The installations
EdV Garden is unique in its genre: with a fabulous, ironic and creative character, it avoids comparisons with the style of the great Florentine gardens but is proud of its Tuscan character, of which it maintains the typical aspects of the countryside.
It is made up of 26 installations, the 27th being the skyline of the city. Each installation is like a chapter in Alice’s diary in which stories come to life, like in a “Garden of Wonders”, thanks to pruning, plays of light and colours and old recycled objects.
Each of them is accompanied by a description of the plants and objects, a short anecdote with a fabulous and ironic tone, and a reflective message that can inspire you some new adventure or reveal something new about yourself. Leafing through the pages of the garden as in any fairy tale, between the serious and the facetious, you will find that message “tailored” for you. But above all, think colorful!
“I recreated spaces inspired by places I truly love. I reutilized objects that weren’t used anymore but that still reminded me of something, by giving their existence new artistry, new meanings and arrangements. I invented figures that seamlessly change through seasons. I spent dark, cold afternoons imagining how the sunlight would filter through the leaves; I also spent many muggy days trying to reinvent shapes with shadows that were hard to reveal through the summer sun.” (Alice)
Plum Tower
(1. on the map)
The garden is accessed through an old numberless iron door next to the tower that was built by the famous architect Poggi at the time when Florence served as the capital of Italy, around 1865. Upon entering, you find three steep sets of stairs excavated through the big wall that surrounds the hill, and you suddenly arrive in the garden.
Impossible Living Quarters
(2. on the map)
Small, colorful condos for impossible cohabitations.
Grandma’s Cherished Little Garden
(4. on the map)
This space represents a place of happiness and lightheartedness. Here, stories from my childhood come to life and intertwine with scents of rosemary and tilia, encased in sweet geometries that are worthy of a labyrinth.
Fountain of Extraordinary Drops
(5. on the map)
A bizarrely fresh waterfall made of ceramic drops, where little colorful fish play amongst the rocks. Have you ever seen fish that are so happy even with no water?.
Pineapple Amphitheater
(6. on the map)
In this place I wanted to recollect, like in a giant aquarium, all the harmony from the garden. A rare lilac plant and a hanging mulberry tree create the background and the curtains of this unique country theater, while the open gallery is decorated with tamarix and opuntia. All around the amphitheater, berry trees create decorations for the whole winter season, and light up like little flambeaux when the rain hits them.
White Rabbit Windows
(9. on the map)
The White Rabbits, borrowed from “my” tale Alice in Wonderland, are the keepers of the old olive garden and have the duty of showing the visitors the original state of the garden, before it was restructured by the artist. They reconcile the past with the present.
Blue Cat Sailer
(11. on the map)
A hammock turns into a sailing ship, with a Gingko Biloba as a ship mast. The Sailer floats through stormy graminaceous waves, threatened by a giant Tamarix octopus. The command is entrusted to a big blue cat.
The Tamarix Household
(13. on the map)
Mister Tamarix, with his family, awaits you in his little functional home entirely made out of plants, to admire different shades of green from its colorful windows. The walls, just like the roof, must be pruned three times a year. The only issue with that might be drafts.
A Very Long Walk in the Woods
(14. on the map)
Since I needed to have an enchanted forest in the garden, I tried to solve the problem by turning the corridor that connects three different garden levels into a game of light, shadow and perspective.
Hens or Parrots?
(19. on the map)
Some cute and funny feathered friends are waiting for your visit in their very fancy hens- home, guarded by three ferocious warriors. Since they’re living in such a luxurious home, you’d expect them to lay golden eggs… With their charm, they quickly became the stars of the garden, alongside the cats of course.
Log’s Gate
(21. on the map)
Every garden has its own stories to tell and, often, they are very strange indeed.
Palazzo’s Belvedere
(22. on the map)
From up here, in the panoramic part of the garden, you can enjoy an amazing 180* view of Florence, that looks so close you can almost touch it. Choose the comfiest seat and let your imagination lead you between the city’s many alleys, on top of the Duomo, to Belvedere, to Bellosguardo, under the Ponte Vecchio.
Enterprise
(23. on the map)
Climb aboard this most wonderful and colorful spaceship heading for the city. Don’t be alarmed by the drivers… They are two extraordinary pilots.
Rose Beds and Flowers from Mars
(25. on the map)
Strange and unusual Martian flowers emerge from amongst the rosebeds. Enormous flowers that take on the colors of the sky and of the sea and will hold their blossoms for all eternity.