THE ITALIAN GARDEN 



37 



Castello, still adorns the parterre, but the whole garden has been allowed 

 to run riot. 



Both Castello and Petraja were planned upon what the Italians con- 

 sidered the ideal gar- 

 den site, as described 

 by Ferrari in his De 

 Florum Cultur a: 

 " First let the man 

 whose nature exults in 

 the culture of flowers, 

 choose for his flower 

 garden a plot exposed 

 to a healthy climate, 

 and remote from 

 marshes, lest the gar- 

 dener himself, among 

 the gaily coloured 

 flowers, should by 

 breathing pestilential 

 air be overcome by 

 the pale hue of death ; 

 not facing a river lest 

 he should breathe cold 

 and damp, and there- 

 fore unhealthy air ; 

 and if possible close 

 to his house so that 

 he may have a golden 

 age of eternal spring 

 at home, and may see 

 a paradise of flowers 

 laid out below his 



windows; as large as possible, lest the various and manifold natipn of 

 flowers should be too closely crowded ; sheltered from the north, whose 

 deadly cold might be breathed by the tender plants in winter ; turning 

 towards the south, whose warm, humid, gentle-blowing breath is the life 



