Cactus Garden at Salina Island

It's been a long time since I promised to start a new 'column' here titled Gypsy Garden and well, today I am ready to keep my word! 'Gypsy' will be an allegorical term for all gardens from around the globe that I showcase here referring to the so-called Gypsy spirit of such gardens, where bright colors and enigmatic, enchanting atmosphere rule. So, let's start!

  ...Salina is one the seven Aeolian Archipelago's islands in the Tyrrhenian sea north of Sicily. And it is the greenest one and the farmost of them all. Moreover, Salina represents a local 'Botanical Garden' being home for many species of cactuses, agavas and yuccas which make the landscape looking more like Mexican than Italian one...

More than 30 years ago, Attilio Azzini, a Lombardian industrialist, came to Salina with his wife for vacations and fell in love with the island. Soon they could buy a hilly, steep piece of land, somewhere between Lingua and Santa-Maria regions, abundantly covered with yellow whins and olives. 

Roses, wisterias and different fruit trees planted in the first year couldn't survive the constant heat (sweet water is delivered to Salina by ships and almost nothing left for watering plants). Thus, Attilio decided to recreate in his garden a natural flora as seen around and started planting, and then growing by himself, heat- and drought-resistant palms, succulents and various species of aloe.  

Now, automatic irrigation system is working non-stop all summer long and among whimsical forms of cactuses and agavas there are plenty of poppies and bougainvilleas, roses and citrus trees spreading their astringent aromas into the salty sea air...

I am a big fan of aloe:) and like succulents in general, so I would just love to visit such a garden breathing in all its wonderful scents and admiring its spectacular views, don't you?

Photos: Stefano Scata  Adapted from Mezzanine magazine.