Pistoia and surroundings...

never crowded, but very interesting art city, with its Ospedale del Ceppo, an hospital founded in 1277, reference pont during the plague oin 1348, famous for its wonderful glazed terracotta reliefs on the façade...

...or even the wonderful, touching statues of the Visitation, representing Mary and Elizabeth, freestandig human size statues completely made of glazed terracotta by famous Renaissance sculptor Luca della Robbia...

...or the armonious Piazza Duomo

But in the surroundings of Pistoia there is an unexpected Villa, another property of the medici, in very bad confitions actually, but the garden is  fascinating and so is the Limonaia:

these are some of the hidden treasures. Pistoia deserves a visit, and it is easily reachable from Florence. We would be glad to share this with you!

Villa Gamberaia, near Florence

If you are looking for an incredible and unique garden, never crowded, with wonderful views and interesting design, the garden of Villa Gamberaia is the best place to see.

we offer guided tours to this wonderful garden, for small private groups only. Feel free to contact us for any request!

Lungwort (Pulmonaria plant)

This beautiful hairy plant is part of the underwood of Pratolino Park.

It is just one of the many "weeds", a perennial wild plant...This plant is native to western Asia and Europe.
There are about 20 species of Pulmonaria but  "Pulmo", the name, means "Lung" in latin.
This plant is  actually of therapeutic importance for lungs: according to the ancient Doctrine of Signature, herbs and their parts resembling human organs can help to treat diseases of that organ: the grey spots on the leaves look like infected lungs. Therefore the Lungwort came into light for treatments against lung troubles.

Also, this plant is very sensitive to toxins in the area, so you can find it only in unpolluted area! And that is surprisingly not far from Florence.

Parks around Florence

Pratolino Park, in the north area of Florence is a great trip in summer!

This is a public park open during the week end during the summer season. It was once the private park and garden of a wonderful villa, built for Francesco Ist de' Medici at the end of the XVI century.

The highlight of the park is the Appennino Statue and lake, a huge bearded man looking into the lake, full of Lotus flowers. But the park is much more than this.... This wonderful place  deserves a half day tour, and maybe more. I wish you will be able to see it one day!

Synergistic gardens

Synergistic agriculture in Italy is having a great success. It was developed by Emilia Hazelip, Spanish permaculturist, in France. She tried to adapt Fukuoka's natural farming to the Mediterranean dry climate.

I had the honour and luck to know her, as I was involved in the project of Solaria Centre of alternative/renewable energies and permaculture in Italy. This project unfortunately failed, but she held a workshop there and we laid down a synergistic garden. This vegetable garden provided good food for the small community. And good fruits for later and other new synergistic gardens.
She died in 2003, but still today many people follow her conceipts. The concept of mulch garden is well known in Permaculture, mulching is a very common technique to cover the soil, retain humidity, fertilize the soil. The soil shouldn't be pressed or compacted, not even digged. weeds are removed by hand...
It is possible to visit some synergistic gardens that have been created in the last years in the surroundings of Florence.

The culture week!

From April 14th to 22nd in Italy all state museums will be free for everybody. In Florence you might have heard of Uffizi Museum or Gallery of the Academy , but this is a good occasion to get and see the other wonderful museums, such as the Bargello, with the collection of Donatello masterpieces and the original panels casted by Brunelleschi and Ghiberti for the Baptistry...and the Baccus by Michelangelo...

... or the breathtaking rooms of Palazzo Pitti, with the paintings by Titian, Raphael, Caravaggio...just to mention the most famous ones. If the weather is fine don't forget the Gardens: Boboli and Bardini Gardens are open and during these spring days you can get there as well. You can contact us for museum or garden tours. See you in Florence!

Volonteering in Boboli Garden

When I am not busy with guiding, my favourite target is Boboli Garden at the back of Pitti Palace. It's the prototype of the Italian garden.Vast and tidy, geometrically arranged, it's the realm of immagination. Everything looks natural though it was shaped by the skillful hands of marvellous architects in the 16th century. A maze of lanes sided with baybush suddenly open up to show large ponds populated by gods of marble. Pritty woods lead to the orangerie that boasts one of the largest collection of citrus plants. There I help the stuff with the hard work that a vast garden like this requires: pruning the roses and tying the grape branches in the vineyard, weeding the flowerbeds and cleaning the orangerie. I learn how to take care of plants and its great fun! Better than going to the analyst: you go back home relaxed and full of flowers.

Primavera has arrived!

Today was a wonderful day in Florence. Museums were open for free for all women and people enjoyed the spring air and the sun rays in piazza della Repubblica.

well, it's not Primavera yet but the air is warming up and the flowers in the gardens are ready to bloom. Here  is a shot from my garden: crocus sativus, used since centuries for the precious saffron, the princes and knights food...because its stigmas made food look like gold.

You can easily find them in the forest or historical gardens ...but hurry up, or you will have to wait for the next primavera...

Camelias near Florence

DID YOU KNOW...?

There is a place, close to Florence, where Camellia's plants grow as shrubs and trees in February and March as you were in East Asian. Come and visit two rural villages in the beautiful Tuscan countryside, Sant'Andrea and Pieve di Compito (in the municipality of Capannori), where among typical stone houses, pinewoods, olive groves  and a gurgling stream you can follow the Camellia's Path during the wonderful Ancient Camellia's of Lucchesia Show that takes place in March 2011. Introduced during the XIX century, several different species of this evergreen plant have been successfully cultivated thanks to the warm-humid climate of these hills . So a great variety of Camellias  (single petal, semi-double, double flower, anemone form and peony form flower) with their showy white, red, pink, jellow, or variegated blossoms such as the  Camellia  japonica (common camellia) or the C. crysanta, C. sasanqua, the C. oleifera  and the newly cultivated  C. sinensis for tea show themselves  to botanists, art historians and flower enthusiasts.

Ask us for further information.