Podere Palazzo is the tuscan farmhouse vacation home of Chicago based designer Patrizio Fradiani.  The home is rent-able for a holiday stay in Tuscan region of Italy.  My friend sent me the link from designtripper when I recently mentioned my trip later this year to Italy.   It is a lovely place — and while it is a bit south of the route I will be traveling, the gardens are certainly worth a mention here for their relaxed mix of modern and traditional styling that seems quite at home in the beatuiful hills. I do wish that this were an option for our trip!

The hilltop garden is full of berries, grapes, berbs and even a rare variety of olive brought north from the island of sicily. There are of course the steroetypical but perfect spindly cypress but also a flock of sheep, and the odd wild boar to keep the garden lively.

Click through the gallery to see more.

I am planning a family trip to Italy later this fall.  Unfortunately, I think we will miss being able to see gardens and general greenery as it will be too late in the season.

This morning, my good friend emailed me about this tree cathedral that is being inaugurated tomorrow (September 4th 2010).  I think even without greenery — this may be end up being a stop on our tour.

image from wired.co.uk

The Tree Cathedral is located outside of Bergamo, Italy, on the slopes of the Arera mountain, and is the creation of famed Italian contemporary artist, Giuliano Mauri.

Giuliano Mauri, is a ‘natural architect’ who died in May 2009. The structure was his last work, to signify the International Year of Biodiversity. It stands 21 metres tall, with five aisles and 42 columns. It’s 28.5 metres long and 24 metres wide, and has been built from 1800 firs, 600 chestnut branches and 6000 metres of hazel branch that’s been weaved into the design. 42 beeches have been planted inside, which will grow over time to provide the roof to the structure, which remains open to the rain for the time being.   Here are some interesting images of the making of the cathedrale, but with all good gardens, I am excited to keep an eye on this one and see how it matures with time.

Oh No!  As I am sitting here prepping my August Blogs I like post, I clicked over to email to see that Loomis Creek is closing.  I have to admit to being quite sad.  While I have ever only visited the store once, it is one of those websites I peruse regularly.  In my same zone (5), Andrew and Bob cultivate a list of plant varieties that are quite different than those readily available at my more local suppliers.

I am forever trying to find the quirky and unusual often with some frustration.  Either I can’t find or I do and it doesn’t perform.   Thats usually when I check at Loomis Creek.  They have the plant — which feeds my determination to get the item because now I know if will work, — or they don’t, when I usually decide I should let that one go. They are like a quick online litmus test for my plant choices.

As they move to the pacific northwest, for new adventures, I and their neighbors in the Hudson valley will surely miss them.  For now though, I am scoping out my already full fall schedule to see when I can make the couple hour trek to Loomis Creek and pick up some final treasures before they are gone at the end of the season.

Imagine a Water Tower turned into a hotel — I think of a ball shaped thing on legs like you see dotted across the midwest of the USA- and I scratch my head at the thought.  The Dutch however have different types of water towers.  They look like this (castles) and a few years ago, after spotting the beautiful building in an image of the town in 1930’s the creators of this amazing hotel decided to give the building new life.

No longer surrounded by water, the creation of The Hotel Augustus and it’s landscape, recreated an opportunity to  surround the premises with water and nature.  After renovation, the river Vlij now flows again, the water tower/ hotel is surrounded by gardens and the original pumping station has been converted to a restaurant and a market-café.

Sited on the spot where the water basins for Dordrecht’s water tower were located, a formal but quirky  garden was created.
They “envisaged a garden that would do justice to all the images that the thought of a garden evokes. A garden that supplies food, a garden that is a feast for the eye and delight for the nose, a garden that reflects the changes of the seasons, a garden where sun and moon, wind and water, air and rain can be felt. A garden that makes you feel uplifted and humble at the same time. A garden that reminds you of all the promises and possibilities that lie ahead. A garden that inspires the cook and that in turn is
inspired by the kitchen – the cook and the gardener, the gardener and the cook.”

There is an entrance garden, a vegetable garden for fresh produce, a garden full of berries, a hothouse for grapes and a greenhouse. A Giardino Segreto (Secret Garden)  in which you can disappear or even stay the night (there is a hotel room in the secret garden), a copse to roam about, an orchard with apples, pears, plums, cherries and last but not least an Italian garden.

I yearn for projects like this and take enormous inspiration from it.  From the quirky formal garden to the business model of creating a hotel and landmark that flows directly from the land and whose main feature is the landscape, I am contemplating how my own little slice of land can be put to better use.

I am so late today with posting (the bad news) but on the upside, I am the proud owner of a new washer and dryer and over a months load of dirty clothes are making their way through our new system.  Yeah!

While I was traveling in Canada, I had a couple of “whoa, stop the car!” moments.  I found some really great little gardens that I took lots of inspiration from.   This one was such a pretty compilation of olive, orange and yellow (three of my favorite colors in the garden) and I think it shows so well how effective design can be when you limit the color palette.

This hanging basket was airy and ethereal in a way that seemed to perfectly fit this space and is easily my favorite thing — and to tell the truth, combined with the orange painted corner brackets, where what made me stop the bus in the first place.

If you are in Boston over the next few weeks, you might want to check out an interesting public art/ landscape project.   The Big Hammock is sponsored by The Awesome Foundation for Arts and Sciences.  It is a giant hammock being woven and  constructed on-site on the Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston.  The community construction project just finished this week and it is  now open for napping and relaxing.  The Grand Opening Party is this weekend (aug. 20th) and the community will celebrate with tunes provided by Hunter Amabile Acoustic .   It is only up for aroudn 14 to 30 days (according to the website, they will see how it goes) so make sure if you want in, you better get there soon.