurin Jean, who brought back thousands of seeds and plants from places such as Martinique and India, he brought it back to its worthy splendour. He was also responsible for the construction of the first greenhouse in 1844 and the 'English park' style that still exists, with ponds and tree-lined avenues, and the definitive opening to the public in 1865. The last protagonist in the garden's history was Paul Marmy, who became the director, in 1893, of an orchard that had unfortunately fallen into disrepair in the meantime, both because of the "great frost" in the winter of 1879 that killed 245 trees and 600 shrubs, and because of a lack of funds from the municipality. He was responsible for the reorganisation of the botanical collections and the creation of the 'palmarium', a beautiful greenhouse of palms and exotic plants that is still well preserved today. One of the four greenhouses The garden today covers more than seven hectares with several greenhouses, hot, cold and an orange grove. The 'Palmarium' greenhouse is also used as a tropical ecology laboratory and houses lianas and epiphytic plants (air plants). In the park, still in the English style, one can enjoy ponds, fountains, small islands and the ever-present pavilion. In a more botanical sphere, monumental trees, given its long history, are not lacking. In addition to the magnolia grandiflora known as 'Hector's magnolia', which, if it were indeed the same one planted by the director, would be over two hundred years old, although some believe it did not survive the great frost and was therefore replaced in 1880, there are Magnolia ferruginea of the Platanus acerifolia, Liriodendron tulipifera of the Aesculus hippocastanum, Sequoiadendron giganteum, Sequoia sempervirens, Metasequoia glyptostroboides , Wollemia nobilis, Cercidiphyllum of Japan and Taxodium distichum all around one hundred and fifty years old , in addition there are several shrubs and perennials such as Angelica heterocarpa , in total around 10. 000 different species from all over the world. A artwork by Jean Julien Since the summer of 2020, works by Jean Julien , a local artist and graduate of St. Martin's in London, can be seen in the garden. They are amusing, almost two-dimensional characters that can be found around the park, in the paths, on the lawns, around the trees, created especially for the Jardin des Plantes in Nantes. The cacti greenhouse French botanical culture has distant roots and is linked, as we have still seen, to a history of sailors and colonies, but it must be said, the habit of having such places accessible to all, including dogs, free of charge, is a sign of civilisation. For the French, it is a prerogative to cultivate botanical culture, and so it should also become ours. For them, reading in the shade of a tree whose name you can even learn, or having the chance to wait for someone while enjoying a turn-of-the-century greenhouse full of exotic plants, or being able to have a picnic while breathing in the scent of exemplary flowers, perhaps, as in this case, also surrounded by works of art that certainly put one in a good mood, is fundamental. Let us remember that only by spreading the culture of green will we begin to get the respect it deserves. GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO more botanical gardens and nurseries Orto botanico di Berlino Orto botanico di Madrid Orto botanico di Amsterdam Orto botanico di Napoli Orto Botanico di Zurigo e la Serra Malgascia Giardino Botanico Nuova Gussonea Orto Botanico di Catania Orto Botanico di Ginevra

PHOTOGRAPHY MAX 10 SHOTS Nowadays it is possible to take a thousand photos for the price of one, and so for fear of losing even a single detail we find ourselves overwhelmed by too many pixels which, when put together, no longer reflect the focus of our story. Max 10 shots aims to emphasise that, if the photographs are relevant and have a strong subjective connotation, even 10 shots are enough for a good photographic story. ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. WILTSHIRE - United Kindom ENGLISH LANDSCAPES Oscar Wilde used to say: "Everyone can be good in the country", and he was right. Especially when it comes to the English countryside, or rather the countryside. The greenery, or rather the complex of greenery, the fences, the sheep, the rows of trees, the lonely houses, the fields with their groves and small streams, are an exhausting source of true natural pleasure. ​ To give depth to a "flat landscape" it is useful to have one or more vanishing points, perhaps with the help of a fence or path campge inglesi ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. GROSSETO - Toscany TUSCAN HILLS When you walk through the hills of Grosseto, you always have the impression that you are being watched by the majestic oaks that stand out against the blue sky between a field of olive trees, a field of pasture or vineyards. They are wonderful sentinels in the rolling Tuscan hills. ​ To portray trees well, it is important to have a neutral background such as the sky colline toscane ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. CORNIGLIA/VERNAZZE - Liguria A WALK IN THE CINQUE TERRE The walks along the paths between one village and another in the Cinque Terre are a succession of highs and lows, olive groves, flower-filled meadows, dry stone walls, overhanging paths and breathtaking views of the entire coastline. "A theatre whose proscenium opens onto the void, on the strip of sea high against the sky crossed by winds and clouds", is how Italo Calvino described the Cinque Terre. ​ To tell the story of a landscape, one must learn to look at it from several angles, perhaps even from behind. Cinqu terre ASSISI-Umbria ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. THE FOREST OF SAN FRANCESCO In Assisi, among the silence and beauty of woods, flowering branches, glades and olive groves, stands the San Francesco's wood. An evocative place of pilgrimage but also of reflection on the peaceful coexistence between man and nature, inspired by the teachings of harmony of St. Francis. And it is here that Michelangelo Pistoletto created "Third Paradise ", a work of Land Art with olive trees. "The two outer circles, " Pistoletto writes, "represent all the diversities and antinomies, including nature and artifice. The central one is the interpenetration between the opposite circles and represents the generative womb of the new humanity". ​ Maintaining the same colour tones in several photographs is a bonding element in a service bosco disan francesco ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. Lazio CALDARA OF MANZIANA A lunar plain, with some geysers of sulphurous water, which gently plunges into a basin surrounded by fascinating birches. The day was particularly sunny, with a beautiful clear light and the white of the trunks with the brown of the resting ferns, made an intense contrast with the full blue sky. The trees in the grove were almost all straight as spindles, more or less all of the same size, every now and then one could see a fallen one that suddenly cut this graphic rhythm in two as if it were one of those abstract paintings from the 60s. When you looked up, the delicate foliage of the birch melted into the blue of the sky and only the fruits in the shape of pendulous cones and perhaps a few sporadic leaves remained there alone were visible. At the bottom of the basin flowed this river with an indescribable color that went from blue to red and finally to white, where the white trunks created soft reflections as if they had been painted on a canvas. Knowing that birch trees are not normally found at this latitude gave this landscape even more a touch of magic as well as unique. ​ Seeing nature abstractly Caldara ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. ROME-Lazio ROSE GARDEN Some shots taken at the rose garden in Rome The Rose Garden is home to around 1,100 varieties of ancient and modern botanical roses from all over the world. The cultivated specimens come from all over the world: from the Far East to South Africa, from Old Europe to New Zealand, passing through the Americas. ​ Blur the background, opening the lens wide and automatically increasing the time a lot, makes the flowers stand out a lot Roseto ! Widget Didn’t Load Check your internet and refresh this page. If that doesn’t work, contact us. TURIN-Piedmont VALENTINO PARK The Valentino park develops along the banks of the Po river and has a great variety of trees. In autumn the colors are remarkable especially at the first light of the day, when the sun is cutting and slips into it the trees, or rests on the crowns of trees. ​ Shoot against the sun using natural elements to filter the light parco del vlentino

PIEDMONT BOTANICAL GARDENS OF VILLA TARANTO A walk between aesthetics and botany The putti fountain Photographs Cristina Archinto Text Carla De Agostini I n 1930, Scottish-born captain Neil Boyd Watson McEacharn, who had known Italy since childhood, reads an advertisement for sale in The Times and discovered that the Contessa di Sant'Elia's property is on sale. Intrigued, he immediately goes to see it; he has been looking for land for more than two years to build a large garden of his own. Impressed by its potential he immediately buys it and the following year settles in the villa on Lake Maggiore. He first changed its name: from La Crocetta to Villa Taranto, in honour of one of his ancestors who had been named Duke of Taranto by Napoleon Bonaparte, and then began hard work on the garden in order to create diversified but at the same time harmonious and original microclimates. The Terraced Gardens Today, Villa Taranto is a veritable gallery of botanical art, with thousands of species of plants and flowers from all over the world: the 8,500 species surveyed by McEacharn himself in 1963 now number almost 20,000. Eucalyptus trees, azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias, maples, camellias, dahlias, tulips, lotus flowers, heathers, hydrangeas, numerous tropical plants and even rare specimens are distributed in thematic zones such as the Conifer Avenue, the Tree Ferns Valley the Giardino all'Italiana, the Giardino delle Eriche, the Labyrinth of Dahlias, the Greenhouses of Tropical Plants where Victoria Cruziana and Amazonica are cultivated, which arrived at the Villa in 1956 from the Stockholm Botanical Garden. The Captain's plants come from all over the world, especially from the rich English nurseries, the Royal Gardens of Kew, Edinburgh and the Royal Horticultural Society. But also from France, Germany, Spain, Eastern Europe, Japan, South Africa, the United States and Australia. They are joined by Italian floriculturists, such as Countess Senni of Rome, founder of the Italian society 'Amici dei fiori' (Friends of Flowers), who gave him numerous varieties of irises, and Prince Borromeo, who in 1949 donated two rare plants of Metasequoia glyptostroboides to the Villa The area of succulents The valley Today, Villa Taranto is a veritable gallery of botanical art, with thousands of species of plants and flowers from all over the world: the 8,500 species surveyed by McEacharn himself in 1963 now number almost 20,000. Eucalyptus trees, azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias, maples, camellias, dahlias, tulips, lotus flowers, heathers, hydrangeas, numerous tropical plants and even rare specimens are distributed in thematic zones such as the Conifer Avenue, the Tree Ferns Valley the Giardino all'Italiana, the Giardino delle Eriche, the Labyrinth of Dahlias, the Greenhouses of Tropical Plants where Victoria Cruziana and Amazonica are cultivated, which arrived at the Villa in 1956 from the Stockholm Botanical Garden. The Captain's plants come from all over the world, especially from the rich English nurseries, the Royal Gardens of Kew, Edinburgh and the Royal Horticultural Society. But also from France, Germany, Spain, Eastern Europe, Japan, South Africa, the United States and Australia. They are joined by Italian floriculturists, such as Countess Senni of Rome, founder of the Italian society 'Amici dei fiori' (Friends of Flowers), who gave him numerous varieties of irises, and Prince Borromeo, who in 1949 donated two rare plants of Metasequoia glyptostroboides to the Villa The fern with the Dicksonia antarctica Strolling around Villa Taranto, one cannot help but be enchanted by never-before-seen plants such as the beautiful Pterostyrax hispidus, commonly known as the epaulette tree, as the flowers resemble the epaulettes that adorned soldiers' clothes. These beautiful clusters of flowers swaying in the breeze attract many birds and give off a delicate fragrance, or the Emmenopterys henryi of the Rubiaceae family, a white-flowered tree that can be up to a thousand years old and is native to the temperate areas of central and southern China and Vietnam. Also in the fern valley you can admire the Dicksonia antarctica tree ferns native to eastern Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, which resemble dancers. To conclude, strolling through the garden of Villa Taranto is something that really leaves its mark and takes you through shapes, fragrances and the world in a sublime setting. Pterostyrax hispidus THE BLOSSOMING OF RHODODENTRONS Rhododendron flowers are famous for their bright colouring, appreciated since ancient Greece, where they were known as the 'rose tree', from rhodon, rose and dendron, tree. They can be flat, bell-shaped or funnel-shaped and in some varieties, may be slightly perfumed. Very fascinating is their flowering: several flowers are produced from each bud, usually six or seven, each consisting of five petals and the anther, which contains the pollen. This grouping is technically a corymb, i.e. a regular cluster of buds at the end of the branch. The term is derived from the Latin corymbus, 'cluster inflorescence', borrowed from the Greek kórymbos, 'highest part, top'. This phenomenon allows the blossomed flowers to be all at the same height, as for example the elderberry. The rhododendron is a member of the Ericaceae family, like azaleas, and is a plant native to the Orient that loves cool, moist conditions. The oldest records of the rhododendron's existence take us back to 400 B.C., to Xenophon's soldiers who, returning from Babylon, camped in the hills of Armenia and almost ended up being poisoned by honey made from the nectar of the poisonous Asiatic wild species. The first wild and later cultivated species was the Rhododendron hirsutum also known as the 'alpine rose', of which there are records as early as 1500. GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO LINK Official website More Gardens and Parks I giardini di Villa Melzi I giardini di Villa Melzi Parco giardini di Sicurtà Parco giardini di Sicurtà Gairdino di Villa Lante Villa Lante parco del Flauto Magico Parco Flauto Magico Bomarzo Parco Villa la Grange Labirinto della Masone Giardino di Kenroku-en

SPAIN BOTANICAL GARDEN OF MADRID Discovering a New World Photographs of Cristina Archinto Text Carla De Agostini and Alessandra Valentinelli I n the centre of Madrid, there is a secluded place where it is still possible to enjoy nature and calm, in the shade of large trees and away from the urban chaos: the Real Jardín Botánico de Madrid in Plaza de Murillo, a stone's throw from the Prado Museum. Full of evocative corners covering more than two centuries of history, the Botanical Garden is a living encyclopaedia open to anyone who wants to discover its plant treasures, with a collection of more than 6,000 species, most of which are of Mediterranean origin (southern Europe and North Africa) and from other areas with a similar climate, such as California, Argentina, Chile, South Africa and southern Australia. The Garden has always been a reference point for botanical research and knowledge, and under the aegis of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas , the Spanish Higher Council for Scientific Research, it was declared a National Monument in 1947. The Garden was opened in 1755 and initially placed on the banks of the Manzanares River by order of Fernando VI, a botany enthusiast. Then, in 1781, Carlos III moved it to the Paseo del Prado where, designed by the architects Francisco Sabatin and Juan de Villanueva, to whom we also owe the Prado Museum and the Astronomical Observatory, the Real Jardín was arranged in different terraces inspired by the Paduan quarters: On the orthogonal plan of the Orchard, Sabatin and Villanueva placed circular fountains at the corners, then built a greenhouse pavilion, now the Villanueva Pavilion, the Herbarium, the Library and the Botanical Hall, as well as the Royal Gate, once the main entrance, in the classical style with Doric columns and pediment. Since its inception, the Real Jardín Botánico has been a privileged place for research and teaching. In fact, it has an immense cultural heritage, the fruit of scientific expeditions carried out during the 18th and 19th centuries, preserved in the Herbarium, Library and Archives. In 1755, Charles III of Bourbon decreed that the Real Jardín Botánico should be the place where all the materials from the scientific expeditions he promoted would converge. In ten years there were four such expeditions: to Chile and the Viceroyalty of Peru in 1777, to Colombia and New Granada in 1783, to New Spain in Mexico and Guatemala in 1787, and to the coasts and islands of the Pacific in 1789. The Garden became the final destination of a network of experts, technicians and researchers who brought drawings, herbaria, seeds and sometimes plants to Madrid. One of the last expeditions was that of Alessandro Malaspina, a captain in the Spanish navy, who sailed from Cadiz to Montevideo in 1789, touching Chile, Peru and Panama, and going as far as Vancouver, Manila and Macao. Returning to Spain in 1794, without the defence of the now deceased Charles III, he ended up imprisoned for his ideas of brotherhood between nations, and then exiled. In fact, Malaspina's philosophy transcends political and military conflicts, and he promotes an exchange of measuring and navigational instruments, books, observations and naturalistic knowledge, which is why he used to leave with a mixed crew, including Germans, French and Italians, accompanied by the best English and Bohemian instruments. Convinced that there is no 'land to discover but a world to know', the cartographers who map coastlines and islands with him then share them with the hydrographic offices in Paris and London. His naturalists, crossing the Andes, inventoried fossils and species with direct analyses that would later perfect the Linnean system. To date, the plants on display are organised on four terraces that take advantage of the irregularities of the terrain. At the corners of the quarters, i.e. the smaller squares inscribed in the geometric design of the individual terraces, are tall, towering trees that serve to refresh and distribute the plant groups. The first terrace is the lowest and most spacious of all, the Terraza de los Cuadros, where the collection of ornamental rose bushes, ancient medicinal and aromatic plants stand out, impregnating the air with unexpected scents along with the fruit trees. Here, the first plants to bloom in January are hellebores, followed by daffodils and crocuses. In April and May one can admire lilies, peonies and roses, and in the warmer summer months the beautiful dahlias appear, colouring the whole garden. The Terraza de los Cuadros is a catwalk of blooms, among the most pleasant in terms of scent and view, where one is always accompanied by the chirping of colourful species that, depending on the season, find solace in their favourite foliage. The second terrace, smaller than the previous one, houses the taxonomic collections of plants, which is why it is called Terraza de las Escuelas. The vegetation is arranged phylogenetically by families, so that the order of the plants can be traced from the most primitive to the most recent. Then there is the romantic-style Plano de la Flor, which houses a great variety of trees and shrubs planted in random order. The terrace is bordered by a wrought-iron pergola, made in 1786, with different varieties of vines, some of them of remarkable age. On the eastern side is the Villanueva Pavilion, built in 1781 as a greenhouse and currently used as a gallery for temporary exhibitions. It is an important centre for bringing the public closer to science and biodiversity through the creative and alternative languages of ever-changing artists. Many exhibitions seek inspiration in the Garden's own Archives and Herbaria, with the aim of creating a plant culture through the dissemination of a scientific didactic heritage as broad as that of the site. Finally, there is the Terraza de los Bonsáis, which houses a collection of bonsai trees donated in 1996 by former Prime Minister Felipe González, consisting of Asian and European species, mainly of Spanish flora, and expanded over time. On the north side is the Graells greenhouse, also known as Estufa de las Palmas, a wrought iron and glass greenhouse, built in 1856 under the direction of Mariano de la Paz Graells, the then director. This room mainly exhibits palm trees, tree ferns and banana specimens of the Musa genus. FEATURED PEONIES BETWEEN LEGEND AND REALITY Peonies, or Paeonia , have always been prized for their beautiful flowers that fill borders in shades of white, pink and red from late spring to mid-summer. Since antiquity, the Peony has been known for its miraculous virtues: its name derives from the Greek paionía, meaning 'healing plant', in reference to its roots with important healing, calming, antispasmodic, sedative and even pain-relieving properties, an etymology it shares not coincidentally with Paeon, Peon, the Greek God of Medicine. A well-known Greek legend has it that it was Zeus who transformed Paeon into a beautiful, immortal flower, to save him from the wrath and envy of the master who had seen himself outwitted in the treatment of Hades. The peony has been competing for millennia with the rose for the title of most beautiful in the kingdom, and in China it is officially the winner with the appellation 'Queen of Flowers'. The story goes that more than 2000 years ago, Empress Wu Tutian, who was very beautiful but also very despotic, ordered all the flowers in her kingdom to bloom one winter morning. Fearing her wrath, the flowers agreed to comply: all except one, the peony. Furious at this proud refusal, the empress gave orders for every specimen to be uprooted and exiled to high, snow-covered mountains. The plant withstood the frost and bloomed magnificently in the spring. At that point, Wu Tutian recognised its strength and revoked its exile, giving it the royal title. The peony referred to in the ancient Chinese legend is the shrub peony, which is very rare in nature, and culturally for the Chinese, rarity coincides with preciousness. This is why a supernatural origin is attributed to it: in the Huashan Mountain Nature Reserve, 'Mountain of Flowers', from hua flower and shan mountain, in the Chinese region of Shaanxi, there are pavilions depicting the birth of the peony as the fruit of the union between a farmer and a goddess who gave him one as a pledge of love, before returning to the heavens. In antiquity, it was the exclusive privilege of the imperial family and the mandarin nobility to be able to cultivate it in their gardens, whereas today its aristocratic beauty is within everyone's reach. In European gardens it arrived in 1789, after a long voyage on an English ship only five plants managed to take root in Kew Garden for the first time that year. Links Moutan Botanical Center GALLERY Info: Official website Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO more botanical gardens and nurseries Orto botanico di Amsterdam Orto botanico di Napoli Orto Botanico di Zurigo e la Serra Malgascia Giardino Botanico Nuova Gussonea Orto Botanico di Catania Orto Botanico di Ginevra Centro Botanico Moutan Orto Botanico di Palermo

LAZIO NINFA A MARVELOUS GARDEN Thanks to Gelasio Caetani’s foresight, today we can enjoy the beauty of an English garden amongst the nicest of Europe, which was nominated in the year 2000 as one of “Italy’s Natural Monuments”. In 1921, the Caetani family restored a number of ruins in the ancient medieval city of Ninfa, a few kilometres away from Cisterna di Latina. Among these renovations was a baronial palace which was transformed into the family’s summer estate, as well as a garden at the foot of Mount Lepini. At the same time, Ada Wilbraham, Gelasio Caetani’s mother, who was an expert botanist, planted the first cypresses, holm oaks, beech trees and rosettes, which she had collected throughout the course of her vast international travels. The most credit must be given to Marguerite Chapin, Roffredo Caetani’s wife, and to her daughter, Leila. Starting in the early thirties the two ladies transformed Ninfa into a beautiful English garden, and chose to emphasize its natural beauty. The only exception were areas in which flower beds were planted, the land they grew on was left, to some extend to itself, consenting to the natural growth and cycle of plants. The blessed southern exposure, south of Ninfa, which is protected from the winds by the Lepini Mountains, is ornate with numerous karst springs and crossed by the River Ninfa, which have allowed the growth of tropical plants such as the banana, the avocado and the manned gunner from South America. As one strolls through the medieval ruins, he or she may encounter thousands of diverse and rare species worthy of note, such as poplars, birches, pines, cypresses, cherry trees, Japanese maples, hornets, acanthuses, ornamental apple trees, roaring rose bushes, magnolias, irises, bamboo shoots, camellias and honeysuckles. The particular plant choice is purposeful in the sense that it allows for a year round flowering, and allows for a self-serving caring process. Macerated nettle, lime, propolis and a variety of insectivorous birds make the garden of Ninfa a small heaven on earth. One must visit it at least once in his or her lifetime. GALLERY Info: www.fondazionecaetani.org Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO MORE GARDENS AND PARKS Parco del Paterno del Toscano Villa Lante Labirinto della Masone Villa d'Este Giardino di Kenroku-en Giardino dell'impossibile Villa Pizzo Castello di Masino