The Renaissance of Italian Gardens

The Renaissance garden was exemplary of the genius and aristocratic flair which characterized the age. Whether through neglect or the vagaries of fashion, most were lost or altered beyond recognition, but recently a new generation of garden-lovers has rebuilt ancient gardens on the evidence of family archives. This book presents a selection of about 25 such gardens in Italy. They include Arturo Hruska's creation, on Lake Garda, of a design of Alpine plants inspired by the landscape of the Dolomites, and the author's own garden at her 11th-century estate and winery in Tuscany, in which a succession of flowers and fruits entwine the medieval abbey like a coloured and scented ribbon. Lorenza de'Medici is the author of "The Renaissance of Italian Cooking", and the photography of John Ferro Sims was featured in "Landscapes in Italy" and "Discovering the Hill Towns of Italy".