From 29 September to 1 October Villa Erba, on Lake Como, hosts Orticolario, the cultural event devoted to the passion for the garden. With a novelty for 2017: the "nocturnal" opening until midnight on Friday and Saturday 29 and 30 September. The theme this year is "Looking to the moon".
"Orticolario 2017 reaffirms its identity: dedicated to the passion for the garden and its ability to convey emotions and beauty, wants to be a true homage to nature through an evocative garden concept, and to offer the visitor a sensory pathway between gardening, botanical, landscape, art and design, "explains the organizers a few hours after the event.
Well-defined as the ninth edition: the title is "Librarsi", the theme is the moon, the protagonist flower is Fuchsia. "The Moon - continue - a theme inspired by myths and legends, dancing around us from the night of the day, revealing to our senses a different world from day to day: in the flare of its reflected light, gardens and woods thrive with shadows, movements, noises and perfumes , the plants awake, flowers blossom. The Fuchsia, a garden ballerina, a flower of a thousand colors and the remarkable shades of both flowers and leaves, a perfect example of love between the uomogiardiniere and the plant. "
Inseparably linked to the moon is the guest of honor of Orticolario 2017, French writer and landscape designer Gilles Clément, who will receive the award "For a Gardening Evolved 2017". To celebrate the nightlife of the vegetable world and to live the gardens under other light, this new edition is the opening night until midnight on Friday and Saturday 29 and 30 September, with a calendar of ad hoc initiatives.
Hernia's Essence: Gardens set up in the park, inspired by the theme of the year and selected through the International Creative Space Contest by a specially constituted jury composed of members of different nationalities; the winner is awarded the "Golden Leaf of Lake Como" prize. As always, the event is enriched by a wide exposition of plants and flowers (including rare, unusual and collectible plants) proposed by selected national and international nurses, as well as artistic crafts, designs and art installations.
The program also includes cultural meetings and didactic-creative workshops for children, so that starting from the garden the event can involve many other areas as well. For the 2017 edition of Orticolario (with the agreement of the Fai), 25,000 visitors are expected, of which 3,000 children (20% will be on their first visit); 270 are the exhibitors involved.
Gilles Clément will be guest of Horticulture on September 29th. "It is following the publication of the first images of Earth seen from the moon that Gilles Clément began to reflect on the theme of the Planetarium Garden." The inspiration for Orticolario 2017 was born precisely from this phrase kept in the pages of the book Little Pedagogy of the Grass. Reflections on Gilles Clément's Planetarium Garden, edited by Louisa Jones (DeriveApprodi, 2015).
Moritz Manero says: "By putting us on the moon and looking at the ground, Gilles Clément will question with us on Friday 29 September at Villa Erba's Central Pavilion. The opportunity to have a guest in Orticolario who is considered a true master for many of my landscaper friends, makes me proud and happy. "
On the occasion of his participation, he will be awarded the prize "For an Evoluted Garden 2017" by Francesco Mazzola of FDM F.lli Mazzola, while he will award the winner of the international contest "Creative Spaces".
Also in 2017 many landscape designers and gardeners, architects, designers, artists and nurses participated in the competition. The eight selected projects have been made in the park and compete for the "Golden Leaf of Lake Como".
Projects selected for 2017
1. Space Matter Mixed "What do you moon in the sky, tell me what you do ...?" By Gheo Clavarino Giardini e Terrazzi (Milan)
2. Space Archiverde "Moonlight Garden" by Leonardo Magatti, Cernobbio
3. "Dark Side of the Moon" by Rateni Construction,
4. Green Bricks Space "Lotto" by Monica Botta, Bellinzago Novares
5. "Profusion" by DAMD, Aarhus (Denmark)
6. Space Garden Lignano "Lunar Cyclicity" by Roberto Landello, Lignano Sabbiadoro
7. Green Service Space "Metamorphosis" of The Blue Poppy, Longone al Segrino
8. "Inside the Moon" by Daniela Piazza, Balerna (Switzerland)

The central pavilion is the Orticario square, where the event begins and where everyone goes. For the third year, Vittorio Peretto, the founding partner of Hortensia Garden Designers, who has creatively accepted the challenge launched by Moritz Mantero, with the ingenious use of human and vegetable matter, which, like day and night, is confront and alternate in an eternal game.
Thus, starting from the theme of the year, the Moon, Peretto, in collaboration with the students of the Minoprio Foundation and with the support of Brianza Design, will turn with great irony the central hall of Orticolo 2017 in "Luna-Park".
In addition to the garden, Orticolario is also moved towards art and design. Numerous artists and designers exhibit in the various areas affected by the event: in the grounds of Villa Erba, in the wings of the exhibition center, in the park.
Numerous the list of guests expected for the rich meeting program, which includes the appointments for the "Small gardener": children are given an ad hoc program.
Detailed program and information at www.orticolario.it.