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This Botanical Garden covers a 2.97-acre area in Novezzina, in the municipality of Ferrara di Monte Baldo (around Verona). It was created at an altitude of 4.041 ft on the eastern side of the massif.

Opened in 1989 by the Mountain Community, it hosts native plants and flowers of Mount Baldo, a mountain also known as “Hortus Europa”e for its rich flora, largely due to the remarkable temperature range and for being an isolated ecosystem, so much so that many botanical species carry the denomination of “Baldense” – they include Anemone baldensis, Galium baldensis, and Knautia baldensis.

Paleogeographic factors have also enhanced the biological diversity of this massif: during the Pleistocene epoch, at the time of the last glaciation, Mount Baldo was partially covered by ice, thus allowing the persistence of entities of ancient origin, which have adapted and evolved according to the new environmental conditions.

Several micro-environments and ecosystems, as much similar as possible to the original ones, have been recreated host several plant species. For instance, there are areas featuring rocky and beech undergrowth, pastures, wetlands, and pools.
Among several endemic species, there are Campanula petraea, Primula spectabilis, Carex baldensis, Physoplexis comosa, Callianthemum kerneranum (a species present at high altitudes on the whole mountain range), Gypsophila papillosama, and several orchids.
All the local species are tagged with comprehensive botanical information.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)