Bordighera and Hanbury Gardens in La Mortolla, 26/9/2019

Wrestling women

11 of us shared transport on our trip to Italy.  It was market day in Bordighera.  A popular small market along the sea front.  I think most of us could not resist buying something.  We had lunch in a restaurant off the main road going through Bordighera.  Not a success, I remember Marie-France ordering 'Pasta a la Vongole' with just 3 clams in her pasta. Despite the very average lunch we had a nice time as a group.

After lunch it was off to the Hanbury Gardens in La Mortola. The property spans the whole of the Mortola Cape, in total 45 acres, the gardens occupy half of it. The rest is left to indigenous vegetation.

Gillian with a view of San Remo in the distance

After earning a fortune in trading in China, Thomas Hanbury purchased the land together with the ruins of a 11th palazzo built by the Lanteri family.

 The Palazzo

The landscaping of the garden was in the main the work of Ludwig Winter recommended to Sir Thomas Hanbury by Charles Huber, a nursery man living in Hyeres.

Temple of the 4 Seasons, Dorothy Hanbury is buried beneath it.

Between 1925 and 1939, Sir Thomas's daughter-in-law, Dorothy Hanbury, made many changes to the garden.

The garden suffered in WW2 and was given to the Italian State in 1960, then in 1987 it was entrusted to the University of Genua.

The Hanbury family still owns a property on the site.

No matter what time of the year you visit, it is always impressive.  Most of our group had not been there before and were absolutely amazed at the sizes of some of the Aloes, Agaves, Yuccas, Cacti and Succulents. Although Aloe and Agaves look alike, the difference can be felt in the spines on the leaves, Aloe's leaf margins are softer.

 Agave with small Echinocactus in front

Betty 

 Agave victoriae-reginae

In the front:  Agave attenuata

Dasylirion serratifolium, with razor sharp edges, unlike Agave's the plant does not die after flowering. (Mexico)

Doryanthus palmeri (Australia)

Cyphostemma juttae (south Namibia)

Euphorbia candelabra (from Somalia to South Africa)

After this very hot summer not much was in flower. We came across two orange flowering bulbs, never encountered before.

Haemanthus coccineus

Brunsvigia josephinae

Brunsvigia josephinae in different stages of development

Some shrubs that were interesting:

 Hibiscus rosa sinensis

 Hibiscus moscheutos

 Salvia leucantha

 Leucophyllum frutescens with Solanum rantonetii behind (in our area in a protected spot)

Solanum rantonetii

Ceratostigma plumbaginoides, does very well in our area, originally from W. China

Eriocephalus africanus (South Africa)

In the Japanese Garden there is lovely pond with turtles and goldfish, with a dragon fountain surrounded by foliage, Cyperuspapyrus and Calocasia esculenta leaves:

Cyperus papyrus in between the Calocasia esculenta with above the cave with the statue of the 'Slave'

Almost at the bottom of the walk there is a large area of ancient varieties of citrus fruit

Citrus maxima (Pummelo) can weigh up to 1.8 kg

Mermaid Fountain

We were lucky with the weather and although it was a long trip, I think most of us found the day worthwhile.

Our thanks to Marie-France for taking the photos.