Garden Inspiration - Tuscany, Italy

Next week, thoughts will turn to gardens as the RHS Chelsea Flower Show returns heralding the start of London’s summer to remember. The green fingered atmosphere isn’t just contained within the Royal Hospital; it’s permeated into the chic interior of South Kensington restaurant Daphne’s.

 

Daphne’s asked graduates of the English Gardening School to submit design proposals for an indoor garden to complement their special Flower Show inspired menu (Fran highly recommends the elderflower & prosecco jelly with raspberries!). The winners, Manoj Malde and Amy Roberts,  looked to Tuscany for inspiration (when the garden is unveiled, on Tuesday, it will include climbing roses, citrus, murals and white pelargoniums) and Amy has chosen her favourite three Tuscan gardens, here, for Lady Adventurer:

 

Villa Gamberaia in the Florentine hills, with the simple structure of an early renaissance garden combined with the rich decoration of the mannerist or baroque styles. The long lawn peopled with statues is a bowling green. There is a nymphaeum, fountains and a lemon garden. Perfect!

 

Villa la Foce near Montepulciano, overlooking a beautiful and miraculously intact valley in southern Tuscany. (A landscape which Flora has referenced for the trompe d'oeil murals within the Daphne's design) The garden was designed between 1927 and 1939. It’s a 1930's re-interpretation of a renaissance idea - a stunning marriage of design styles.

Villa Cetinale near Siena, with its walled lemon garden surrounded by geometric box hedges, climbing roses, lilies and irises, and vine covered pergolas, looking out onto fields of poppies and wild flowers contrasting with cypresses, olive trees and vineyards. Unbelievable...the epitome of beautiful garden design.

 

Further information:

• The Daphne’s Flower Show Garden is open from 22nd May to 3rd June 2012 daphnes-restaurant.co.uk
• RHS Chelsea Flower Show
• villagamberaia.com
• lafoce.com
• villacetinale.com
• Amy Roberts trained at Central St Martins and then moved to Paris to work with John Galliano for his own label, Givenchy and Christian Dior. She has also been Head of Womenswear at Mulberry.The restoration of a private garden in Somerset prompted Amy to leave her fashion career. At The English Gardening School she was awarded top student of the year and a distinction for her work. Manoj Malde qualified with a Masters Degree in Design from the Royal College of Art and spent eighteen years in the fashion industry. He re-trained as a garden designer at the prestigious English Gardening School where one of his design projects was selected to be exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show.

(Villa Gamberaia image courtesy of hanjeanwat)