Tour Italian-Inspired Gardens in America

Located adjacent to the Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina is the estate’s Italian Garden with its three formal water gardens which are unique for their varieties of water lilies.

The Italian Garden of the Biltmore estate has remained true to the original design first created for George and Edith Vanderbilt by famous architect Frederick Law Olmsted in the late nineteenth century. Late summer is considered the best time to see the garden at the height of its beauty with the tropical water lilies a particular favorite among visitors. 

While the elegant statuary and various varieties of water lilies are key features of the Italian Garden at the Biltmore House, the three pools also include such distinctive plants as lotus, Victoria water platters, canna lilies, papyrus, water snowflakes and purple leaf rice.

The Italian Garden at The Cummer Museum of Art and Gardens was designed in the early 1930s by Ellen Biddle Shipman, and based on the design of the Villa Gamberaia in Tuscany. It was initially conceived as a showcase for Ninah Cummer’s large collection of Italian marble garden ornaments and hundreds of azaleas.