Ninfa and Gardens around Rome
Monday 3rd – Friday 7th May 2010

The broad fertile plain of the Roman Campagna has been gardened for centuries by those wishing to escape from the bustle of central Rome.  This five day tour is based mainly in Frascati, a small town on the slopes of the Alban Hills, famous for its wine and its Baroque villas built for their views over the Campagna below.  

After an afternoon flight to Rome Fiumicino Airport, we drive north to a castle which is well-known for its Rose Festival held every May.  The garden is the creation of the present owner whose passion is roses which smother the walls of the castle, scramble through the trees and grow luxuriantly in wide mixed borders. We will be given an aperitif and then continue on to our hotel set in gently rolling countryside for the first night.

On the second day we drive to the Villa Lante, one of the loveliest and best preserved Renaissance gardens in Italy. Water is the dominating theme, flowing down through the garden from a natural-looking grotto to the formal parterre.  From here, it is a short drive to lunch at Castello Ruspoli. The garden of clipped box, laurel and rosemary hedges, which is designed to be seen from the main rooms of the castle, is a superb example of formal Italian landscaping. In the afternoon we turn south towards Rome and visit a private contemporary garden on the edge of the city.  The garden contains all the structure that you would expect from an architect-owner. The planting is also first rate: 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. From here we continue to our hotel in Frascati

The myth that all good twentieth century Italian gardens are created by foreigners will be dispelled by the garden at Valleranello, which we visit the following morning.  The owner started the garden here 30 years ago and developed such a passion for roses that her expertise has been used by Ninfa.   This informal garden is a wonderful surprise in Italy.   Roses grow in profusion over pergolas and up trees, and are under-planted with perennials and shrubs by a sure-handed plantswoman.  We continue to Giardino della Landriana for lunch followed by a tour. The garden was designed by Russell Page in collaboration with the owner, Marchesa Lavinia Taverna. The result is a wonderful combination of planting and good design as formal spaces by the house give way to informal planting around the lake. 

The following day provides two very different visits. Ninfa is the extraordinary creation of three generations of the Caetani family, who transformed 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 the old stone walls of houses, and wisteria, swathed over bridges, is reflected in the fast-flowing streams. We will be given a private lunch in the garden.  On our way back to Rome we are invited to see the contemporary garden created by Signora Muratori which is well known for its planting. 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 while lotus and water lilies fill an informal pool.   

On our last day we drive to Tivoli for a tour of the Villa d’Este where an endless stream of water pours from fountains, cascades down water staircases and fills mirror pools.  The garden was designed to reflect the magnificence of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este, for whom it was constructed in the 1560s. After lunch just outside Tivoli, we return to Fiumicino for the return flight to London.