The gardens of Villa Lante in the province of Viterbo are characterized by the presence of water features, waterfalls and fountains immersed in nature. LAZIO VILLA LANTE By EMANUELA GNECCO Villa Lante is not just a garden but an ecosystem. Among the historic residences and castles in the area around the city of Viterbo, this villa best represents the modern conception of the relationship between architecture and environment, artifice and nature, flora, sculptures and water. This is evident in a fresco in the Gambara loggia which harmoniously blends the geometry of pools and paths, as well as terraces and fountains, with an ancient woodland setting, orchards and vineyards. Villa Lante perfectly interprets the Mannerist phase of the Italian Renaissance. Its rigor and rational organization, its details and symbolisms are astonishing and connect to the surrounding natural landscape Water is the absolute protagonist. It is channeled through a complex hydraulic system: from the Cimini Mountains it follows an initially turbulent course before leaping down like a torrent and finally flowing in the "parterre d'eau". Villa Lante is located in the town of Bagnaia, a few kilometres from Viterbo, and was built in the sixteenth century on an ancient hunting reserve or 'barco'. Gian Francesco Gambara, the town’s bishop, and his successor Alessandro Montalto, dedicated themselves to the construction of Villa Lante, one of the most famous examples of Italian gardens in the world. Cardinal Gambara, who had a very modern taste for outdoor living, is believed to have called in one of the greatest architects of the time, Jacopo Barozzi, known as 'Il Vignola', who designed two perfectly mirrored buildings with essential lines in typical Mannerist style. They are decorated with frescoes inside to celebrate the symbols and devotions of the two ecclesiastical patrons and to praise their virtues and power. One hundred years later the villa passed to Duke Ippolito Lante della Rovere, who gave it his own name, and was later acquired by the Italian state in 1970. The gardens are the pride and joy of Villa Lante. They cover an area of 22 hectares and include a woodland made of oaks, maples, hornbeams, laurels and holm oaks. The formal garden is bordered by a boundary wall and is enriched with water features, waterfalls and dripping grottoes. The architectures are influenced by the Vatican’s Belvedere and Villa d'Este in Tivoli inspired the waterworks: it was in fact the same architect and hydraulic engineer Tommaso Ghinucci da Siena who created both of the water systems. The garden has sixteen meters of elevation gain and is divided into three distinct levels connected by fountains and staircases. They symbolically represent the story of humanity's descent from the golden age, as narrated by Ovid in his Metamorphoses. The four natural elements, earth, air, fire and water, are represented by the lively outlines of the peperino sculptures, of the obelisks and of the columns which decorate the magnificent fountains. In the lower parterre the great fountain "dei Mori" by Gianbologna constitutes the final act of the symbolic itinerary: the triumph of the human mind over nature, represented by water that finally manages to find its static geometric form. Emanuela Gnecco The sixteen meters of altitude difference are divided into three distinct floors connected by fountains and stairways, symbolically representing the story of the descent of humanity from the golden age, as narrated by Ovid in the Metamorphoses. The agile forms of the peperino sculptures, obelisks and columns that decorate the magnificent fountains are present to symbolize the four natural elements: earth, air, fire and water. In the lower parterre, the large “dei Mori” fountain by Gianbologna which constitutes the final act of the symbolic journey: the triumph of the human mind over nature represented by water which finally manages to find its stillness in a geometric form. Emanuela Gnecco GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO LINK Official website TREE WATCHING More Gardens and Parks Bomarzo Parco Villa la Grange Labirinto della Masone Giardino di Kenroku-en Giardino dell'impossibile Giardino di Ninfa Villa Pizzo

The Caño Cristales, "crystal channel", is a river in Colombia commonly known as the River of Five Colors. In fact, the riverbed is brightly coloured between summer and autumn due to the presence of special aquatic plants. Colombia THE FIVE COLOUR RIVER The Caño Cristales (literally "crystal channel") is a river in Colombia located in the Serranía de la Macarena, in the department of Meta, and is a tributary of the Guayabero River, which is part of the Orinoco basin. The river is commonly known as the River of Five Colours. The bed of the river in fact from the end of July to November is coloured in five different colours: yellow, green, blue, black and above all red, the last colour is caused by the Macarenia clavigera an aquatic plant present on the bottom of the river. It is considered one of the most particular rivers of the Earth so that the National Geographic has described it as coming from the "Garden of Eden". The mountain complex of the Serrania de la Macarena on which the river flows is characterized by the presence of very ancient quartzite rocks dating back to about 1.2 billion years ago, extreme western extension of the Massif of Guyana in Venezuela. Being a minor waterway, the Caño Cristales does not reach 100 km in length and never exceeds 20 m in width. It is a fast flowing river with many rapids and waterfalls. In many parts of the river bed there are circular wells called giant potholes that are believed to have been formed by pebbles or pieces of rock harder than the one in which the river flows: if trapped by the current obstructed by any obstacle, these fragments of rock scrape the walls around the obstacle creating a cavity. Over time, other fragments of hard rock fall into the cavities already present and, rotated by the current of water, continue to affect the wall, increasing the size of the well. The Serranía de la Macarena is located on the border of three large ecosystems, each with a high diversity of flora and fauna: the Andes, the eastern Llanos and the Amazonian rainforest. Plant and animal life is struggling with the lack of nutrients on the solid rocky surface of the plateau and has developed several adaptations. The representative biome of the Serranía de La Macarena is the hydrophytic rainforest: hot, warm and cold. The plateau is home to about 420 species of birds, 10 species of amphibians, 43 species of reptiles and eight of primates. The Caño Cristales has a great variety of aquatic plants. The river water is extremely clear due to the lack of nutrients and small suspended particles. Almost unique is the bright red-pink colouring of the river bed that is observed after the rainy season, at the end of June until November. This colour is caused by large quantities of endemic Macarenia clavígera plant species. This plant can only be found in a few other local rivers, such as the Caño Siete Machos. These red plants adhere firmly to the rocks where the river has a faster current. Load More Photo © CRISTINA ARCHINTO MORE ENVIRAMENT AND BOTANY Grosseto Palmeti Palmeti Caldara di Manziana Terra Scoscesa Le Palme Luoghi d'Acqua Conoscere gli alberi

The Sacred Wood of Bomarzo welcomes visitors with its esoteric charm, accompanying them among stone monsters and mysterious sculptures through an evocative woodland path. LAZIO Bomarzo By LIVIA DANESE The Sacred Grove of Bomarzo is notoriously enigmatic and fascinating. Conceived by Prince Pier Francesco Orsini, it was inaugurated in 1547 and dedicated to his wife Giulia Farnese. Abandoning all prejudices and convictions at the door, one is transported into a surreal context that combines esotericism and mythology with the placidity and beauty of Viterbo’s countryside. The garden, also known as "Parco dei Mostri" (Monster Park), basks in its fame as a hermetic and mysterious place but represents more than just an expression of the Mannerist style’s taste for eccentricities. Nature is not accessory to the artistic caprices. On the contrary it produces the sensations of estrangement, alienation and fascination aroused by the park. The statues, the fountains and the architectures, all of which were sculpted directly in situ, seem to emerge from a natural environment that accentuates their ambiguity. The artworks therefore not only coexist with the ecosystem but also interact with it: a giant turtle that has to defend the female figure on its back, seems to takes advantage of the dense vegetation to hide and approach a whale immersed in the stream. Visitors are invited by the sphinxes at the entrance to concentrate on the wonders of the place, suggesting that the senses, as well as the mind, will guide the way. Perhaps the phrase "every thought flies" on the Orc’s anthropomorphic head represents an invitation to abandon total rationality? Enigmatic inscriptions and riddles, apparently overabundant nature, everything seems to be designed to make one lose balance, as the leaning house perfectly demonstrates. At the same time the park is scattered with reassuring symbols, such as the statue of the Ceres, maternal goddess of fertility, and the dancing nymphs. Today the itinerary through the park is different from the one designed by prince Orsini because of several changes that occurred in time. This makes the interpretation of the symbols along the route even more challenging. However, the encouragement to contemplation is very clear; now all that remains is to immerse oneself in this intricate garden, composed of verdant nature, petrified follies and sibylline verses, absorbing its charm, the mysteries and the enchantment. 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

Opuntia ficus-Indica, better known as prickly pear, is a succulent plant belonging to the family of Cactaceae and it is xerophilous, that is living preferably in arid environments, where it can also reach 5 meters of height. The plant does not have a main trunk, its stems are cladodes, commonly known as paddles, which take care of photosynthesis, whereas its leaves with time have evolved into thorns. BOTANY OPUNTIA FICUS-INDICA By CARLA DE AGOSTINI Opuntia ficus-indica , better known as prickly pear, is a succulent plant, with thick and fleshy leaves, belonging to the family of Cactaceae and it is xerophilous, that is living preferably in arid environments, where it can also reach 5 meters of height. The plant does not have a main trunk, its stems are cladodes, commonly known as paddles, which take care of photosynthesis, whereas its leaves with time have evolved into thorns. Its great ability to adapt in unfavorable environments is also due to its unique photosynthesis that limits water loss. This photosynthetic pathway, called Crassulaceae Acid Metabolism or CAM, separates the processes of assimilation and fixation of CO2 over time. CAM plants, in fact, open their stomata at night and not during the day to absorb carbon dioxide. This happens because at night temperatures are lower and the plant loses less water than it would during the day, when it closes its stomata and converts energy into simple sugars. This type of photosynthesis increases the ability of succulent plants to maintain water balance, which is why most CAM plants occupy arid or saline environments, and in general all those in which water availability is periodically low. The origin of the epithet Opuntia ficus-indica has been debated: according to someone it derives from an ancient region of Greece, Locris Opuntia and from its capital city Opunte, near which the writings of Pliny the Elder reported about a plant with tasty fruits rooting from the branches. With time, however it has been confirmed the plant is native to Mexico and the botanical name is therefore due to the morphological similarity of its fruit with the Mediterranean fig and to its geographical origin, West Indies. According to a legend, at the time of Spanish conquerors, the emperor of Aztecs, Montezuma, used to receive as tribute from the subjugated states sacks full of grain. That is a cochineal (Dactylopius coccus) parasite of the cladodes of prickly pear, from whose dried body it is possible to extract the dye of carmine red, useful for dyeing ceramics, fabrics and architectures, of a tonality so intense never seen before. Its coloring power is in fact ten times stronger and more persistent than kermes, considered until then the best product for red dyeing, so much so that the Spaniards decided to keep the process hidden for almost two and a half centuries, creating a monopoly of cochineals grain, which became among the most demanded goods. Among the biggest buyers there were the English who particularly cared about the color of their uniforms, the famous red coats. Until 1777 finally a French doctor was able to discover the process. Once obtained the information the English exported to Australia the plant and its cochineals, in the hope of making plantations to make the grain, but despite the apparently perfect climate, the insects did not survive. On the contrary, prickly pears became infesting plants damaging pastures and territory: it is estimated that in 1920 they were spread on more than 30 million hectares, with a rate of conquest of half a million hectares per year! An enormous damage which still today is trying to be remedied by looking for solutions. In Europe the plant was introduced for the its fascination and in the sixteenth century it became an important protagonist of botanical gardens, both for reasons of scientific curiosity and for its ornamental vocation. Success was also confirmed by the frequency with which the plant is represented in drawings or figurative arts, such as the Fountain of the Four Rivers in Piazza Navona, where Bernini put Opuntia in the background of the representation of the Rio de la Plata. Throughout the Mediterranean basin, its ability to adapt and propagate has facilitated its reproduction, especially on the Italian islands, where the prickly pear has acclimatized to become a characteristic feature of the landscape and is often used as a windbreak or fence for flocks. It has also proved to be an inexhaustible source of products and functions. The plant was immediately appreciated for the forage use of its cladodes and for its fruit, which can be eaten fresh or used to make juices, liqueurs, jellies, jams, sweeteners and much more. In Mexico, the young cladodes, known as nopalitos, are also eaten and used as fresh vegetables. Sicily has historically had the widest range of uses. It is in fact grown in inland areas, where the fruit is even called the 'bread of the poor', and in coastal areas, tending to be grown in fruit gardens for productive use and pleasure. The Sicilian peasant tradition is rich in prickly pear products, from its liqueur to mostaccioli (typical biscuits) and mustard. In 1891, René Bazin, a French writer of the late 19th century, wrote that "with twenty or so prickly pears... a Sicilian finds a way to have breakfast, lunch, dinner and sing in the interval". And it is from the Sicilian, and in part Sardinian, shovels that the prickly pear arrives and invades Eritrea, planted both by 19th century Italian missionaries and by migrants of the first Italian colonization. Here, the beles, the name in Eritrean, are not only the fruit but also the nickname jokingly given by peers from the Horn of Africa to second-generation Eritreans living in Italy, because they arrive with the same punctuality as the fruit: in the summer rainy season, and then leave again. Today, Opuntia ficus-indica is used for a wide variety of products, both for its high nutritional value, rich in minerals, especially calcium, phosphorus and vitamin C, and for its mucilage, the substance that allows the plant to have water reserves. Thanks to this, the prickly pear has become a major player in eco-sustainable innovations. For example, a Mexican professor of chemical engineering, Sandra Pascoe Ortiz, has patented a plastic and biodegradable material: by mixing prickly pear juice with glycerin, proteins and natural waxes, she has obtained a liquid which, after being laminated and dried, becomes a completely non-toxic, biodegradable and edible bioplastic. In Italy, too, alternative uses of prickly pears are proliferating. For example, a glue for fresco restoration work has been experimented with using mucilage, and a textile industry has obtained cruelty-free eco-leather from its waste. But that's not all, there are also sunglasses made from their fibers, furniture and sculptural lamps made from the waste from shovels that are entirely biodegradable at the end of their life! GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Link Giardino di Valeria Parco Paternò del Toscano Giardino Botanico di Pallanca Giardino Botanico Villa Rocca MORE ENVIRONMENT AND BOTANY Poppies and bees Vie cave Trees Caño Cristales Palmeti Palm trees Caldara di Manziana Steep land Tiber

Water Nursery Latina The Water Nursery, albeit being the most extensive Italian collection for wetland vegetation, is also an endeavour that narrates about the land’s history and through this itself sustains itself, transforming complex environmental conditions into botanical creations of amazing b LAZIO LATINA Where the Water Lilies grow The Water Nursery, albeit being the most extensive Italian collection for wetland vegetation, is also an endeavour that narrates about the land’s history and through this it self sustains itself, transforming complex environmental conditions into botanical creations of amazing beauty. From the passion of the owner, Mr Davide La Salvia a passion born over the years amid the marshlands of Agro Pontino, it then developed into what we have today, also thanks to his son Valerio. This collection comprises of over 1500 wetland and aquatic plants from all over the world. If on the one hand, the enterprise is run for commercial purposes - the nursery attends to important Italian botanical gardens - on the other hand, the passion underlying the whole project makes Water Nursery one of the most valuable research and experimentation locations for aquatic plants in Europe. If the cataloguing work - the compilation of an index plantarum of the species present is among the priorities - there is also the collaboration with universities and botanical gardens. Among the many cultivated rarities, there is the autochthonous Nymphaea alba , also known as European white water lily (now down to just a few specimens), the less common varieties of irises such as Pseudocorus flore pleno , bastardi, donau , berlin tiger variegato, or the spectacular irises from Louisiana, the Asian water lily Euryale Ferox with its big thorny leaves, the Victoria Cruziana with its typical rimmed leaves and large white flower, the Nymphaea Lotus (that blooms at night and was sacred to the Egyptians), or the lotus flowers such as Nelumbo Nucifera , sacred to the Asians. Water Nursery 1/3 Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Info: www.waternursery.it 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

Terrimago the site of gardens for gardens, enhances and spreads the culture and knowledge of gardens, botanical gardens, parks and nature through photographic services and professional collaborations with owners. It also teaches how best to photograph them. Terrimago.com Passion for Nature photography Terrimago.com the webside for gardens and of the gardens Terrimago is a specialised structure created to enhance and disseminate knowledge of nature and botany and to promote gardens, parks, botanical gardens and historic houses through the production of photographic projects and publications that can be used free of charge. Terrimago Photos PHOTO SHOOTS New book In the section Terrimago photographs you can find, free of charge, articles and photographic services of gardens, botanical gardens and parks created with photographs byCristina Archinto and with texts by different authors. Stories of gardens, plants and characters, to tell this world from a different angle, more curious, historical and compelling. The latest photoshoot of gardens and botanical gardens alberi a Villa Borghese Parchi Orto Botanico di Madrid Orti Botanici Villa Pisani Giardini Garden of Villandry Gardens Meise Botanical Garden Botanical Gardens Royal Villa of Marlia Gardens Villa Marlia Giardini Orto Botanico di Meise Orti Botanici TUTTI I SERVIZI Terrimago On taking pictures To improve your shots Terrimago On taking pictures is a section of Terrimago that develops in a purely photographic field,with the help of Cristina Archinto gardens and landscapes photographer for many years. MORE newsletter

It is also thanks to the hard work of some Irish botanists who, since the late 1700s, have worked as botanical researchers studying local flowers and lichens that the Dublin Botanical Garden was born. DUBLIN Begonia in the Curvilinear Glasshouse DUBLIN BOTANICAL GARDEN Irish women discovering botany Photographs of Cristina Archinto Text Alessandra Valentinelli I reland is among the European countries with the scarcest flora. Centuries of grazing and agricultural activities have also depleted, and ultimately thwarted woodland growth. That vibrant green that is so enchanting is nonetheless a reflection of a rather articulated biodiversity. Grasslands area with The Great Palm House in the background The abundance of flora found in a simple meadow is unexpected: flowers, grasses, ferns, liverworts and lichens. At first it may seem less compelling than a jungle or an expedition to the Southern Seas, but perhaps it is precisely this “domestic” facet that allowed Irish women to be forerunners and to conquer an important role in the pantheon of botanical studies. At the end of the 1700s Ellen Hutchins , travelled around Cork County, classifying hundreds of still unidentified mosses . In the mid 1800s, Ann Elizabeth Ball was one of the most esteemed experts in Algae , and in 1833 Katharine Sophia Kane published the pioneering taxonomy of the Irish flora . She would be the first woman admitted to the Edinburgh Botanical Society. Rock Garden and Grasslands on natural limestone in the Wild native Ireland plants area It goes without saying that many women worked in the shadow of the more famous male colleagues. Ellen Hutchins never continued her own herbariums, and Lady Kane wrote under a pseudonym . Yet, when the academic interest shifted from the exotic to the endemic species, their studies turned out to be of utmost importance for the research and the knowledge of indigenous ecology, especially when identifying vulnerabilities and threats. Matilda Knowles, archivist at the Dublin Gardens from 1903 to 1933, would have to wait for over a century for the recognition of her works on lichen diversity based on the tidal patterns and the fundamental contribution it brought to the understanding of coastal environments. Asteraceae in the Annual Plants area In order to knot the threads of a memory so intimately intertwined with the resources of the land, Matthew Jebb, the present director of the Dublin Garden, has recreated entire habitats by transporting the rocks and the soil from their original environments . They show the natural evolution of the Irish ecosystems: the transition from reed marshlands to fens, where the rapidly growing plants flourish on top of the layer of decaying plants, rising above the water level. This explains the slow development of the tree-lined landscape, the century old formation of bogs, the discovery of fossil forests trapped under the layers of moss. Plants teach, through their frailty, that they belong to biological communities, highlighting the importance of hedges, ponds, corridors and expanses of green as a means for the protection of wild species. Plants reinstate the fragile balance and the endangered blooms and foreshadow a possible future. South Africa plants in the Curvilinear Glasshouse An open-air museum in its own right, Dublin has recently endorsed the renovation of its nineteenth century greenhouses: symbols of the union between aesthetics and engineering, achieved by the architectural use of iron and glass, and resulting in the technical progress. The “Curvilinear Range”, designed by Richard Turner , was completed in 1848; where the construction lasted five years despite the company in charge of the works going bankrupt. He also designed the Belfast Gardens, and worked in Kew Gardens. The structure has approximately 8,500 glass panes overlapping and honed around the edges to allow water drainage. The roof radiates out at nine specific angles, and the panes are mounted in twenty different combinations. The renovation was achieved by restoring the old wrought-iron decorations also from Kew Gardens. The “Curvilinear” assembled standard pieces, and glass panes were produced with a technique that was innovative at that time. As a whole it is unique. The “Great Palm House”, jokingly nicknamed the “Jungle House”, was made with prefabricated components. It was inaugurated in 1884 to replace the previous wooden structure, which was destroyed during a storm. The cast iron parts forged in Scotland made it possible to dismantle its parts, and restore the damaged ones by casting molds faithful to the originals. In 2004 these were reassembled, rust and corrosion free and protected by modern treatments. The Pond Matthew Jebb used to say, “Taking a walk is ideal for coming up with new ideas”. The Dublin Garden is open year round, except on Christmas Day. Admittance is free, and it is frequently visited by people of all ages . It is a place to share knowledge, outdoor activities and passions; a place to nourish the never-ending curiosity about the environment that surrounds us all, or guess the plant species, letting oneself be amazed, and maybe even contemplate the unexplored frontiers of biodiversity. Exploring nature’s vitality in its simplest form, or by means of the material principles of days gone by, is a tale narrated through the intricacy of its land. It begs the question of today’s climate change and the landscapes of tomorrow. Above all else, it offers a new way of relating to its changing structures, in harmony with cycles to which all beings are inextricably linked. FEATURED Women Irish Botanists Ellen Hutchins (1785–1815) Over 200 years ago, on the shores of West Cork, a young woman was avidly collecting, studying and identifying plants. Ellen Hutchins was Ireland's first female botanist although somewhat forgotten, but in the field of botany her contribution is widely known and appreciated. Born into a very poor family at the age of two, she was orphaned by her father, but it was thanks to the care and attention of Mr Stokes, an eminent Irish physician, and his wife that Ellen decided to devote herself to botany, dividing her time between researching plants in the open air, which greatly benefited her precarious health, and cataloguing her discoveries, producing several detailed and meticulous watercolour drawings. His ability to find new plants and the quality of his drawings and specimens aroused the admiration of the leading botanists of the time and his work was featured in many publications. Although he never published under his own name, he was an important contributor to the newly developing plant sciences of his time. In his lifetime, he catalogued more than a thousand plants including algae and lichens and discovered some of them under his own name such as Jubula hutchinsiae and Herberta hutchinsiae. Velvet horn fucus tormentosus from collection to publication Anne Elizabeth Ball (1808–1872) Unlike her predecessor Ellen Hutchins, Anne was born into a family already embedded in a world of science and nature, her brother Robert Ball being a naturalist and her father Bob Stawell Ball an astronomer. In her early twenties, Anne began collecting and studying seaweed and, despite not being a member of Dublin's scientific societies as a woman, established herself as a successful algologist. However, as was customary at the time, her work was published by male naturalists such as William Henry Harvey, a friend of her brother, who reciprocated by naming the genus Ballia and the species Cladophora balliana after her. Ball also helped provide William Thompson with illustrated records of hydroids, which were published in the fourth volume of The Natural History of Ireland in 1856. His collections were preserved and later acquired by the Dublin Botanic Gardens until 1961 when they passed to the Natural History Museum in London. A specimen of Ballia callitricha in one herbarium Katharine Sophia Kane (1811-1886) Also orphaned at a young age, she was raised by her uncle Matthias O'Kelly who had a strong attraction to nature, as did his son Joseph who became a geologist. Katherine was only 22 years old at the time of her first publication The Irish Flora and, although it was not a large work, it was one of the first of its kind, praised for its accuracy. In 1836, the then 25-year-old Katherine became the first woman to be elected a member of the Edinburgh Botanical Society and her herbarium is preserved at University College, Cork. During her life she also took an interest in tree cultivation, writing on the subject for the Irish Farmer's and Gardener's Magazine The title page of the 1833 volume The Irish Flora Matilda Knowles (1864- 1933) Matilda was encouraged from an early age by her father William James Knowles, also an amateur scientist, by taking her and her sister to meetings of the Belfast Naturalists. Her studies led to her being regarded as the founder of modern studies of the lichens of Ireland. In1895 she was the author, with Derry Mary Leebody, of The Flora of the North-east of Ireland and between 1897 and 1933 published over thirty scientific articles on a wide range of botanical subjects. It was while studying the lichens of Howth that he discovered how coastal lichens grow in distinct shores and are distinguished by their colour: black, orange and grey From 1923 he shared the curatorship of the National Museum of Ireland Herbarium, a collection of dried and pressed plants now housed in the Dublin Botanic Gardens. His work is said to have 'constituted an important basic contribution to the fungal botany of Ireland and western oceanic Europe'. Lichens collected by Matilde Knowles GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Info: Official website more botanical gardens Jardin des plantes Nantes Orto botanico di Berlino Orto botanico di Madrid Orto botanico di Amsterdam Orto botanico di Napoli Orto Botanico di Zurigo e la Serra Malgascia ARC_7320 Orto botanico di Ginevra L1030823 Orto botanico di Siena

Park La Grange in Geneva, site of historic political meetings, is appreciated in all seasons, particularly for its fragrant rose garden. GENEVA Park Villa la Grange by LIVIA DANESE Parc La Grange is the largest park in the city of Geneva. The 19th century English garden welcomes visitors and citizens who enjoy the park in every season by organizing picnics and walks in the well-kept natural environment. The Favre family donated the park to the city of Geneva in 1917 but overall the area has very ancient origins, as shown by the archaeological remains dating back to the Neolithic period. The territory’s history has spanned the centuries until the second half of the 18th century when the Lullin family commissioned the construction of their summer residence. The neoclassical structure of the villa is still visible today and has preserved beautifully over time. Because of its magnificence and its historical eminence, the place still hosts important events and diplomatic meetings today. The view of Lake Geneva, initially concealed by the main entrance, is soon revealed in all its splendor, enclosed by plants of every shape and color. The garden surrounding the villa is embellished by the presence of monumental trees, including oaks, cedars, beeches, chestnuts and plane trees, which stand out in the picturesque landscape offering a unique autumn display. Their foliage, gradually taking on the characteristic autumn colors, covers the park with a bright and colorful mantle. The park’s main attraction is the rose garden which counts more than 200 species. Starting from the first warm spring days it is particularly popular and appreciated. The scent of roses accompanies visitors and enthusiasts along a beautiful and intimate flowery walk in the octagonal garden, which was recently renovated. The latter, designed to recreate the privacy of a hortus conclusus, was built at the end of World War II to create a colorful, bright and positive environment in the postwar period. Parc La Grange is constituted by tree-lined avenues, ponds, colorful flowerbeds and beautiful historical buildings, offering visitors a charming and beloved natural oasis overlooking Lake Geneva. In addition in Parc La Grange, biodiversity is encouraged by wood-digging insect breeding sites and bee hives, as well as native shrubs and meadows where sheep graze during the summer and is ecologically managed without the use of chemicals. GALLERY Load More Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO LINK S TREE WATCHING Web more gardens and parks Parco del Paterno del Toscano Labirinto della Masone Villa d'Este Giardino di Kenroku-en Giardino dell'impossibile Giardino di Ninfa Villa Pizzo

A story set in the park of Villa Borghese in Rome, walking among its beautiful trees. PHOTOGRAPHIC DIARY Winter lights in the gardens of the Reggia di Venaria Text e photographs by Cristina Archinto W ent to the Reggia di Venaria to see the John Constable exhibition, I found myself with my nose pressed against a window entranced by the beauty of its winter gardens. The absence of sun due to a blanket of gray-white clouds increased its charm. I often repeat that I feel more like a photographer of light than of gardens but in front of so many geometries I confess that I found myself back in time, to my first great passion: architectural photography. Determined not to miss this opportunity, I find myself in the park, two months after having already done a photo shoot, this time accompanied only by the Leica camera but certainly sufficient for the occasion, and above all with no work obligations. Present at the situation only a very cold and no soul. Perfect. Inaugurated in 2007, the Venaria Gardens are a good combination of a recovered geometric 17th-18th century past and an artistic present with works of art by Giuseppe Penone and Giovanni Anselmo harmoniously inserted into its landscape. The entire city complex of Venaria develops in length, and the garden follows its course with the very long Allea Centrale which goes from the fountain of Hercules to the temple of Diana creating a single axis as a whole. Along the side of the Citroniera and the Galleria Grande is the Grand Parterre with tones of grandeur given by the proportions, full of cylindrical yews, citrus pots and real rooms with walls, groves and vegetable vaults along the perimeter with many flowers, mostly of the year. In the eighteenth century it was a representative area, where strolling with an umbrella while gossiping was a must. Unfortunately, over time it has also been a place where nature has been replaced by soldiers from everywhere, during various wars. There are also various gardens, such as rose gardens, flower gardens and Potager Royal gardens with vegetables and orchards, but they are certainly not an attraction in this season. Photo notes In the Venaria gardens anyone who loves to observe is certainly fascinated by the beauty of the almost completely bare hornbeam avenues which, instead of hiding, only veil the Great Palace or the branched structures of the majestic trees along the avenues and next to the Peschiera pool which are reflected on the slightly frozen. Even the birches with their white branches and a very few brown leaves blend in the light of the landscape as if they were Japanese silks. The long perspective avenues cut the photographic frame in two, the pyramid box trees and the hedges trimmed in steps or semicircles impose themselves on the image as abstract art. Works too from the rigid forms of Pennone they underline the geometric aspect of the landscape. Perhaps at first glance it seems easy to photograph these gardens, mainly thanks to the geometries that easily tell the space, you have to be careful because the rigor of the axes must be absolute, even a slightly inclined photo would be a distraction for the eyes. Furthermore, using the central focal point there are no difficulties, otherwise if you want to vary it, you have to be careful of the balance of the shot which, if distorted, risks breaking the harmony of the photograph, making it unpleasant. The colors of winter and with light uniform tend to maintain similar and soft shades ranging from beige to green. In this case we wanted to give a strong contrast with red or yellow peaks due to the branches of the white cornelian salts present in the garden. The uniform light of the day is the reason for the total absence of shadows, fact that in more natural contexts would create a lot of discomfort, in this case it proves successful not only because it can easily be photographed from any side but also because the geometric shapes are not deformed by the dark of their shadows. Experimenting photographically with these gardens and in these conditions is magical, I recommend it to everyone, whether they are gardens or even a landscape in the plains, in winter or with a uniformly colored sky. A great master was Luigi Ghirri who, for those who by chance do not know yet, I strongly recommend going to Parma until February 26 to see his exhibitionVision labyrinths. Luigi Ghirri 1991 . Go there and find out. Or go to the Reggia di Venaria, you will certainly find very stimulating panoramic points in other seasons as well. The important thing is first of all to observe, observe and observe again, then elaborate the shot and finally take a picture that is truly yours. GALLERY Photo ©CRISTINA ARCHINTO Link Palace of Venaria 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

There is a Jardin des Plantes in Nantes that is 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 sailors and explorers, has brought truly remarkable botanical specimens from all over the world to this day. 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