The Real Jardín Botánico in Madrid was inaugurated in 1755 and then moved to the Paseo del Prado by Carlos III in 1781. Today it boasts a collection of more than 6,000 species. The exhibited plants are organised on four terraces: the Terraza de los Cuadros, with ornamental roses, medicinal and aromatic plants; the Terraza de las Escuelas, with taxonomic collections; the Plano de la Flor, with varieties of trees and shrubs; the Terraza de los Bonsáis with an important collection of bonsai. 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

This year the Villa della Pergola Gardens are officially The Most Beautiful Park in Italy, winning the award among more than a thousand private parks, and indeed it is of unparalleled beauty: here wisteria of every shape and colour, flowers and trees from all over the world are altered, on a panorama overlooking the entire Gulf of Alassio. LIGURIA VILLA PERGOLA'S GARDENS TALES FROM THE WORLD Photographs Cristina Archinto Text Carla De Agostini T his year, the Gardens of Villa della Pergola are officially The Most Beautiful Park in Italy , winning this prize among more than a thousand private parks, and indeed it is of unparalleled beauty: here wisteria of every shape and colour, flowers and trees from all over the world alternate on a unique view overlooking the entire Gulf of Alassio. One of the terraces V illa Pergola is a rare example of an Anglo-Mediterranean garden. It was created in the second half of the 1870s by the taste of General Montagu McMurdo and his wife Lady Susan Sarah Napier, who fell in love with the place and chose to maintain the classic Ligurian terracing of the previous farm and add palm trees and cypresses. Between 1900 and 1903, the estate was bought by Walter Hamilton Dalrymple and in 1922 by Daniel, son of Thomas Hambury, creator of the famous Hanbury Botanical Gardens at Mortola, not far away. To him we owe the scenic pergolas covered with wisteria and the many exotic cacti, agaves, aloes and eucalyptus trees. After a period of neglect and decay, the Gardens were restored in 2006 by Paolo Pejrone, together with Silvia Arnaud Ricci, to whom we owe the creation of the botanical collection of wisteria with 34 varieties and that of agapanthus, today the most important in Europe with almost 500 different species. The area of succulents T he visit to the garden is accompanied by the stories of a passionate guide. The tour begins with the succulents, where the crestate variety stands out and the eye is immediately caught by the 'monster', the Trichocereus bridgesii monstruosus , whose Mexican legend tells how one only by looking at the plant while eating any food can have strong hallucinations. Then there are several agaves, including the white agave and the very interesting Myrtillocactus whose fruits are edible and similar to blueberries. The citrus collection P assing along one of the oldest wisteria, one arrives at the terracing of citrus trees with more than 40 species, from which the villa's own restaurant draws to make its dishes. Here you get lost among the most diverse forms of citrus fruits and aromas; next to the classic mandarins, oranges, lemons and citrons, there are very special varieties, from the lumpy peel to the unexpected shapes that seem to come out of a storybook. Like the Buddha's Hand Citrus medica var. sarcodactylus , a very fragrant and fascinating lemon that belongs to the citron family. Born from a genetic malformation, it is devoid of pulp and each wedge develops and defines itself as a unit in its own right, almost as if it were divided from the others. In India, it is easy to find it at the foot of Buddha statues in temples as a votive offering from the faithful like two joined hands in prayer, hence the name. Then there is the Japanese Citrus tachibana one of Japan's only two citrus fruits. Originally from China, the Tachibana underwent several mutations to become a Japanese citrus cultivar, genetically isolated from the original. Officially classified as an endangered species by the Ministry of the Environment in Tokyo, the Tachibana is in the unique position of being ubiquitous in Japanese iconography but at the same time unknown to contemporary Japanese due to its rarity. In fact, most people encounter it daily, engraved on 500 yen coins but have never seen it in real life. Historically a sacred and respected flower, in the Heian period (794-1185), aristocratic women perfumed themselves by tucking bags of Tachibana flowers into the sleeves of their kimonos or threading the fruit into strings to wear as bracelets. The Cypress Avenue T he walk continues along the green avenue of agapanthus that leads to the most romantic area of the garden where, in the restorative shade of palm trees and giant white-flowered strelitzias, is the water lily fountain, surrounded by putti covered with Ficus Repens designed by Sir Dalrymple. Along the higher terracing begins the avenue of monumental cypress trees that frame the panoramic view, until you reach the waterfall scrub where there is a rocky pond and the prehistoric Wollemia nobilis, a very rare conifer rediscovered in Australia in 1994 by the forester David Noble, very few specimens exist today, mainly in botanical gardens. Putti covered with ficus repens Blue and white wisteria arbour The grove alternates between common myrtles and some ancient myrtles brought from Sicily, and scenically landed by helicopter under the direction of Paolo Pejrone himself. At the end of this itinerary, one encounters the delicate Australian bluebells, used in phytotherapy as a remedy "to open the doors of the heart, to those who live with suffering in their sentimental sphere". Under the terracing of the cottage are the lotus pools. As a reminder of the Hanbury's links with the East, there is a statue of a dragon, similar to the one in the Hanbury Botanical Gardens, an embodiment of the elemental spirit of water, protecting against rain and drought. On the sides of the cottage, close to the walls, double-blooming hybrid wisteria, known as Violacea Plena, have been planted, enriching the pergola with a deep purple hue. The path ends with a marble staircase surrounded by large leaves of farfugium japinicum and a pergola of flowering wisteria providing shade, with breathtaking views of the gulf. WISTERIA The Germans call it blauregen 'blue rain', the Chinese zi teng 'blue vine' and in Italian its name derives from the Greek glikis meaning 'sweet', due to the fragrance of its flowers. Its current scientific name is thanks to Captain Welbank who in 1816, not knowing that Carl Linnaeus had already classified it as Glycine in 1724, brought the plant to Europe christening it Wistaria in honour of Professor Caspar Wistar, but during its spread in English-speaking countries it was mispronounced as Wisteria. Its fast-growing properties and tendency to expand rapidly have resulted in a Guinness World Record specimen in the Sierra Madre in California: at the peak of its flowering, the wisteria has up to 1.5 million buds, with a total weight of 250 tonnes! The spiral growth of both clockwise and counter-clockwise flower clusters is associated with human consciousness expanding outwards from an inner vital core in an attempt to influence the world around it. 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

A winter photography trip to the Upper Engadine, amidst forests and singing frozen lakes, with tips and tricks for taking beautiful photographs in the snow and in the mountains. PHOTOGRAPHIC DIARY Winter Landscape in Engadine Text e photographs by Cristina Archinto D riven by the desire to change my visual horizon, I found myself in the high mountains in a wonderful place so loved by both the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche and the painter Giovanni Segantini who often portrayed his landscapes; the Upper Engadin valley. The striking high snow-capped mountains laying below they are covered by dense dark woods of pines and stone pines, which contrast with a vast flat area with its white frozen lakes. After a day spent on the tops of the mountains where the landscape was breathtaking but very "postcard" and perhaps not very intriguing, I opted for the plain. First a walk in the neighboring woods and the day after a fascinating walk on Lake Sils, to discover its ice, its crevices but also its songs. Yes, because I discovered that the frozen body of water sings, emitting cracks and harmonies that almost recall the song of whales, a phenomenon that occurs only in certain moments when the expansion and contraction of the ice occurs due to changes in temperature . Definitely intriguing but also a little scary especially when you find yourself in the middle of the lake. In general, even if it is stimulating, it is not easy to photograph the snow, first of all you have to pay attention to the exposure meter, which, struck by the intense light reflecting on the snow, will push you to take darker pictures. Autofocus is also not happy when trying to focus when aimed at a very white surface. Also you have to be careful with the shot, it is not trivial to photograph the white expanses without flattening the whole landscape. Photo notes The snowy woods are wonderful , they are silent, very silent. In this case, given the scarcity of snow, there were also pine needles which, lying on the white mantle, create an interesting texture. I tried to capture that silence and contrast. An interesting part of photographing a snowy landscape is that the colors decrease significantly but the hues increase. In this case, after removing the black and white, we end up with only greens and browns. With blurs you can create the depths of an image, in this case I put the young wild reed in focus with the snow around with the macro mode totally blurring the background. The reflections on the still waters are always my passion, in this case since the subject is the river and the reflection of the mountain covers only a small part of the frame, creates depth and the illusion that there is snow on the river, also here too the colors are two browns and blues. To tell the vastness of the frozen lake, my dog Cannella was propitious, as was the lady with the hat, making the photograph even more interesting. In this image I tell the power of the landscape , with the mountains and sinuous white streaks of snow that stands out in an intense blue resting on the vastness of the lake. Photographing ice is very difficult! Difficult to focus on it, find the right exposure and above all walk on it without ending up upside down with a camera! A good escape point and consequently depth is c offender with a nice fence or tracks in the snow. And that's what I mean when I suggest watching great artists to learn their framing! Giovanni Segantini, The death (Triptych of the Alps) 1897-99 Question: Why in this photograph, which I've transformed into black and white, does the snow looks like sand? GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Other GARDENS and PARKS Reggia di Venaria Reggia di Venaria 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

Terrimago edition realizes personalized photographic books on commission: unique publications, refined and cured in every detail to make your garden grow even outside its natural boundaries and make it known to the world. Terrimago projects FOR YOUR GARDEN Terrimago is specialized in the image of gardens and houses. With the photographs of Cristina Archinto Terrimago creates ad hoc editorial products to help promote gardens, parks, historic houses, accommodation facilities and wineries. Internet sites, books and merchandising are all rigorously refined and cared for in every detail to make your garden grow outside its natural boundaries . sites BOOKS gadget Terrimago is specialized in assisting gardens and homes. It promotes gardens, parks, historic houses, accommodation facilities and wineries through the creation of various editorial products. In order to make these entities known and appreciated, Terrimago realizes photographic shoots, websites, books, merchandising, all of which are rigorously refined and cared for in every detail. Garden photography Garden photography is a niche genre that requires thorough knowledge and profound love for nature’s beauty, as well as an in-depth botanical knowledge. Portraying a garden in the best possible way is much more difficult than one can imagine. Gardens change from day to day and from hour to hour, therefore the photographer needs to capture the perfect light and the most harmonious setting to properly enhance the garden and the plants. In order to transfer the natural environments’ vitality through photography, it is necessary to grasp the lights and the shadows, the colors and all the different shapes of the flora. The reward for all this hard work is the final creation of intense and memorable images that will best portray your garden forever. How we work The first step is a meeting in which the customer's needs are thoroughly analyzed. They may involve products for private use or more complete projects such as the development of merchandising for the start-up of bookshops. After a careful analysis of data and information, the customer is presented with various options and estimates. It should be noted that all the project proposals are tailored to each customer and will always be carried out in close contact with the customer. Merchandise The starting point are the pictures taken by the experienced professional photographer Cristina Archinto, who is able to reflect the emotions and singularity of a garden, a landscape or house interior in her original and unique images. Once the photo shoots are done, Terrimago elaborates photographic projects of various kinds, from simple but popular postcards, to leaflets in different formats or publications on a larger scale, such as books and volumes. To produce the more extensive publications, Terrimago edition, with the help of Livia Danese, works with renowned professionals such as writers, journalists and illustrators to capture and highlight every aspect of the beauty and the uniqueness of each garden, park or winery. The printing is mostly made in offset by professional typographers using state-of-the-art equipment. As for the establishment of bookshops for gardens and botanical gardens, Terrimago analyzes statistics regarding the flow of visitors to calculate the redemption, or the ratio between the number of visitors and the possible purchases made at the end of the visit. This analysis allows to design products for the bookshop that correspond to the emotional value of the visit; each object has its own importance because the more the experience in the gardens is engaging, the more the purchases in the shop should be targeted. Terrimago edition also designs websites for botanical institutions using innovative and user friendly site-builders, to enable the clients to be fully autonomous in the day to day management of the website. For further information or inquiries please write to us via contact form or live chat. Terrimago grow your own garden outside its natural boundaries

The Botanical Garden of Palermo was inaugurated in 1795 with the aim of contributing to the development of botanical and medical sciences in the Sicilian city. In the oldest sector of the Garden the plants are still arranged according to the classification system of Linnaeus. SICILY Botanical Garden of Palermo BY MARGHERITA LOMBARDI The Botanical Garden of Palermo is located next to Villa Giulia, bordering the Kalsa district. In 1779, to accompany the newly founded Accademia di Regi studi, which had annexed the chair of Botany and Medical Matters, a small botanical garden was created, adjacent to the Porta di Carini, but became insufficient for the needs of the chair, in 1786 it was transferred to its present location. Between 1789 and 1795 the main buildings were built, the Gymnasium and the two lateral bodies of the Tepidarium and the Calidarium, in neoclassical style, designed by the French architect Leon Dufurny. Originally the garden, enriched with pools and fountains and a magnificent Aquarium, was divided into rectangular plots to divide the collections according to Linnaeus' system, but in the early nineteenth century it was modified. The Garden was still enlarged in later periods, and a grove of exotic plants and the Winter Garden, for example, was created in a large greenhouse. In the 1930s it acquired its definitive appearance, with the entrance area divided into regular areas and the southern area furrowed by more articulated paths. The collections. The Botanical Garden of Palermo hosts, in total, 12,000 species, mainly from South Africa, Australia and South America. Among these, there are the giant specimen of Ficus macrophylla, symbol of the Garden, the collection of marsh plants that includes lotuses (Nelumbum nucifera), water lilies and papyrus (Cyperus papyrus); the palms of the genus Phoenix spp., Cycads; species belonging to the families Moracee, Mimosacee, Rutacee, Euphorbiacee, Aizoacee, Asclepiadacee, Liliacee, Crassulacee and Cactacee, citrus fruits and a fragrant collection of plumerie, a plant as widespread in Palermo as medlar is on the terraces and gardens of northern cities. Among the botanical curiosities are Sapindus mukorossi, Pimenta acris, Coffea arabica, Ficus sycomorus, Mimosa spegazzinii, Crescentia alata, Saccharum officinarum, Manihot utilissima and Carica papaya. The Botanical Garden of Palermo is responsible for the introduction and diffusion in Mediterranean countries of Citrus deliciosa and Eriobotrya japonica. You can admire substantial collections of dried plants that are preserved in the Herbarium Mediterraneum. Every year a catalogue is published of seeds of both wild plants from Sicily and cultivated in the Garden, available for exchanges with scientific institutions from all continents. The tallest plant in the Garden is an annual Araucaria columnaris . Spectacular the avenue enclosed by large specimens Ceiba speciosa (formerly Chorisia speciosa). Margherita Lombardi GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Info: Italian Botanical Heritage Italian Botanical Trips Palermo Botanical Garden more botanical gardens and nurseries Orto Botanico di Ginevra Orto Botanico di Ginevra Roma Roseto di Roma Chicago Chicago Batanical Garden Giardino Esotico Pallanca Parco Botanico Villa Rocca Water Nursery Giardino Botanico di Hanbury

The Villa Taranto botanical gardens are a true botanic gallery, with thousands of species of plants and flowers from all over the world. Eucalyptus, azaleas, rhododendrons, magnolias, camellias, dahlias, tulips, lotus flowers, heathers, hydrangeas, numerous tropical plants and even rare specimens. 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

Nowadays we have the possibility of taking 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 that, when put together, no longer reflect the fulcrum of our story. Max 10 shots wants to emphasize that, if the photographs are relevant and with a strong subjective connotation, even 10 shots are enough for a good photographic story. 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. 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 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 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 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 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 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 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

The Botanical Garden of Siena, transformed from the Garden of the Simple into the Univeristarian Botanical Garden in 1866, is home to species native to the Tuscan territories as well as exotic plants, preserved both outdoors and in greenhouses. TUSCANY BOTANIC GARDEN OF SIENA The first Botanical Garden of Siena was set up at the Santa Maria della Scala Hospital in 1588 in connection with the chair of "Lectura Simplicium" and "Ostensio Simplicium". In 1784 Biagio Bartalini, at the request of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, established the Botanical Garden of the University of Siena, which was transferred to its present location in 1856. Under the direction of B. Longo established the Royal Institute and Botanical Garden and built (1910-1912) the two-floor villa that host it. This denotes the character of a centre for scientific research and didactics in the botanical field, which the structure will assume in the following years. In 1935 the management of the Garden passed from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery to the Faculty of Pharmacy, then in 1964 to the Faculty of Mathematical, Physical and Natural Sciences. In the same year the valley was purchased as far as the walls, reaching its present size. In 1977 the Tepidarium was built on the new land and extended in the following years. From 1995 to 2002 some natural environments were reconstructed, such as the Rock Garden, the Wet Climb, the Lake. The Botanical Garden has different environments that obviously host certain botanical species: the School: artificial terraces created at the beginning of the twentieth century to host medicinal plants; the park, subdivided into various flowerbeds of characteristic nineteenth-century style, which house multiple species; the aquatic environments, reproduced in the Garden in various ways: masonry pools, ponds, ponds, streams, etc., so that you can see the enormous variety of aquatic species; the rock garden, which hosts spontaneous species from central-southern Tuscany, present in steeply sloping areas, in intensely grazed areas and in degraded wooded areas, subject to irrational cuttings and/or fires; the humid, rocky escarpment with dripping water, was set up in the 2000's to display native plants from humid and cool environments; the farm: an example of an agricultural valley in the Tuscan territory within the Sienese walls. Index Seminum 2020 Spontaneous orchids live in the flowerbeds of the Park. Finally, there are 4 greenhouses: Ancient greenhouse or tropical greenhouse, Tepidarium, Lemon house, Experimental greenhouse. GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Info: University museum system Botanical Garden Italy Video more botanical gardens and nurseries Orto Botanico di Ginevra Centro Botanico Moutan Orto Botanico di Palermo Roseto di Roma Chicago Batanical Garden Giardino Esotico Pallanca Parco Botanico Villa Rocca Giardino Botanico di Hanbury

At Foria on the island of Ischia there is a collection of succulents numbering more than 400 species created by Navy Captain Giuseppe D'Ambra from the 1960s to the present day. Cacti of remarkable size in all shapes and forms and visiting it is a magical experience. CAMPANIA GIARDINI RAVINO CACTI FROM ALL AROUND THE WORLD Cactaceae of all shapes and forms Photos Cristina Archinto Text Lydia DeRosa V isiting Forio, on the western side of the island of Ischia in front of Naples, it is possible to come across one of the largest and most varied collections of succulent species in Europe: the Ravino Gardens, where cacti of every shape and bearing stand out against the intense light of the Tyrrhenian Sea and draw imaginative landscapes. The Gardens tell the story of a passion cultivated throughout a wandering life: the Navy Captain Giuseppe D'Ambra. Like his father Antonio, a collector of crassulae (succulent plants native to southern Africa) that he used to plant inside shells, the Captain in his long career brought back specimens from every corner of the world: from Mexico to South America, from Madagascar to Arabia. After a dazzling encounter with specimens of giant saguaros in the Arizona desert, since the 1960s on every trip the Captain has brought cuttings, seeds or plants back to Forio; in forty years he has built up a collection of more than 3,000 specimens housed in every corner of his Ischian residence. Variegated garden beds, among large saguaro and Echinocactus also known as 'mother-in-law's pillow But his real ambition was to be able to create a real succulent garden that could also be visited by everyone and, as luck comes to those who know how to wait, in 2001 the Captain began to realise his dream by buing the land beside his house. From that moment all the family will be involved in the intense work, which lasted four years, until 2005 when the Ravino Gardens were finally opened to public. By then, many years had passed since the first plants arrived and, thanks to the particularly favourable climate in that corner of the island, several specimens had grown considerably (some species normally reach similar sizes in twice as long). Today, the collection has over 400 plant species and, despite the captain's retirement, continues to grow year by year. A "portico" of vegetable columns In 2010, the garden was awarded by the European Commission as the best tourist facility in southern Italy, as it is sensitive to environmental and social issues. A variety of forms reigns supreme in the Ravino Gardens: sculptural Peruvian Cerei cacti with their ribs striating their profile stand out, flanked by Ferocactus, cylindrical cacti with fierce thorns (as the name suggests, from the Latin ferox) sometimes softened by flowers that seem to crown them, and Selenicereus creepers, also known as 'queens of the night' for their showy nocturnal blooms. Wax cacti from Peru, saguaro, Stenocereus and palms This magical place looks different at every turn, thanks also to the presence of a family of peacocks that stroll undisturbed among the flowerbeds bordered by San Pedro cacti (Cereus pachanoi , from Ecuador and Peru) and the dry tuff walls typical of this area of the island of volcanic origin. Strolling through the gardens, one can also admire the branching, downy Stenocereus cacti (species of this genus are widespread throughout Central America, especially in Mexico and the small Central American republics such as Costa Rica, Belize and Nicaragua) or the Madagascar palms (Pachypodium ) and the Cyphostemma, succulents with swollen trunks encircled by leaves, whose area of origin extends from North-East Africa to South Arabia. Aporocactus (or 'rattail') with their brightly coloured flowers fall from the walls, and the classic prickly pears are cleverly pierced so that the wind does not knock them down. But the most striking thing are the huge spiny globes, the Echinocactus, wittily nicknamed 'mother-in-law's pillows', which - solitary or in groups - seem to roll around the garden. The contrasts of light created by the hard shapes of the xerophytes Here and there, the collection of xerophytes (from the Greek xeros , 'dry') is intertwined with Mediterranean plants: citrus fruits, strawberry trees, olive trees and aromatic plants such as lavender, thyme, oregano, marjoram, mint, damask rose and different varieties of fragrant pelargonium. In one corner of the garden it is also possible to admire the Wollemia Nobilis , a conifer that was thought to be extinct until 1994 when David Noble rediscovered it in Australia. Today, specimens of this protected species, whose fossil traces date back 90 million years, are very rare and mostly found in gardens and botanical gardens. Flowerbeds of succulent species and Mediterranean flora such as sedum, agave and dracaena draco overlooking the sea GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO LINKS Official site Other GARDENS and PARKS 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 Parco Villa la Grange Labirinto della Masone

The Victoria is one of those plants that has always fascinated man, huge leaves that float despite their size and weight. A fascinating history, from its discovery in 1801 to the present day, which still makes headlines for its discovery of a new species. SICILY Victoria amazonica Victoria Marvel of Nature and source of constant discovery. Photographs of Cristina Archinto Text by Cristina Archinto and Carla De Agostini T he Victoria is one of those plants that has always fascinated mankind since its discovery in the western world in the early 1800s; these enormous leaves float despite their size and weight. This is due to a special latticework that traps air in the lower face of the leaf, creating cushions that allow the leaf to support not only its own weight but also that of a child, as evidenced by the first photograph, of a long series, taken in 1932 in Kew Gardens. The photo taken in 1932 in Kew Gardens Victoria is a Nymphaeaceae and it has only recently been discovered that there are not just two but three species; Victoria Amazonica , V. Cruziana and the latest addition the V. Boliviana . At one time it was thought that the latter was just a variety but thanks to the work of Kew Gardens botanist and researcher Carlos Magdalena , it has been discovered that the latter is a true new species. The main differences are a different distribution of spines, seeds and it only lives in the wild in one of the largest wetlands in the world, the Llanos de Moxos in the Beni province of Bolivia. Carlos Magdalena always had the suspicion, so back in 2016 he asked the Botanical Garden of Santa Cruz in Bolivia to send him seeds and after years of studies, comparisons and genetic analysis he came to these conclusions. This discovery was also endorsed by the work of illustrator Lucy Smith , a Kew Gardens collaborator, who was commissioned to make scientific drawings of the alleged new species and then compare them with those in the Kew Gardens archives by artist Walter Hood Fitch , who in 1845 illustrated a specimen whose seed arrived from Bolivia. The whole thing was then revealed to the world with the publication in July this year, 2022, in the Journal Frontiers in Plant Science . A direct comparison like this has never been done before because the specimens come from three different parts of the world and it is very rare to be able to keep the three different Victoria species in the same botanical garden because the space they occupy is so large. Victoria cruziana , Meise Botanical Garden in Belgium The history of the 'discovery' of the Victoria is full of protagonists around the world and began in 1801 when the Bohemian botanist and naturalist Tadeáš Haenke , sent to Bolivia by the Spanish government to study the local flora, is said to have first seen the Victoria on the Mamore' River, one of the tributaries of the Amazon, but unfortunately died without being able to record his discovery. Then it was the turn of Aime Bonpland who saw the plant in Argentina in 1819 and in 1825 sent the seeds and a full description to France. Victoria amazonica in the 'Victoria haus' greenhouse in Berlin In 1832 it was the turn of Eduard Poeppig who found it in the Amazon but assuming that it belonged to the same genus as the Asiatic Euryale ferox gave it the name Euryale amazonica . Alcide d'Orbigny saw the plant at Corrientes in Argentina and the German botanist Robert Schomburgk found Victoria on the Berbice River in British Guiana and sent specimens and figures to Europe in 1836. It was from these specimens that the English botanist and horticulturist John Lindley established the genus Victoria in 1837 and described the species regia in honour of Queen Victoria. Victoria boliviana at Kew Gardens @E. Johnston As far as cultivation was concerned, it was Robert Schomburgk who first attempted to cultivate Victoria , trying to transplant it from lakes and streams in Georgetown, British Guiana, but the plants died. In 1846 it was Thomas Bridges who sent seeds packed in a jar of moist clay to England. Of the 25 received at Kew Gardens, three germinated and grew well as seedlings until winter, when unfortunately they too died. Eventually, after further attempts, it was two English doctors, Rodie and Luckie , who sent seeds in a fresh water bottle to Kew in February 1849. The first plant flowered on 8 November 1849 in a specially constructed greenhouse on the Duke of Devonshire's estate in Chatsworth and it was then that one of the first flowers was cut and given to Queen Victoria. The profile of an Victoria Amazonica At that time the Duke of Devonshire's head gardener was Joseph Paxton and it was the morphology of this unique water lily that inspired him to create the Crystal Palace greenhouse at Kew in London to host the first World's Fair in 1851, made of iron and glass. The idea starts from the strength of the leaf, whose ribs on the lower face, organised like a system of buttresses, can support up to 45 kg of weight when evenly distributed. The rigid radially symmetrical centric leaves covered with strong thorns underneath, so as not to be eaten by fish, are reinforced by several concentric and flexible ribs distributed in opposite directions, a morphological feature that recurs in the construction solution of the Crystal Palace. For this and other achievements, Paxton received a knighthood from His Majesty. Crystal Palace of 1851 made of iron and glass But the fascination of the Victorias does not stop there; their enormous flowers can reach up to 30 cm in diameter, and they only bloom for one day and two nights. On the first evening, at dusk, a large, thorn-covered bud opens and a white flower appears which, thanks to a thermodynamic reaction, raises its internal temperature 11 degrees above the ambient temperature. This released heat and a pineapple-like scent attract beetles, which at dawn, when the flower closes, become trapped in it. But as the Victoria is not a carnivorous plant, they do not die, but rather spend the day there feeding on the starch-rich floral appendages. On the second night the flower changes colour, taking on shades of pink or red, and at dusk releases the insects, which, soaked in pollen, go on to fertilise another flower. At dawn on the second day, the flower withers, closes and dips, and it is there that the fruit ripens. Flowers of a Victoria amazonica and Victoria cruziana In Kew Gardens today, pollination is done manually in the summer and the harvesting of the seeds in the autumn. A constant temperature of 15° prevents seed death or premature germination. Today, a process called nicking the seeds is used to help them germinate earlier, which happens after ten days. The sprouted seeds are initially placed in a small pot in water, and gradually moved to larger pots and finally placed in a large one with clay soil as a substrate. Seedlings need a temperature of no less than around 31° while adult plants grow between 26° and 31°. As the plant needs light, auxiliary horticultural bulbs are used for about 12 hours in winter, which is why in nature the giant water lily dies in autumn due to the lack of light. Euphorbia tirucalli The Victoria in its natural habitat has a very special tenant the Trotter lily or Jacana , a bird with very long legs, fingers and claws that runs from Victoria to Victoria and feeds on the insects on and under the leaves, which it deftly turns over with its, also, long beak. It also nests on the leaf, laying eggs as shiny as the waxy layer that covers it, camouflaging them perfectly. Today, although the plant is not threatened with extinction, ongoing climate change in the Amazon basin and the relentless destruction of the Amazon rainforest may pose a future threat to this wonder of nature, a source of continuous new discoveries. Victoria 'Trickeri' variety of Victoria Cruiziana at the Chicago Botanical Garden GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO More botanic gardens and nurseries Papaveri e api Vie cave Alberi Caño Cristales Palmeti Palmeti Caldara di Manziana Terra scoscesa Tevere