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Podere Restelli is a floriculture farm of an ancient tradition.
It was founded in 1885 by Dr. Euguenio and Piero Restelli, the sons of Francesco: an Italian patriot who took part in the “Five Days of Milan” and was later appointed as an MP of the first Italian Parliament. The Restellis have always been enthusiastic scholars and experimenters of new agricultural and nursery techniques.

In their family home, on the banks of the Olona River, they created a park with botanical varieties, some of which also imported from overseas: Back then, there was a big hype about unusual and rare species, which were constantly included in many European gardens and in the green areas around the lakes.

Today, this nursery is managed by landscape architect Sofia Meda, who’s also a passionate farmer who restored the old iron and glass greenhouses of the late XIX century, and introduced a collection of special shrubs and roses, dahlias, rare iris, perennial and annual herbaceous plants (most of them with large and colorful flowers) such as sages, zinnias, marigolds and garden cosmos (mostly belonging to old XIX century varieties).
Sofia reproduces them using buds and seeds, and without any trimming, thus letting them grow gently ruffled.

This post is also available in: Italiano (Italian)