Castel Ruggero Garden

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Castel Ruggero is on the hills of the Chianti Classico, between Siena and Florence. Built in 1000 as a fortress, it was later transformed into a convent and then, in 1600, into a villa-farmhouse. Its perfect position has favoured vineyards and olive groves, which are still cultivated. Since 1921, Castel Ruggero farmhouse has been a property of d’Afflitto family. The current owners, Nicolò and Pascale, manage the highly-professional cultivation of the vineyard, the olive trees and the vegetable garden; they’ve also created a beautiful green space with ornamental plants.
The latter was created about 10 years ago, on an uncultivated area of 2.4 acres, in which some 31 inches clayey earth were replaced with river soil, remarkably more fertile.
It took the two brothers one full year to prepare all the natural and organic materials needed to build their beautiful garden, inspired to those of Villandry.

Today, this facility covers 3.7 acres. It is, in fact, a vegetable garden, in which vegetables and flowers coexist in harmony. Two central pergolas run across it with paths dividing the whole area into nine flower beds – all cultivated according to the practice of plant family rotation (Leguminosae, Brassicaceae, Solanaceae ..) and surrounded by fruit trees.

Over the years, the collections of many species have been enriched until reaching considerable numbers – for example, a hundred varieties of peonies between shrubs and herbs, and 500 varieties of tomatoes, each one with its own specific use – as well as plants from different parts of the world, often linked to a special memory, such as Australian and French roses, Canna indica from Karpathos, the digitalis from the Canaries. Among the vegetables, in addition to the 500 tomatoes, there is a Chayote (Sechium edule) from the Antilles, double Red sweet corn, the cotton plant from America, ochro, the N’Goyo red eggplants from Africa, runner beans, as well as a collection of 50 varieties of chilli pepper.

Last but not least, Pascale has inserted cut flowers to make bouquets, including a rich collection of dahlias that come mainly from the Frenchman Ernest Turc, a collection of herbaceous and shrubby peonies, mostly from Riviére, butterfly bushes, anemones, sage, cosmos, spurges (Euphorbia L.), amaranths and zinnias.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)