Italian Garden Inspirations in the United States

Photo: Image courtesy of The Biltmore Company

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Water Lily Fantasia

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.

Photo: Image courtesy of The Biltmore Company

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Frederick Law Olmsted's Jewel

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.

Photo: Image courtesy of The Biltmore Company

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From Canna Lilies to Water Snowflakes

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.

Where to Find Italy in Jacksonville, Florida

Photo: Image courtesy of www.cummer.org, photo by Amber Sesnick

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Where to Find Italy in Jacksonville, Florida

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.

The Cummer’s Italian Garden is part of 2.5 acres of formal Garden space along the St. Johns River that has been recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. The arbors, antique ornaments, fountains, sculptures and other decorative features are part of the Mediterranean ambiance.

Photo: Image courtesy of www.cummer.org, photo by Amber Sesnick

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Immaculate Sightlines

The Cummer’s Italian Garden is part of 2.5 acres of formal garden space along the St. Johns River that has been recognized by the National Register of Historic Places. The arbors, antique ornaments, fountains, sculptures and other decorative features are part of the Mediterranean ambiance.

Photo: Image courtesy of www.cummer.org, photo by Amber Sesnick

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Reflecting Pools

The Italian Garden features two long reflecting pools bordered by Shipman’s signature flower borders, as well as a ficus-covered gloriette, a traditional folly and a lion motif. The famous water gardens at the Villa Gamberaia in Tuscany were an inspiration for the design.

Photo: Image courtesy of www.cummer.org, photo by Amber Sesnick

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A Place for Contemplation

At 2.5 acres, the winding paths of these Gardens are ideal for quiet contemplation or family exploration, and have been equipped with interactive and audio tours. The gardens were created in the early 1900s by Arthur Cummer and his brother, Waldo, who came from one of Jacksonville’s most prominent families.

Photo: Image courtesy of www.cummer.org, photo by Amber Sesnick

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Three-Tiered Fountain

The presence of water is an important part of traditional Italian gardens and is integrated into The Cummer’s Italian Garden with the inclusion of the three-tiered fountain shipped by boat to the United States from Italy.

Photo: Image courtesy of Longwood Gardens

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Photogenic Fountains

Comprising over 1,077 acres in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, Longwood Gardens was the creation of industrialist Pierre S. du Pont who laid out his first garden in 1907 with a 600 foot long Flower Garden Walk featuring a fountain and pool in the center. In 1927, he debuted the Italian Water Garden (pictured here) which continues to be one of Longwood Gardens’ most popular attractions.

Pierre S. du Pont’s love of water and fountains is embodied in the Italian Water Garden at <a href="http://longwoodgardens.org" target="_blank">Longwood Gardens</a> where green glass, blue-tiled fountains and sparkling water create a serene atmosphere. From mid-April through mid-October, visitors can enjoy the Festival of Fountains until dusk on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Photo: Image courtesy of Longwood Gardens

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A Different Kind of Water Ballet

Pierre S. du Pont’s love of water and fountains is embodied in the Italian Water Garden at Longwood Gardens where green glass, blue-tiled fountains and sparkling water create a serene atmosphere. From mid-April through mid-October, visitors can enjoy the Festival of Fountains until dusk on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.

Photo: Image courtesy of The Mount, Lenox, Mass., photo by John Seakwood

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The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts

Designed and built by author Edith Wharton in 1902, The Mount in Lenox, Massachusetts includes Wharton’s gracious main house and expansive terrace as well as three acres of formal gardens surrounded by extensive woodlands with the Italian walled garden (pictured) a major focal point.

Capturing the Essence of an Italian Garden

Photo: Image courtesy of The Mount, Lenox, Mass., photo by John Seakwood

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Capturing the Essence of an Italian Garden

Generally considered Wharton’s first published travel book, Italian Villas and Their Gardens (1904) displays the author’s knowledge and love of the subject, especially during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. For her Italian walled garden at The Mount, Wharton wanted to capture the essence of “the ineffable Italian garden-magic” through a sense of design and layout, not slavish imitation.

Photo: Image courtesy of The Mount, Lenox, Mass., photo by John Seakwood

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A Sensation in Any Season

Author Edith Wharton had very specific ideas about garden design and for her Italian walled garden, she wrote “The Italian garden does not exist for its flowers; its flowers exist for it.” She turned her three acre estate into individual garden rooms that blended naturally into the landscape and achieved “a charm independent of the seasons.”

Photo: Image courtesy of The Mount, Lenox, Mass., photo by John Seakwood

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Edith Wharton's Secret Hideaway

The Italian walled garden at The Mount, author Edith Wharton’s estate, is also known as giardino segreto (secret garden) and was a peaceful retreat for the writer as it blended into its natural surroundings in the Berkshires.

Photo: Image courtesy of The Mount, Lenox, Mass., photo by John Seakwood

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The Garden of Mirth

It is said that Edith Wharton created her Italian garden from the royalties on her novel The House of Mirth. She would later write, “Decidedly I’m a better landscape gardener than novelist and this place, every line of which is my own work, far surpasses The House of Mirth.”

Photo: Image courtesy of The Mount, Lenox, Mass., photo by Kevin Sprague

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Timeless Beauty

This early morning photography of the Italian walled garden at The Mount captures the timeless beauty of Edith Wharton’s estate.