La Passione ! (A Roman Terrace Garden)

Take one reasonably nice but uninspired Roman terrace, with ten years of accumulated, cluttered pots and four untended olive trees.

Add plants – principally geraniums and pelargoniums – from the annual Landriana garden fair.

Add Piero, his son Giampiero and his crew of gardener magicians.

La Passione ! La Fantasia ! La volonta’ di far qualcosa di emozionante !

Add the enthusiasm of two small children.

P1240133 — Putting holes in the bottom of the pots

And arcadia emerges.

Terrace gardens, opening day, 23 July 2011_Page_23_2 — Herb garden and Amalfi wall, top terrace

Terrace gardens, opening day, 23 July 2011_Page_28_2 — String beans, grapes and (hanging) tomatoes

There are so many stories to tell : of a gardener who on our first day of work found a tiny self seeded fig tree among the jasmines, spent 20 minutes digging it out, and then re-planted it.

P1240148_2 — The rescue of the tiny fig tree

P1240885_2_2 — The Rescued Fig in a new home

Of Piero who throws his hands into any herb plant he passes — most particuarly lemon verbena — and draws the fragrance vigorously to his face, exclaiming “che meraviglia !”

I was in ongoing wonder at the profound botanical knowledge (both practical and theoretical) that every one of the gardeners brought to his job. They were as adept at pruning olive and lemon trees with huge secateurs as they were at delicately writing out for the children, on stocky wooden plant labels (a gift from them) the common and Latin names of every plant in the garden. The gifts they brought ! Among these, from his own garden, were ten of Piero’s mother’s Tropea onions for us to include in our intensively-planted, four-season vegetable patch.

Terrace gardens, opening day, 23 July 2011_Page_33_2 — The Corridor, north end

Piero is a great supporter of organic gardening and suggested the inclusion of many flowering plants that would encourage more butterflies and bees to visit our Rome Terrace Garden. Over the course of the week he would bring a small selection of plants — ideas that he had as he watched the garden evolve — for our consideration. Of course we wanted everything he proposed. Piero understood and loved the Terrace Garden just as much as we did.