The garden, as it is today, was born from a deep passion for Peonies. My mother, Pascale, inherited a Peony from her aunt, and this was the first plant that inspired what was to become the Garden of Castel Ruggero.
Formerly a hectare of wasteland, an area was set aside to become the place where the dream of Pascale and Nicolo (my father) came to life. After doing a project inspired by the Villandry Gardens in France, the work began immediately. Eighty centimetres of clay soil was removed and replaced with more fertile river soil and with limo (Ed: ‘limo’ is the Italian word for ‘loam’, a fertile soil of clay and sand containing humus).
After a year of green manure and contributions of organic matter they could finally begin the plantation and construction. As my brothers and I were growing up, the whole family was involved in this project.
Every weekend the meeting point was the garden, someone was painting, someone was planting and someone else was digging.
We managed to turn the hard work into pleasure, the atmosphere was pleasant and unique. After a few years, the garden began to look like the image we had in our dreams. All efforts became contentment and the fruits of the garden were eventually harvested.
Now, after seven years, our garden has expanded to become one and a half hectares. Two central pergolas are the heart of the garden from which paths branch out to nine different flower beds. As Romans used to, we practise the rotation of the flower beds so that never is the same family grown in the same bed two years in a row.
What gives identity to our garden is the perfect harmonisation between vegetables and flowers; a living personification of my mother and father.
Over the years they have been specialising in unique collections including more than a hundred varieties of tree and herbaceous Peonies, countless cultivars of perennial flowers, vegetables and more than 500 varieties of tomatoes.
All this requires a diligent and precise work ethic, every day my mother devotes countless hours to her flowers and seeds. My father, a winemaker by profession, dedicates the hours of the weekend to develop vegetables of different varieties and qualities.
The driving force of this garden is the love that my parents have passed on to us children in a genuine way. We grew up cooking the tomato sauce in August, crushing grapes with our feet in the wine press during the harvest period in September and waiting for the new oil in November.
Peonies of the world
In the opposite seasons the garden has got two different protagonists: Peonies and tomatoes.
The ephemeral flower of the Peony lasts only a few weeks, but every year presents us indescribable pleasure and a huge range of colours. In May, an avenue of 50 metres of tree Peonies begin the flowering period. Chinese, French and American varieties create a collection of 60 plants that each year are more amazing. The ‘Rokii’, masters of all, dominate with white flowers displaying characteristic purple ligules inside. The flowers of the shrub are fragile and delicate. In China, they inspire meditation and contemplation.
Herbaceous Peonies are late flowering, beginning to bloom at the end of May. The flower is more durable and lively and is used as a cut flower. The varieties of flower spans from the simple ‘Bowl of Beauty’ to the ruffled double ‘Sarah Bernhardt’.
A few years ago we took an important and difficult step, the division of the Peonies. We multiplied 30 varieties. Dividing and re-planting in November, they quickly recovered and offered their first flower after only two years. One day we hope to open a nursery offering for sale these wonderful Peonies, every year it seems more and more real.
500 Tomatoes to taste
From July the tomatoes become the main focus. The first step is getting together our tomato seed order which can come from all over the world including America, France, Germany but especially Italy. Our suppliers are large companies and private collectors from which we buy a total of 500 varieties each year.
We sow by the moon, planting five seeds of each variety selecting the three strongest. After three months the seedlings are vigorous enough to be planted in the ground. 500 plants, one from each variety are planted, often in the space of one day. Because of the pollination and the proximity of the tomatoes we are unable to gather all the seeds every year. The tomatoes will appear the same for the first few years however they will slowly change their characteristics. Tomatoes are planted about 30cm apart, each plant supported by a bamboo cane. An irrigating system delivers water on a cycle of 30 minutes every night.
The many varieties inspire enthusiasm and admiration, generating more and more interest from outside friends and family. In 2008, on the first Sunday of September we undertook our very first ‘Feast of the Tomato’, where visitors can taste and enjoy these wonders of our ‘Tomatoes of the World‘. One of my favourites is ‘Cuore di Bue’, it has the classical form of the heart and is perfect for salads and sandwiches. The skin is very fine and the seeds are few. The ‘Roma’ is the classic tomato for tomato sauce because of the absence of water within the fruit. The ‘San Marzano’ is set-aside for making pizza. Yellow tomatoes are more rugged ideal for bruschetta, the greens are sweeter, making them ideal for frying or chutney, and the blacks, originating in Russia, are rich in lycopene, a powerful antioxidant.
A garden for all
The gardens doors are open for any passionate green finger. Biodiversity is the key word of our garden, we invite people to admire the magnificent pergola of roses in May, the centrepiece of our 50-strong rose collection. Summer and autumn are ablaze with rows of 50 different Dahlias to admire and 30 fiery varieties of chillies to taste before taking in the sweet scents of 40 different aromatic herbs. There’s joy in every single corner of the garden.
Castel Ruggero is located on the hills of Chianti Classico, in Tuscany, between Siena and Florence.
