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Ninfa
and
Gardens around Rome
(6th-10th
May 2008)
Tuesday 6th May - Frascati: Hotel Flora and Villa
Aldobrandini
Midday flight to Rome, Fiumicino Airport. Drive to Frascati and
check in to Hotel Flora. Afternoon tour of the garden at Villa Aldobrandini.
The villa, on the hill dominating the main square of Frascati, was constructed
in 1600 for Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini, the nephew of Pope Clementine VII.
It is a perfect example of Italian Baroque architecture. The garden, with the
spectacular water theatre, although now rather decayed, still has all the
splendour and drama of gardens of this period. On a clear day the views over
the Roman Campagna are magnificent.
Wednesday 7th May - Tivoli: Villa
d’Este and Hadrian’s Villa
Water
dominates the magnificent garden of
the Villa d’Este. An endless stream,
diverted from the River Aniene which
flows through the town, pours from
fountains, cascades down water
staircases and fills formal pools.
The garden was designed to reflect
the grandeur and power of Cardinal
Ippolito d’Este, for whom it was
constructed in the 1560s. Hadrian’s
Villa, just outside Tivoli, was the
Versailles of second century Rome.
Built by the Emperor Hadrian on a
stupendous scale, it impresses, even
after nearly 1900 years of
plundering, through the scale of its
buildings and the subtle integration
of architecture and landscape.
Thursday 8th May - The Giardini
della Landriana and Ninfa
The
first of two magical twentieth
century gardens, Landriana was a
collaboration from 1967 between the
designer Russell Page and the owner,
Marchesa Lavinia Taverna. The
result is a wonderful combination of
plantsmanship and good design as
formal rooms by the house give way
to informal drifts of roses around
the lake. The famous garden at
Ninfa is the extraordinary creation
of three generations of the Caetani
family who incorporated a ruined
medieval town into one of the most
beautiful gardens in the world.
Gin-clear water flows in abundance
through the luxurious planting that
clothes the ruined towers and
churches of the town. Roses riot
over old stone walls and wisteria is
reflected in the fast flowing
streams.
Friday 9th May - Bomarzo, Castello
Ruspoli and Villa Lante
Check
out of the Hotel Flora and drive
north to Bomarzo for a tour of the
garden which was created by Vicino
Orsini in the 1570s. In a wood
below the town he developed a highly
symbolic garden peopled by giants,
monsters, and dragons, all carved
from outcrops of rock. Castello
Ruspoli, where we will be having
lunch, has been owned by the same
family since the garden was laid out
in the 1610s by Vicino Orsini’s
daughter. The garden, which lies
below the castle and is designed to
be seen from the main reception
rooms, is a superb example of an
Italian formal parterre. The Villa
d’Este might be the most famous
Renaissance garden in Italy, but the
loveliest is the Villa Lante at
Bagnaia, which was built at much the
same time in the 1560s for Cardinal
Gambara. Water is the dominating
theme of the garden, flowing the
length of the garden, from a
natural-looking grotto to the formal
French-inspired parterre.
Throughout there are elements of
great charm and humour.
We
check into the Grand Hotel della
Terme di Stigliano which is set in
the midst of enchanting countryside
north of Rome. There has been a spa
and hotel here for centuries, taking
advantage of the therapeutic springs
which have been popular since at
least Roman times. The hotel is now
owned by the Patrizi family and
Marchesa Umberta Patrizi is
currently creating a garden around
the hotel.
Saturday 10th May - Castel Giuliano
Check
out of the Grand Hotel di Stigliano
and drive to Palazzo Patrizi, Castel
Giuliano, where the garden is the
creation of the present Marchesa
Umberto Patrizi. It is dominated by
spectacular stone pines, growing
extraordinarily over the remains of
Etruscan tombs. However the
Marchesa’s real passion is her
collection of roses, which soften
the walls of the castle, scramble
through the trees, and grow in wide
borders with Ceanothus, myrtle,
peonies and foxgloves. Drive to
Fiumicino Airport for a late
afternoon flight to London.
TOTAL
COST
The
five days, with three nights at the
Hotel Flora in Frascati and one at
Stigliano (two people sharing), all
lunches (except on the first day),
drinks on the roof terrace on the
first evening and dinner at the
Grand Hotel delle Terme, all
entrance fees and tours of the
gardens with James Bolton and travel
by luxury air conditioned coach,
will cost £1,260.00 per person
(airfares are not included). For
anyone requiring a single room,
there will be a single supplement of
£115.00.
Ninfa and the Finest
Private
Gardens around Rome
12 - 16th May 2008
Tuesday 13th May - La Ferriera,
Capalbio
After an early flight to Rome’s
Fiumicino Airport, we drive north to
La Ferriera, for lunch followed by a
tour of the garden. Contessa
Giuppi Pietromarchi is a skilled
plantswoman and the author of a book
on the garden at Ninfa. The
house faces an avenue of stone pines
leading down to the sixteenth
century iron foundry from which the
garden takes its name. Great
swathes of banksian roses cover the
buildings and shrub roses,
Agapanthus africanus, Hydrangeas and
Clerodendrons are planted under
olive trees. Elsewhere, secret rooms
contain a herb garden and a
mysterious grove of black bamboos.
This is the classic Italian garden
in the hands of a master gardener.
From La Ferriera we drive to
Frascati and check into our hotel
 Wednesday
14th May - Valleranello and
Landriana
The myth that all good twentieth
century Italian gardens are created
by foreigners is instantly dispelled
by the garden at Valleranello.
This is not a garden that you would
ever expect to see in Italy; it is
wild and informal, roses grow in
profusion over pergolas and up
trees, and are under planted with
perennials and shrubs by a
sure-handed gardener. From
Valleranello we drive to Landriana
for lunch by the villa followed by a
tour of the garden. Landriana was a
collaborative effort from 1967
between the designer Russell Page
and the owner, Marchesa Lavinia
Taverna. The result is a
wonderful combination of
plantsmanship and good design as
formal rooms with clipped bay hedges
and orange trees by the house, give
way to an informal planting of
Alliums, Salvia, Phlomis and
Tulbergia in an olive grove, and
specimen trees around the lake.
Thursday 15th May - Ninfa and
Luigi Muratori Gardena.jpg)
The
famous garden at Ninfa is the
extraordinary creation of three
generations of the Caetani family
who incorporated a ruined medieval
town, which had been in their family
since the thirteenth century, into
one of the most beautiful gardens in
the world. The fertile
volcanic soil and a very favourable
microclimate ensure the astonishing
growth of shrubs and trees
throughout the garden. Gin-clear
water flows in abundance through the
luxurious planting that clothes the
ruined towers and churches of the
town. Roses riot over the old stone
walls of houses and churches, one of
which saw the coronation of a pope
in 1159. Elsewhere Wisteria, draped
over bridges, is reflected in the
fast-flowing streams. We will be
given lunch in the garden after the
tour. On our way back to Frascati we
have been invited to see a
contemporary garden, well known for
its planting and diversity, just
south of Rome.
Hydrangeas line the drive under the
stone pines, roses crowd over a
pergola in front of the house, a
long shrub border wraps around a
paddock where the family keep their
horses, and lotus and water lilies
fill an informal pool.
 Friday
16th May - The Recrosio Garden,
Castello Ruspoli and the Portoghesi
Garden
We check out of our hotel and drive
to the north of Rome at the
invitation of Gabriella Recrosio,
who has created a garden that
combines the structure that you
would expect from an architect, with
a wonderful feeling for plants and
plant combination. Rare South
African irises brush shoulders with
tender Salvias; a pepper tree,
Schinus molle, with its weeping
feathery foliage, shades hedges of
tightly clipped juniper. We drive
north to Castello Ruspoli. The
garden, which lies below the castle
is designed to be seen from the main
reception rooms, where we will
lunch. With its clipped box, laurel
and rosemary hedges and lemon trees
in pots, it is a superb example of
an Italian formal parterre.
The last garden of the day is the
creation of the eminent architect
Paolo Portoghesi. The garden, while
being totally contemporary, pays
homage to Renaissance gardens and
architects. The formality of the
entrance courtyard is balanced by
the tranquillity of the upper garden
set among old olive trees. We check
into our second hotel which lies in
the midst of enchanting countryside
north of Rome.
Saturday 17th May - Palazzo Patrizi,
Castel Giuliano
We check out of our hotel and drive
to Palazzo Patrizi, Castel Giuliano,
where the garden is the creation of
the present Marchesa Umberta Patrizi.
It is dominated by spectacular stone
pines, growing extraordinarily over
the remains of Etruscan tombs.
However, the Marchesa’s real passion
is her collection of roses, which
soften the walls of the castle,
scramble through the trees, and grow
in wide borders with Ceanothus,
myrtle, peonies and foxgloves.
After lunch at Castel Giuliano, we
drive to Fiumicino Airport for a
late afternoon flight to London.
TOTAL COST
This exclusive tour is an
opportunity to see some very private
gardens accompanied by their owners
and creators, alongside two of the
great gardens of the twentieth
century; Landriana and Ninfa.
In order to enjoy these gardens at
their best the size of the group
will be restricted.
The
five days, with three nights at four
star Hotel Flora in Frascati and one
at the four star Grand Hotel,
Stigliano (two people sharing), all
lunches in the gardens, drinks on
the roof terrace on the first
evening and a final dinner at
Stigliano, all entrance fees and
tours of the gardens with James
Bolton and the owners, and travel by
luxury air conditioned coach, will
cost £1,375.00 per person (airfares
are not included). For anyone
requiring a single room, there will
be a single supplement of £115.00.
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