I’ve just been given a personal tour of Ninfa by Monty Don. True, I had to share the thinking woman’s TV gardener with a number of others, but I’m convinced his attention was focused solely on me.
The occasion was a visit to three outstanding gardens outside Rome — Ninfa, Villa d’Este and Landriana — to celebrate a quarter-century of Gardeners’ World magazine in the company of its editor, Lucy Hall. Monty was an added inducement for the tour of Ninfa, after which he was to give a talk on the evolution of Italian gardens.
Rather like a gentleman’s club, Ninfa satisfies one’s inner snob. The eight–hectare garden, within 105 hectares of parkland 40 miles south-east of Rome, is open to the public for a handful of days each year. Thereafter visits are restricted to groups who book well in advance.
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