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About this book
The garden at Ninfa has a unique setting: the ruins of a medieval town near Rome. The site is one of sublime romantic beauty, where time seems to stand still. The garden has achieved cult status among the English and American gardening cognoscenti. An iconic garden in Italy too, Ninfa is the only one to appear on an Italian postage stamp. In this book, Charles Quest-Ritson draws upon his intimate knowledge of the garden and describes the events that led to the sacking of the town in 1381, after which its ruins lay entombed beneath thick ivy for centuries; its rediscovery 100 years ago by the Caetani family and its restoration in the 1920s by Prince Gelasio Caetani, who created the garden's present structure.
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Biography
Charles Quest Ritson is uniquely qualified to write about Ninfa. He has been studying the garden, its history, plants and management for more than twenty years. He has lectured all over the world on Ninfa and is an honorary founding member of the International Friends of Ninfa. He is an internationally acclaimed writer on gardens, roses, history and Italy. His books include: The English Garden Abroad, The English Garden - A Social History and Climbing Roses of the World.
Out of Print
By: Charles Quest-Ritson
128 pages, 150 photographs in colour and black and white
Frances Lincoln is to be congratulated for adding this book to its list of inexpensive, fluently written and generously illustrated garden history books. Art Newspaper Ritson's book amplifies what has hithertoe passed as Ninfa's garden history and is essential reading for anyone with an interest in great landscape and the ways in which a garden of genius evolves in a family. -- Robin Lane Fox Financial Times Allows you to imagine you're in Italy and wandering around this glorious place. Daily Mail This is an exceptional book, imbued with a deep affection for the place and the people associated with Ninfa. The gentleness of tone which arises from this is a rare delight for the reader. BBC Gardens Illustrated Talk of roses (and romanticism) leads, of course, to Ninfa, the gardened ruins of a medieval town south of Rome. It now has a book to itself by Charles Quest-Ritson, an Englishman whose passion for roses and for Italian gardens has few equals. Oldie I agree with the idea that Ninfa, just south of Rome, is probably "the most romantic garden on earth", and that is the proposal of Charles Quest-Ritson, who has been connected with the garden for many years. Ninfa is the garden's beautifully illustrated biography. Times An excellent come-on for escapists. Independent In this well-researched, beautiful and engaging book, Mr Quest-Ritson lays out all the wonders of Ninfa! Anyone with a true interest in gardening will find much to interest them in this book, which celebrates Ninfa in all its seasons, colours and shades. So, too, will anybody with an interest in the romance of ruins or the philosophy of active conservation of landscape and beauty. Country Life It's a book that should come with a health warning - once you've read it you wont be satisfied until you've visited the place! Professional Gardener This superbly illustrated book will serve to remind us of an extraordinary garden at the height of its glory. Literary Review The book creates a great desire to experience the garden for oneself. Cornwall Gardens Trust Journal Aided by lovely photographs, many his own, Quest-Ritson describes, in words as translucent as the waters which flow through the site, the process of Ninfa's creation and the way its harmony is kept in balance. Historic Gardens Review