Timeless fashion

Every April the meadow behind Villa Pisani Bolognesi Scalabrin, near Padua, is bright with wildflowers and tulips

The love of tulips has a long and fascinating history at Villa Pisani Bolognesi Scalabrin, beginning in 1852 with the arrival of Evelina van Millingen Pisani, who used to refer to her favourite flowers as her children. Evelina was born in Pera, Constantinople in 1831 and arrived in this part of Italy through her marriage to Almorò III Pisani. Her villa and garden in Vescovana were frequented by the most famous intellectuals and writers of the time, including Henry James. Exactly which tulip cultivars were planted in the 19th-century garden remains a mystery, but where and when they bloom today is the work of designer Jacqueline van der Kloet, who has collaborated with fellow Dutch designer Piet Oudolf on plant schemes for spring-flowering bulbs for the Lurie Garden in Millennium Park, Chicago, as well as Battery Park, New York.

Jacqueline designed the tulip meadow at Villa Pisani Bolognesi Scalabrin four years ago. “The idea was to have a naturalistic field, a flower meadow, combining different groups of long-lasting tulips with wildflowers, in various colour combinations per area,” she says. “In November 2016, we planted around 50,000 tulips, facing difficult conditions because the soil was quite heavy and we had to plant in an established meadow. The climate worked well, though, as we could plant late and the first tulips started to bloom in late March.”

Signora Mariella loves the unpruned trees and natural look of the meadow behind her villa. Taking an organic approach, she allows moles to burrow around after worms, grubs and insects in the winter. Mariella orders thousands of bulbs every year from Fred De Meulder. With a catalogue of 463 tulip cultivars, narrowing down the selection is based on trial and error, balancing the blooming periods (early, mid- and late-blooming

There are no hard lines or surfaces ; no fences, bricks or cement to stop visitors from stepping where they shouldn’t

The effect is sublime; a profusion of wildflowers, the Italian sun, soft grass and silence

tulips) in keeping with Jacqueline’s plan. Although they are technically classified as perennials, not all tulips flower year after year, and Jacqueline prefers those she knows will come back, such as ‘Ballade’ and the elegant, lily-flowered ‘White Triumphator’.

The meadow in springtime looks dreamy, wild and free. There are no hard lines or surfaces; no fences, bricks or cement to stop visitors from stepping where they shouldn’t. Visitors to the garden are trusted to stay on the mown paths, and they usually do. The soft, natural feel and intimacy of the tulip and wildflower area is what makes this scene so unusual, especially among the more formal gardens of Italy.

Such formal gardens do exist at Villa Pisani; they surround the house, an ancient and private residence with centuries of history etched into its walls. Here stone peacocks and topiary define the more traditional concept of an Italian garden.

From these formal gardens, a curved path, leads towards an English-style landscape garden and then on to a woodland walk, bordered on one side by thousands of grape hyacinths, which leads to open fields beyond. Around the meadow, mature trees including poplars, magnolias, plane trees, willows, oaks, lime trees, and conifers create the ideal sylvan backdrop and lead into shaded woodland that envelops the central field. The woods are just deep enough to soften confines. And the overall effect? Sublime – a profusion of wildflowers, the Italian sun, soft grass and silence. USEFUL INFORMATION Address Villa Pisani Bolognesi Scalabrin, Via Roma 25, 35040 Vescovana (Padua), Italy. Tel +39 0425.920016 Web giardinity.it Open Daily throughout the year, see website for seasonal opening times. The spring meadows are at their best from the end of March to around the third week of April, and are open 9am-7pm. Admission €8.

In 2016, Mariella Bolognesi Scalabrin had 50,000 tulips planted in the meadow behind her 16th-century villa located between Ferrara and Padua. Thirty thousand more bulbs were added the following year, and every year since then. The result is one of the most spectacular spring garden sights in the Veneto region.

Above ‘West Point’ (yellow, lily-flowered tulip with pointed petals), the yellow ‘Golden Apeldoorn’ (a Darwin hybrid crossed with the wild Tulipa fosteriana) and ‘Flaming Purissima’ (a Fosteriana tulip, creamy-white with pink).

Above Jacqueline prefers working with perennial tulips: ‘Unique de France’ (deep, scarlet-red Triumph class), ‘Exotic Emperor’ (a double Fosteriana tulip, white with green) and ‘Ollioules’ (satin rose-pink Darwin Hybrid, fading to white edges).