Elegant and refreshing
The Italian garden is serene, symmetrical and impeccably groomed. Completed in 1914, it's the most formal garden at Hatley Park. It's adjacent to Hatley Castle and overlooks the croquet green.
Hedges, yuccas and statues for all seasons
The garden is a rectangular space bounded by boxwood hedges and yuccas that are more than a century old.
Plantings here are seasonal; summer blossoms give way to the quiet greenery of winter.
Four statues — one for each of the seasons — stand watch: Pomona, representing fall, holds autumn fruits; Hebe, winter, holds a case and a pinecone; Flora, spring, cradles flowers; and Ceres, summer, displays a sheaf of wheat.
A loggia and pergola offer cooling shade from summer heat at the Italian garden's west end. The structures are covered with the beautiful purple blossoms of fragrant wisteria.
Ornate stone balustrades and marble urns decorate the centre beds, while bay laurel trees in concrete planters punctuate the original brick pathways that define the garden's perimeter like matting in a picture frame.
Plants as medicine
The Italian garden is a tribute to the medicinal gardens that were in fashion at the time of its creation, when some families maintained plots adjacent to their homes for the cultivation of domestic plants for therapeutic use. It was Laura Dunsmuir’s favourite garden.