This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)

Villa Arnò is a magnificent historic manor of neoclassical style dating back to the second half of the 19^th century. It is with no doubt one of the most illustrious residences of Emilia Romagna, which is surrounded by a huge English style park. It has belonged to the Arnò family for many generations and it has hosted for more than 20 years each summer “Albinea Jazz” (www.albineajazz.it) in its magnificent English style park. The greatest jazz musicians of the world (Sonny Rollins, Steve Lacy, Wynton Marsalis, Pat Metheny, to name some of them) have been hosts of this well known festival.
The Castelletto, located between the rural courtyard and the countryside, was once an agricultural depéndance of the villa and it is now the residence of the owners, who decided after some years to transform the fields into a garden capable of mixing with the villa, the park and the cultivated flatland.

The new gardens have been created in 2006, thanks to the help of the landscaper Silvia Ghirelli, in respect of the place and perspectives: they are characterised by a clean and essential design with sinuous lines, a harmonious division in rooms, the joyful profusion of flowers. The owner, Caroline Salomon, takes care of the botanical choice to make possible that the flowerings take place all the year long. Numerous roses. Numerous animals, which keep alive the rural tradition of the area.

Caroline Salomon has also created the association “Arte in Orto” in 2011, which unites art and gardening owners, to whom it proposes each month a calendar rich in initiatives, guided tours, themed lessons and exhibitions related to gardens, painting, music, poetry and fashion. In order to participate it is necessary to become associates subscribing a card which costs 20€.

THE PLANTS
The protagonists of the garden are the roses, which are highly loved by the owner: modern roses, such as ‘Rose de Rescht’ and ‘Marie Curie’, the first British rose ‘Constance Spry’, the hybrids of Moschata ‘Penelope’, ‘Cornelia’ and ‘Felicia’, the Gallica ‘Glorie de France’ and many more which are planted in groups, flowerbeds, borders, alone, next to peonies, irises and other perennial herbaceous specimens. Climbing-ancient roses like ‘M.me Grégoire Staechelin’ and ‘Zéphirine Drohuin’, the flowering ‘Pierre de Ronsard’, which create a joyful bloom.
Other important elements of the garden are the hortensia area, limited by a low box border and three yews in topiary shapes; the pergola of ornamental pumpkins which leads from the garden to the vegetable garden, which is composed of iron-painted basins in Corten with cultivations of gaura and echinacea; the lawn has high grass where a path traced by a lawn mower ends up nowhere.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)