Imagine yourself born and living in a place where some of the best examples of topiary art are concentrated, where you breathe in both the perfect geometry of gardens designed by Vignola and the fascination of Russell Page’s creations. Add then to this the familiarity of an almost unblemished countryside, where the hand of man has hardly touched the woods of oak, beech and chestnut and you will understand how natural it was for the staff of Il Giardino Segreto (“The Secret Garden”) to search all over Italy for the invisible fabric that unites gardens, homes and countryside, almost like an enthralling puzzle to be pieced together little by little.

In addition to the grandeur of the Italian garden and to the naturalness of the English style of garden, the school of the “amateur gardens” emerges, nourished by the intuition and the dedication of their owners, the school of the “contemporary gardens”, planned by landscape architects, refined interpreters of the local genus, and lastly the school of the “artistic gardens’ where works of art become one with the space in which they are situated.

In this way over recent years the kaleidoscopic world of The Secret Garden has been developed, where the idea of the garden is expressed in many of its infinite varieties.

Our travelers, in small groups under the guidance of expert botanists, landscape architects and art historians, are each and every time invited to share the emotions that only a skilful mixture of plants, flowers, light, water, architecture and silence can give rise to.

Among the suggestions of The Secret Garden there are the “little gardens”, which are magic microcosms filled with color, perfume, pots, tubs, where these details make you appreciate the culture and the sensitivity of their owners. Space is also given to gardens where the interpretation of nature in an alchemic and esoteric way aims to reach harmony through numbers, forms and colors. Finally the “vegetable gardens” are striking. Once the prerogative of convents, villas and castles these are today more widespread in a happy mixture of vegetables, citrus, aromatic and flowering plants.

The members of the associazioni Garden italiane (“Italian Garden Association”) who have honoured and favoured us, have stimulated in our tour planners over the years a strong desire for discovery, and have guided us in the choice of hotels of charm and of restaurants that are in keeping with the proposed itineraries. Thanks also to them, the collection of The Secret Garden has been expanded to include tours dedicated to “European gardens”.The trust given us by private gardeners who normally don’t allow public access to their properties is a source of pride for us and represents the characteristic feature of The Secret Garden.

May 2004 marks the beginning of a close collaboration with the magazine Gardenia, with a day dedicated to “Wines and Gardens of the Calanchi” and with tours on fixed dates (see dates for these events and tours)