I visited the
garden of La Foce in a sunny day of September. The creation of Iris and Antonio Origo, supported by Cecil Ross Pinsent, English architect and friend, it is today a superb and mature garden. Walking along the paths and up and down the stairs, I discovered its formal terraces and wilder areas, green rooms and coloured flowers, old cypresses and fruit trees. From the long wisteria pergola that stretches from the villa and disappears along the hillside, I enjoyed perfect views on the surrounding countryside, the harsh Val d'Orcia, around 65 km south of Siena. Today, Benedetta Origo, one of the two daughters of Iris and Antonio Origo, takes care of the garden with passion and curiosity. She accompanied our group of the Italian Branch of the Mediterranean Garden Society during the visit, recalling the life at La Foce with Ethne Clarke, author and busy editor-in-chief of
Organic Gardening.
I contacted Benedetta a few days ago with some questions about the garden, and she kindly answered me.
TravelinaGarden: We
entered the garden from the main courtyard in front of the villa
walking up a few steps and passing under an arch in a clipped hedge. The
simple passage could easily go unnoticed, but, beyond it, the garden
was even more surprising and inviting. Was this the original entrance?
Benedetta Origo: I'm not quite sure what you mean by the original entrance - to the
garden? But the was no 'original' garden. It was completely created by
Pinsent and my parents, from 1925 to 1939. The narrowness of the passage
is necessary because of the road passing just there.
TravelinaGarden: Cecil Pinsent designed the structure and the decorative elements of the
garden, while your mother filled it with flowers. He interpreted the Renaissance style flourished
in Florence in the 15th century, shaping the garden on the steep
hillside, linking it to the house and to the landscape with axes and
vistas, using symmetry and geometry for a place that was part of the
everyday life of the family. Which were the sources of inspiration for
your mother?
Benedetta Origo: My mother had grown up in a beautiful Renaissance garden herself, the
Villa Medici in Fiesole. She had also been to La Pietra, I Tatti, etc
etc. and her mother had been very knowledgeable about flowers.
TravelinaGarden: The original scheme included a massive use of bedding plants and
bulbs for the flowerbeds, besides roses, lavender and other flowers. Annuals were grown
from seed in the garden, and I read that your mother received several
bushes of rose as a gift. Where did she find seeds, bulbs and flowers?
Did she rely on exchanges with the local community and foreign friends
or she purchased them?
Benedetta Origo: She ordered her plants and bulbs mostly from England, but also from
catalogues, Italian or others, and would visit nurseries like Sgaravatti
or Barni. She also worked with Mary Senni (an American married to an
Italian and living near Arezzo and Grottaferrata) who cultivated and
crossed irises, and with who, she published the magazine 'Il giardino
fiorito'.
TravelinaGarden: We saw the Rose Garden in a beautiful day of autumn, with the geometric
beds so overflowing with anemones and other late flowering plants that
it did not seem to be room for other plants. Is the flowering season of
this part of the garden concentrated in autumn or it stretches along
the year? If so, which flowers feature winter and in spring in the Rose Garden?
Benedetta Origo: They are all perennials, with alliums and other mediterranean essences which create diversity.
TravelinaGarden: You
introduced perennials instead of annuals that required a lot of
maintenance and expenses. Are there other difficult aspects in the
conservation and maintenance of the garden?
Benedetta Origo: There are more blights, especially of trees, than in my mother's times -
cypress of course, but also of alloro, box ... and of course the roses
had to be replaced as they died or stopped producing well, because you
cannot replant roses in the same spot ('rose replant disorder'). There
is a lot more lavender, and rosemary, and thyme. I have had to replace
some wisteria, which has a wonderful spring flowering. I have also
planted many bulbs on the terraces. I also introduced more fruit trees
on the terraces (there were only cherry trees), which seem to be doing
well, especially trees from the 'Archeologia arborea' nursery (apples,
quinces, pears, plums).
TravelinaGarden: What are your plans for the garden in the near future?
Benedetta Origo: I have ordered more bulbs and will sow wild flower seeds, which enliven the colours of the green grasses of the terraces under the flowering
fruit trees. There will be paths mown in the high grass in spring, but
the rest will stay uncut until well into June. We now have a lot more
water for irrigation of the garden, as I have recently added 5 cisterne
to collect the extra water from a spring (which otherwise got lost).
Photos:
TravelinaGarden, La Foce, September 2013.
Links:
Links:
La Foce, Strada della Vittoria, Chianciano Terme Siena Italy
http://www.lafoce.com/
Mediterranean Garden Society - Italy
http://www.mediterraneangardensociety.org/branches-it.html
The meaning of their name, however, suggests a different inspiration. The word Chrysanthemum, in fact, derives from the Greek chrysos meaning 'gold' and anthemon meaning 'flower' to recall the natural hue of this flower (yellow). It is a little sun, easy to cultivate and with long-lasting flowers, that in other countries, such as Japan, is associated to longevity, happiness and joy.
