This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Gianmarco Bernocchi is a young landscape painter from La Spezia, who became famous after thanks to his true passion and his studies in Milan. He quickly managed to put all his knowledge to work when he came back to his homeland – in fact, he mostly works on the Ligurian and the French Riviera.
He has therefore acquired a great deal of experience about Mediterranean gardens, often adding his own exotic touch to his creations, with tropical and subtropical plants. Bernocchi became even more famous after building his own wondrous private garden in La Spezia, over 3.200 square feet of land inherited from his grandparents.

THE PROJECT

The garden shows a skilful combination of the Mediterranean and exotic species, especially in the nursery “La casina di Lorenzo” by Davide Picchi, a regular assistant of Mr Bernocchi.
Another important feature is the careful mix of colours, inspired by the canvases of Kandinsky and Monet: the combinations of multiple pairs of complementary colours (blue and orange, yellow and purple, red and green), creates well-tuned compositions, as all the different shades boost each other.
Not to mention bloom scalability, from March to November, with eye-catching peaks between May and October for exotic species like passionflowers, erythrines, Indica reeds, hibiscus, russelia, and sage. The latter species includes
lantanas, brugmansias (Angel’s trumpet) and anise-scented sage (Salvia guranitica).
The overall ensemble was made possible thanks to painstakingly researched and carefully adjusted plant acclimatization techniques.

MEDITERRANEAN, SUBTROPICAL AND TROPICAL SPECIES

The main species of the garden are the Mediterranean ones, including tamarisks, strawberry trees, oleanders, round- pruned myrtle, laurel, mastic trees, cheesewood and pomegranates.

On the other hand, the cool, rainy and quite damp climate – with long dry spells in the summer – is perfect also for subtropical plants like ensets (Ensete ventricosum, Musa lasiocarpa, Musa sikkinensis), Calliandra portoricensis, Cassia leptophylla, Phormium tenax, Lantana camara, Russelia equisetiformis, palms (Syagurus romanzoffianus and Parajubaea torallyi), and climbing plants such as Passiflore califeg.

Last but not least, there are many tropical species as well, including Iresine herbstii, Heliconia schideana, and Hibiscus arnottianus.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)