Garden Romance: Great Gardens Are Romantic Gardens

Summary: Steve Whysall suggests great gardens are romantic gardens in his consideration of garden romance for his Feb. 12 Vancouver Sun "In the Garden" column.

The Garden of Ninfa, admired as the world's most romantic garden, exudes garden romance, with roses tumbling over old stones, reflected in gently rippling streams: Eleonorapulcino, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Gardens naturally exemplify and exude romance, observes Steve Whysall in his consideration of garden romance for his column, “In the Garden,” Saturday, Feb. 12, 2016, in the Vancouver Sun.

“You could argue that all gardens are fundamentally romantic by nature and that love and romance have been intrinsic and essential elements of pretty much every beautiful garden from time immemorial,” Whysall muses.

“It was, after all, in the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve first discovered each other,” Whysall adds.

Garden romance is an enticing concept during the love-is-in-the-air days preceding and culminating in Valentine’s Day, the annual worldwide celebration of love on Feb. 14. But Whysall extends the parameters of garden romance through his upcoming look at outstanding examples of the world’s romantic gardens. His presentation on garden romance takes place at the 14th Annual Vancouver Sun Gardener’s School from Feb. 17 to Feb. 21 during the BC Home + Garden Show. BC Place, a multi-place stadium in Vancouver, hosts the British Columbia Home and Garden Show.

The Garden of Ninfa, located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southeast of Rome, Italy, receives well-deserved attention among Whysall’s mentions of the world’s romantic gardens. Generally admired as the world’s most romantic garden, the Garden of Ninfa is a 20th-century creation amidst ancient ruins. In his book, Ninfa: The Most Romantic Garden in the World, rose expert and writer Charles Quest-Ritson identifies Pliny the Younger, who lived from 61 to around 113, as the first documented source to describe Ninfa as the site of a classical era nymphaeum, a temple dedicated to water nymphs.

Whysall explains the special allure of the Garden of Ninfa: “What gives it much of its seductive charm is the fact that old-fashioned roses have been planted to tumble freely over the crumbling stone ruins of Ninfa, a town that was attacked and decimated in the 12th century and left abandoned for centuries.”

Gelasio Caetani, son of Lady Constance Adela Bootle-Wilbraham and Onorato Caetani, Duke of Sermoneta, began creating the Garden of Ninfa in 1921 as an English garden. The English landscape garden, known simply as English garden, dates to the early 18th century and presents an idealized view of nature. Caetani’s mother, who was the daughter of British Conservation politician Edward Bootle-Wilbraham, 1st Earl of Lathom, provided guidance in Ninfa’s romantic design.

How does a garden, private or public, convey garden romance?

“For a garden to qualify as romantic, it must arouse feelings of love and lift visitors into a blissful state of wonder, enchantment and appreciation,” explains Whysall.

Whysall hopes that attendees of his presentation at the 14 Annual Vancouver Sun Gardener’s School will have a takeaway about the reality of garden romance.

“What I am hoping you will take away from this talk is a feeling that love and romance are an integral part of great garden-making,” Whysall says.

For gardeners and garden lovers, garden romance is an everyday reality that invokes and instills enduring feelings of love throughout the year, each and every year. Garden romance suggests the perfect place, also, for celebrating Valentine’s Day.

photo by Charles Krupa/Associated Press: Steve Whysall @stevewhysall via Twitter Feb. 13, 2016

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

roses reflected in stream, Garden of Ninfa: Eleonorapulcino, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:OASI_DI_NINFA_riflessi.JPG

photo by Charles Krupa/Associated Press: Steve Whysall @stevewhysall via Twitter Feb. 12, 2016, @ https://twitter.com/stevewhysall/status/698319850825887744

For further information:

Whysall, Steve. "Gardens made for love: Into the world's most romantic gardens." Vancouver Sun. Feb. 12, 2016.
Available @ http://blogs.vancouversun.com/2016/02/12/gardens-made-for-love-into-the-worlds-most-romantic-gardens/

Steve Whysall @stevewhysall. "Gardens built for love." Twitter. Feb. 12, 2016.
Available @ https://twitter.com/stevewhysall/status/698319850825887744