Villa del Balbianello

Romantic, exquisite, breathtaking. Gracing the shore of Lago di Como as if ready to perform a swan dive is Villa del Balbianello and her lush Italianate gardens. It’s unjust to approach the villa any other way but water taxi. The villa and the gardens unfold themselves selfishly causing you to strain your neck for the forth coming glimpse until all at once there it is perched there fully exposed. The gardens are highly manicured and sculpted and a broad use of Mediteranean plants make this garden “put on aires”. 

At the boat dock Pyracantha adorns the wall like piping on a wedding cake.












A highly ornate balustrade frames the lower lawn where god and goddess statues guard the Villa from marauding pirates.

Perched on a rock outcropping Villa Del Balbianello graces the shore of Lago di Como.

Treasures Found

On a whim we decided to keep heading west through the Aosta valley and the Mount Blanc tunnel into the world renown ski resort of Chamonix, France. I’m glad we did although the only gardens we found at this time of year under the snow laden alps were of the culinary sort. A cured meat smorgasbord and wines galore! We were in trouble. We stocked up on lunch and dinner items and returned to the city of Aosta. In Seattle visit Salumi Artisan Cured Meats, www.salumicuredmeats.com where you will find delectable “old world style” cured meats.

We were mesmerized by the lower level cellar stocked with luscious French wines and selections from surrounding regions. I’m glad we had a large trunk!

Aosta is built around, and is integrated into, the ancient Roman city. The Roman Road which is the old city’s main street, is lined with shops, bakeries, and restaurants.

Italy’s Aosta Valley

Driving from region to region, we became aware of Italy’s diverse and rich cultural heritage. At first blush it was the architecture. The “castle on every hill” and Roman ruins smack dab in the middle of town gave Aosta’s past away immediately. But as we explored the smaller towns of Alien and Saint Oyen, the Swiss and French influences became more apparent. Here in the Italian Alps near the French and Swiss boarder there was a more Tyrollean flavor. Hewn rock construction and slate tile roofs help keep the frigid winter air where it belongs.

It’s all about color and texture in this Italian courtyard. Who can resist pink and grey? The stone’s cold grey becomes an asset as a soothing background for the pink, red, and white pallet of geraniums. A placement of Dusty Miller in the foreground greenery pulls the grey off the walls and into the garden itself.

Your home makes a statement. Be sure to consider every aspect, including things that can be easily overlooked. Here in the valley almost every home is roofed with hand hewn slate tiles. Remarkably beautiful texture. Notice how this homeowner chose a complimentary stone color for the patio and surrounding walkways. This ties the whole landscape together and ties the house to the garden spaces.

You can stay at many of the farms around Italy. Called agriturismo, farm stays offer the tourist a local’s eye view. Experience the life of the farmer and eat daily fresh cuisine. You’ll work up an appetite scaling those stairs! 

http://en.agriturismo.it/

Desert Botanical Garden Project

A trip to Phoenix Arizona always includes an outing to the Desert Botanical Gardens, usually with a client, to garner ideas for their landscape needs. In February one of my clients fell in love with this ancient stone pedestaled centerpiece. Her home’s landscape, featured in Phoenix Home and Garden (August 2008), was needing a little spruce-up and she decided this would be ideal. A theme running through her garden is “Repurpose or recycle items to personalize your garden”, so with that in mind we set out recreating this centerpiece for her backyard.

Two days later the garden gods shone brightly upon our mission. On her morning walk my client found (sitting on the curb with a “free” sign) a pot which was almost a twin of the one at the botanical gardens. She had a pedestal at home not in use so we put the two together and we had the beginnings of our centerpiece.

We secured the pedestal in the ground leveling as we progressed to setting the container onto it and leveling again. The pedestal will be covered with tufa to mimic the upper container. 

We mocked up a pot of succulents to see what the end results would look like. Wonderful! 

Because of the sunlight exposure this area receives seasonally we are using a removable plastic pot to be planted with appropriate plants for the sites seasonal demands. 

At the time of this post the full project has not been completed. Life is sometimes that way. I have since returned to Bellevue but I have no doubt that pictures will come my way soon of a beautifully finished ancient stone pedestaled centerpiece and when they do I’ll post them for your eyes to feast on. This was such a great project I couldn’t wait to share it with you!

An update on the pedestal: Although my client has not gotten the tufa done on her pedestal she repots it with seasonal plants. I was there at Christmas this year (2011) and had to document what she had done.

The sweet potato vine is perfect for the Scottsdale winters with temperatures topping in the low 70's F and nights generally in the 40's F. While I was there the night time temps dropped into the 30's but that is unusual. The gazing ball added a wonderful festive touch to an untraditional holiday color palette. Great job!