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This Park is in Pistoia, the city recognized all over the world for the production of ornamental plants. Vannucci Piante nursery – established in 1938 – was the actual creator of this new idea of a cultivation facility within a big park.
As a matter of fact, this is the first nursery park in Europe, born from the experience, dedication and resourcefulness of many local professionals; it is also a green space where irregular paths deconstruct the classic geometries of a nursery.

The area of over 24 acres which includes a thousand specimens cultivated in the soil and in pots, can be visited by appointment. Numberless plant species inlclude maples (Acer spp. ) – from Japanese varieties (Acer japonica ) to native ones – Persian silk trees (Albizia spp.), birches (Betula spp. ), four varieties of horse chestnuts (Aesculus hippocastanum ), large strawberry trees (Arbutus unedo ), European nettle trees (Celtis australis ), ashes (Fraxinus spp.), plane trees (Platanus spp.), poplars (Populus spp.), oaks (Quercus spp.), willows (Salix spp.), and lime trees (Tilia spp.).

The Park also acts as a “parking lot” for many plant specimens: the latter grow, awaiting to be selected for their final living environment, namely other gardens in the world. Landscaping architects can thus enjoy the full size and the actual look of every single plant to be chosen and then included in their own garden projects.

Nature follows the strict rules dictated by time and the four seasons, while art only needs to convey authentic sensations and provide an opportunity for reflecting on our reality.
Nothing is more essential than art because it reveals something important, intangible to us
And, above, all it offers brand new points of view, mostly unknown to the public.
That’s why there is also a 49-ft high helical column of Carrara marble in the park: it’s the work of art by Claudio Parmiggiani called “The hands that hold the hours”. Representing the infinity of time, the author faces a context of living matter inevitably affected by the passing of time, when it comes to growth and patient waiting.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)