Boboli Garden

The Boboli Garden was funded by the Medici family and designed by Niccolo Tribolo. Other architects finished the garden after Tribolo’s death, following a very specific design he created.

I enjoyed the garden because it is very different from the gardens I usually visit. The Dallas Arboretum is full of flowers; at one point it boasted the largest number of tulip bulbs outside of Holland. But the Boboli Garden isn't full of flowers. It's a formal garden with more shape than color. Boxwood is grown in patters and trees are planted to create symmetry around statues or fountains. The most dramatic fountain was Neptune’s Fountain. It is a large pool of water surrounded by terraces of trees, grass, and little yellow flowers. I liked wandering around the garden up the smaller paths walled by boxwood. The tall enclosing shrubs made me feel more secluded and less like I was in a giant city. It is a peaceful place to visit.

Neptune's Fountain

At the very top of the garden is a maze of boxwood, roses, and peonies. The boxwood creates an outline for the peonies and rose bushes. I had mistaken the peonies for roses because I think the blooms look similar. But if you look at the leaves, it's easy to tell the difference. Peonies have more rounded, elongated leaves where the roses have serrated edges and are shorter and fatter. 

There is also a wall of climbing roses where we found aphids. Aphids are not good for the rose bush; they eat the plant and excrete honeydew. The interesting thing is the aphids we found are wingless. This indicates they have an ample food supply. If they were to run out of food, the next generation, or progeny, of aphids would be born with wings, allowing them to find a new food source.

Peonies

Rose leaves

Shannon Murray