204 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



THE GARDENS BY THE LAKE OF COMO. 

 By James Hudson, V.M.H. 

 [Read August 31, 1909.] 



The gardens that I Lave had the privilege of visiting by the Lake of 

 Conio have, in nay opinion, far more to recommend them than many 

 others in Italy, some of which I have also seen : for instance, Isola Bella, 

 on Lake Maggiore, shows, I think, far too much evidence of the skill of 

 the architect and of the sculptor ; and again, at the Villa d'Este at Tivoli, 

 there is a preponderance of waterfalls and of masonry. Too much 

 artificial stone work mars the beauty of a garden, and detracts from 

 its charm. 



Around Conio masonry is not so obtrusive, at least not in the gardens 

 that I have seen. These gardens, like many others in Italy, owe their 

 existence to the munificence of the Italian nobility of two centuries or 

 more ago : those around Como probably to the Milanese families of 

 high rank ; those at Isola Bella to the Counts of Borromeo, and those at 

 Borne to the Borghese family and others. 



The gardens I have visited are situated chiefly at Bellagio, at 

 Cadenabbia and at Menaggio. These beauty spots are comparatively 

 close together, Bellagio being seen from both Cadenabbia and Menaggio, 

 but Cadenabbia is shut off, so to speak, from Menaggio by the contour 

 of the lake. To my mind, having seen Como from the town of Como 

 itself, up to the northernmost point of the lake, there is no spot to 

 surpass in beauty the three that I have named. True, I have not been 

 down the Lecco branch of the lake, and therefore cannot make a com- 

 parison with that, but I do not think it can possibly surpass these in 

 beauty, or in the grandeur of its scenery. 



My two visits have been in August. On the first, the weather was 

 intensely hot, with scarcely any breeze, but on the second the heat was 

 tempered by a cooling breeze blowing down the lake from its northern 

 extremity. Last year I stayed for some days at Lugano, another lovely 

 spot, where it was decidedly warmer than on Como. From the lake we 

 visited Monte Generoso, 5,590 feet in height, where we had a magnificent 

 view of a wide range of mountains towards the north and north-west, 

 with the Lake at our feet ; while to the east we could clearly discern 

 the Lake of Como, with the town of Bellagio upon its promontory. I 

 had often wondered how it was that such tropical luxuriance was to be 

 seen around Como. Now, from this view point I could see how the 

 lake is surrounded by mountain ranges from 2,000 to 3,000 feet in height, 

 and the gardens upon its shores sheltered from the extreme cold, and 

 nestling in such favourable situations along the water line. The shelter 

 from keen biting winds, and the clear Italian sky explain a great deal, 

 while the moisture arising from the Lake itself must be conducive to 

 luxuriant vegetation. 



