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Camminando sotto i glicini – The Venetian Wisteria Walk
Looking up in Venice these days is a must because the purple blossom season is in full swing. In mid-April Venice is enveloped in the fragrant cascades of il glicine – wisteria. I mean, literally enveloped. Above you can see one of my favorite wisteria plants covering a building on Campo San Giacomo dall’Orio. Since I was a…
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April blossoms and spring in the Lagoon of Venice
Spring in Venice comes early and you can notice its first signs by mid-February. It’s not just the narcissi and primrose plants you see pop up in the fiorerie (flower stores) and on the balconies, it’s the season of mimosa blossoming (take a look at mimosa pictures in Venice in this blog article). March and April bring…
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How the exotic plants came to Venice
I took the pictures for this article on a morning in early November. Fall seemed to arrive earlier than last year. With the leaves wilting they make way for us to spot something else. During the warm season, it’s hiding behind the foliage but now, something stands out evergreen and emerald. Solitary and exotic plants attract our eyes. You wouldn’t…
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Harvesting Blossoms and the Ancient Perfume Manufacturers in Venice
Early fall is a boon for gardeners in Venice. Rainy weather and cooler temperatures allow plants and vegetables to thrive in the moist Lagoon. Farther south, for example on the Amalfi Coast, autumn is considered a second spring – la primavera in autunno. That’s also true for Venice to some extent. Early fall is the main harvest…
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Come & Have Breakfast with us in Venice
I call these days of late summer le giornate balsamiche. They are so calm and the light is different as the angle of the sun rays is changing. You notice there’s more dew (rugiada) on the blossoms, otherwise the flower beds are rather dry here. It looks dry and will remain so until mid-autumn when cooler weather sets…
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Summer on the Ancient Island of Olivolo
Many visitors tend to avoid Venice in the summer and rather come in fall and winter. Especially for those of you visiting in the cooler season, we have prepared this flowery blog post on Summer in Venice and the tale of an ancient Lagoon island. We’ll start discovering summer on a light note showing you our summer jungle !!! It’s oleander blossom…
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Erba Curry, Origano, Salvia: Cultivating Summer Herbs
Join me for a visit to Serra dei Giardni on a Saturday morning. It’s past 11 am though, they open late. In the little courtyard in front of the hothouse you can see the shelves packed with trays of new herbs and vegetables. Take a look at what we’ve got here in Venice and what will be…
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Botanical Treasures of the Secret Lagoon
The percentage of Venice the average visitor sees is about 2 per cent, my father used to say (his estimation). What they explore is even less. With exploring we mean walking around Venice attentively, not with map in hand but perhaps losing your way and discover different perspectives. Visitors see even less of the Lagoon. I noticed that many…
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Five Secrets you should Know about Gardens in Venice
More than one third of Venice consists of green areas and three quarters of these verdant spaces are owned privately. What remains is the public gardens in town, accessible to anyone, and a few larger palace gardens turned into hotels. Just one reason why visitors might be misled into thinking that Venice has no real “gardens” …