They are all in Lombardy and are at their best from this season onwards. Ancient trees, rose gardens, medicinal plants, native and exotic species: here are seven botanical gardens to visit between Bormio and Pavia, taking in Milan, Bergamo and Brescia.
Spring is back and everything seems more beautiful to us. Nature gifts us a thousand colours, from the green of the grass and trees to the yellow, orange, pink, red and blue of flowers. And at this time of year the places to be amazed by so much beauty and to restore body and spirit are above all parks and gardens — but not only those. Have you ever visited botanical gardens? In Lombardy, for example, there are as many as seven of them, each different from the next, yet all guardians of historical, artistic and landscape peculiarities. Let's explore them.
Perhaps the best known is the botanical garden housed within the spaces of Palazzo Brera in Milan. It is very old: it was created in 1775, and initially had an educational purpose. The person in charge of the garden was required to teach Botany to pupils at the Brera Gymnasium. The garden also had to supply medicinal plants for the nearby "Spezieria" di Brera. Exotic plants were added only at a later stage by the French, who sought to transform the garden into a meeting place for the city's residents. When visiting the garden, which reopened in 2001 after years of neglect, admire the collection of hydrangeas and medicinal plants, as well as two fine specimens of Ginkgo biloba.
State-of-the-art greenhouses, lawns and benches, a stream with aquatic plants, succulents, carnivorous plants, dye plants, and a collection of Bromeliaceae: in Milan there is also another botanical garden, open from March to November — the Città Studi garden in the Lambrate district, managed, like the Brera garden, by the Università degli Studi di Milano. Here you will find plants native to Lombardy, such as the willow, alongside several imported species that have by now become widespread, such as the Japanese hazel. Founded in 2001 following the reclamation of a plot of land on which an abandoned farmhouse once stood, it was conceived to support research as well as to bring the public closer to the plant world. The garden thus combines the conservation of botanical species with their study, with relaxation and with socialising. Open from March to November.
There is more to Bormio (SO) than skiing and thermal baths. The alpine botanical garden Rezia belongs to the Stelvio National Park. A visit allows you to admire many species of alpine flora, as well as Apennine, European and extra-European flora, for a total of 2,500 plant species. It extends over more than 14,000 sq m at around 1,400 metres above sea level and, during its open season from May to September, can be visited every day.
What surrounds Villa Carlotta at Tremezzo, on Lake Como, is more of a botanical park than a garden. Dating back to the nineteenth century, it comprises a variety of natural settings, from the rock garden to the rhododendron wood to the bamboo garden (in Japanese style, with 25 different species). Across its seven hectares, azaleas (150 varieties) and camellias (some rare and all in different colours) hold sway, alongside cedars, sequoias and plane trees. It is open from March to November, and you can take the opportunity to visit the villa as well, which houses several works by Canova and his pupils, such as Amore e Psiche giacenti by Adamo Tadolini.
Set within the medieval walls of the upper city, the botanical garden of Bergamo is open all year round except during the coldest months — November, December and January. It was established in 1972 to house native and exotic plants and today is a fully fledged museum entity. Tomatoes, maize, potatoes, vines, quinoas, lettuces: this year the Valle della Biodiversità di Astino area, which is home to food plants, has been expanded with 200 varieties of fruit trees, from apple and pear to hazel and fig.
In the province of Brescia, the botanical garden of Toscolano Maderno extends over 10,000 sq m. It was inaugurated in 1964 and in 1991 was handed over to the Università degli studi di Milano to manage. It is home to numerous Mediterranean species, as well as species originating from the East, South America and South Africa, thanks to the mild climate favoured by the proximity of Lake Garda. This green space was founded with the aim of studying the active principles of medicinal plants (its founder, Professor Giordano Emilio Ghirardi, owned a pharmaceutical company): it holds 450 species, many of which are impossible to find elsewhere. Open from May to September.
What will surprise you most about the botanical garden of the University of Pavia is above all its rose garden, which contains 200 plants — wild roses, hybrid and natural species, and old roses (try to visit during the flowering season). But there are plenty of highlights here: from the greenhouses (some designed by architect Giuseppe Piermarini) to the monumental plane tree and the Chinese tea plant, Camellia sinensis ticinensis. The association Amici dell'Orto organises various events in this special place, from the Feste del roseto to watercolour courses and meetings with botanical experts.
