Milan and its gardens
The Giardini publicci Indro Montanelli, a favourite garden of the Milanese, is a haven of peace for all generations. This 18th century park, now dedicated to the famous journalist Indro Montanelli, houses the Municipal Museum of Natural History, the Planetarium and the 17th century Palazzo Dugnani. Next door, the Giardino della Villa Belgiojoso Bonaparte is the only garden in the city reserved for people with children. Ideal if you are with your family! Finally, the Giardino della Guastalla is a very small and romantic park in the south-east of the city. Opened in 1939, it is the first public garden of the city. There is a nice little fish pond surrounded by a beautiful granite balustrade.
Lake Maggiore
The Garden Route runs along the various lakes from west to east. Lake Maggiore leads the way.
Thanks to Venice and its merchant port, the Lake District took advantage of trade to discover new and exotic plants, flowers and vegetables from all over the world. As a symbol of status, it was fashionable to buy rare plants. Many gardens housed greenhouses for all these exotic plants. Then, at the end of Napoleon's reign, when Italy was finally unified, a new middle class appeared. And, little by little, gardens were no longer reserved for aristocrats alone, horticulture became more democratic.
The most famous gardens of the Italian Lakes are on the lake islands of Lake Maggiore: the Borromean Islands. This small archipelago has three islands: Isola Madre, Isola Bella and Isola dei Pescatori.
As far as gardens are concerned, Isola Madre is the one that stands out. The botanical garden is one of the oldest and richest in Italy. In 1632, Carlo Borromeo, governor of the lake, wanted the island to be transformed into a pyramid of terraces. It took forty years to achieve this! But as the governor did not own all the houses on the island, and some fishermen refused to sell, the garden had to go around them, giving it its particular shape. From the bare rock that was the island at the beginning, this place became first an orchard, then an orange grove in the 15th century. Count Giberto Borromeo and his son Vitaliano transformed it into a wonderful English-style park at the beginning of the 19th century. Plants from Australia, Tibet, Peru and Chile grow here thanks to a microclimate that tempers the cold of the nearby mountains. An extraordinary 25-metre-high Kashmir cypress stands in front of the palace. A violent storm almost uprooted it in 2006; today, a system of cables and pylons firmly anchors this 150-year-old tree, unique in Europe, to the ground.
Amidst the tropical plants, a multitude of chickens, wild pheasants, colourful parrots and blue and white peacocks strut about; enough to make this enchanting garden a complete change of scenery. Flaubert, who discovered the island in 1845 and wrote about it: "L'Isola Madre, paradis terrestre. Trees with golden leaves that the sun gilded.
"In Gignese, you can enjoy an Alpine botanical garden where some 800 species of trees and other plants grow in silence
.In Verbania, the magical gardens of Villa Taranto are a must-see. A unique example of an English garden, these gardens were born of the passion for botany of the Scottish captain Neil McEacharn, who acquired the villa and its park in 1931. Groves, greenhouses, terraced gardens, fountains and water features enliven the landscape of the garden, which boasts a botanical heritage of over 1,000 native plants and some 20,000 species imported from five continents, including a four-century-old chestnut tree. Autumn, spring or summer, the gardens of Villa Taranto offer botanical lovers or simply curious visitors a spectacular palette of colours every time.
In Angera, the Rocca Borromeo
is the place to be. This castle is surrounded by a sophisticated medieval garden, where talented gardeners work to recreate the plant life of the time. On the Swiss side of the lake, on one of the islands (Isole di Brissago), there is a superb botanical park. The Botanical Garden (2.5 ha) is home to over 1,500 species of plants from the Mediterranean, subtropical Asia, South Africa, the Americas and Oceania.From Varese to Orta
The city of Varese is known as the "garden city". One public park in particular catches our attention: the gardens of Palazzo Estense. It is one of the few free gardens and is a very pleasant place to stop, especially in summer.
Along Lake Lugano, in spring and summer, the San Grato botanical garden in the municipality of Carona is a jewel of 30,000m2
that invites the visitor to discover on foot the rhododendrons and azaleas in bloom and the great variety of plants. In Orta, some beautiful gardens can be seen, such as that of Villa Bossi in the municipality of Orta San Giulio. Its garden, which looks directly onto the lake, offers a superb view of the island of San Giulio.The photogenic nature of Lake Como
It was at the beginning of the 19th century that the banks of the lake changed, with the arrival and installation of rich Italian families in sublime villas. The gardens were designed to be enjoyed from the water's edge, rather than from the street. This is also why boat tours are particularly popular to admire the beauty of the whole place. Some villas do not even have land access but only by lake or helicopter.
Here, you stroll between the villages, admiring the villas and the sublime gardens that accompany them, as in the Bellagio village. We push on to the Giardini di Villa Melzi, a magnificent garden by the lake, symbol of the refinement of the time. It is the first example of an English garden on Lake Como, where landscapes and perspectives can be discovered along the paths, vegetation and water features. The famous novelist Stendhal made several stays in this villa, and his work keeps traces of it, especially in The Charterhouse of Parma,
where he describes Lake Como as one of the most beautiful: "The countess began to review, with Fabrice, all those enchanting places near Grianta, and so celebrated by travellers: the villa Melzi on the other side of the lake, opposite the castle, and which serves as a point of view above the sacred wood of the Sfondrala, and the bold promontory which separates the two branches of the lake, that of Como, so voluptuous, and that which runs towards Lecco, full of severity: sublime and graceful aspects, which the most renowned site in the world, the Bay of Naples, equals, but does not surpass. "For the anecdote, in the XIX century, this garden caused a rivalry between two of the most powerful men of the country. Melzi began, in 1808, to make his garden in the English style, all open to the lake and the mountains. On the other side of the lake, in Villa Carlotta, the Italian politician Sommariva, jealous that Melzi was Napoleon's vice-president, decided to give his villa an even more beautiful garden. In Tremesso, from Villa Carlotta, you can see Villa Melzi. And if you compare, who do you think won the garden war between Melzi and Sommariva?
A little further on, the Villa Serbelloni park offers one of the most beautiful gardens in Italy, rich in secular, rare and exotic plants. In autumn it is decked out in magnificent colours.
If you take the road to the lakes, and if you go to Como, you can stop at Cernobbio to discover the Villa d'Este, which has a magnificent Italian-style garden. It was put on the screen by Alfred Hitchcock in 1925 in The Garden of Pleasure
. It is impossible not to mention the famous Villa del Balbianello, in Lenno. It was used as a set for some scenes in the latest Star Wars and Casino Royale. For Star Wars, it'sEpisode II: Attack of the Clones, Anakin joins Padme there and they exchange a kiss in the garden. If you had to see only one of the villas on Lake Como, this is the one to choose, so impressive is the beauty of its setting and the charm of its architecture and gardens. Careful vegetation, antique statues, fountains and finely carved stone balustrades adorn these magical gardens which slope down to the waters of the lake in an alternation of soft gradations and steep rocks.Lake Garda
On the lake side, don't miss Isola del Garda, a small lake island. On this island, the sublime Villa Borghese and its luxuriant gardens await you
In Gardone Riviera, you can visit the Giardino botanico fondazione André Heller. There are over 2,000 species of flowers and plants from all over the world. Today, the garden belongs to André Heller who has associated it with a foundation. This botanical garden is now dotted with contemporary artworks, including one by Keith Haring.
To learn more about the Italian Lakes gardens, don't miss episode 4 of the documentary series Monty Don's Italian Gardens (on Netflix with French subtitles and findable on YouTube in English VO). In addition, the first three episodes devoted respectively to Rome, Florence and Naples are equally fascinating. The work is remarkable and allows us to better understand their past and the ideas that shaped them.
