In 2011 Horti Tergestini  is turning 6... nothing in comparison with the 150 years’  Unity of Italy,  but still  a respectable figure for an event into  which we ventured almost  for fun and eventually    put ourselves and our professional skills on the line,  by confronting other prestigious  national flower shows without disfiguring.

The guest of honour of this edition is Marta Matteini, managing director of Rosanova, magazine of garden art and history,   that debuted   just one year before Horti and has soon  become  a cult favourite in Italy and abroad, Anglophone countries included, attesting  that also in our bizarre country  excellence pays.
Marta Matteini is not only a freelance journalist but also a valuable translator of British and American literature. She studied in Trieste, at the Scuola Superiore di Lingue Moderne per Interpreti e Traduttori, just in the days when the law 180 became effective.

United Nations has declared 2011  the International  Year of Forests. We have asked Marco Petrini, a keen and energetic arborist, to come and tell us about trees, first choice subject in a park...

Yet  San Giovanni’s Park  is a coffer full of jewels, amongst which  a Rose Garden with more than 5 thousand roses, where all classes are represented. It  was inaugurated in October 2009  and visited last year  by Mrs Sheenagh Harris, president of the World Federation of Rose Societies. Regardless of its horticultural merits, the Rose Garden is a boast of the town:  thousands of plants  grown on public land and  entrusted to the Triestines’ civility.  

And just to prove that the Queen of May can aspire to maintain its  royal title throughout the season and into autumn, Enza Torrenti   will present her book  “Rose d’autunno”.

But... willy-nilly,  in shady gardens at least, her Majesty has to yield the sceptre to the hortensia -  whose most popular species Hydrangea macrophylla is much beloved even by consummate gardeners. This genus includes more than 70 species of shrubs, trees and vines,  as we shall learn from  Rita Paoli of the most interesting Italian  nursery of hydrangeas.

At a lower level  - measured  in centimetres not in value, ça va sans dire  - Ivo Jop will teach us how to  luxuriantly  grow aromatic herbs, must-haves   in a garden, let alone in a terraces or balconies. As usually, there will be practical lessons in composting and  on orchids cultivation. And since we mean to cultivate not only plants but also little gardeners, for the children  there will be the presentation of Nadia Nicoletti’s  book “Lo sai che i papaveri...”  as well as  special workshops.

Horti Tergestini  heartily  welcomes its affectionate public and has high hopes of increasing the number of debutants into the amiable society of gardeners!