“A nice garden doesn't need to be big, but it has to be the realization of your dream even if it's a couple of square meters wide and it's on a balcony”. So explained Captain Neil Mc Eacharn to whom we owe the birth of these wonderful gardens. Among the plants present some of which are unique in Europe and acclimatized after long work, have been arranged with a sense of art in a setting of beauty, between lake and mountains. The botanical heritage of the Gardens of Villa Taranto is very vast: it includes about 1,000 non-native plants and about 20,000 varieties and species of particular botanical value.

The Villa cannot be visited, as it is used as the headquarters of the Prefecture of the new Province of Verbano - Cusio - Ossola. Since 1952 the Gardens have been open to the public, from March to October, and the influx of visitors now exceeds 150,000 units per year. From Australia, the Americas, from Europe, from all over, numerous groups of scholars and enthusiasts, reach Villa Taranto, attracted by the interesting botanical collection, from the perfect organization and very friendly hospitality. During the opening season, every year, a particular initiative called “Tulip Festival” takes place. During this period the garden lights up with a thousand colors of over 80,000 bulbous blooming bulbs, among which the tulip is the undisputed protagonist.

Over 65 varieties planted, among which we can admire the highly sought after black tulip 'Queen of night' and the impressive & ldquo; Big Chief” from the corolla diameter of almost 10 centimeters. In the 'Labyrinth of Dahlia', you will be able to admire more than 1500 plants, divided into over 350 varieties, in a game of colors, sizes and shapes, which have no comparison with no other floral essence. Among these are the 'Decorative' large flower, including the flashy 'Emory Paul', whose inflorescences exceed 25 centimeters in diameter, the Pompoms” among which we recall the “Little William”, whose spherical honeycomb heads sometimes do not reach 5 mm in circumference. Visiting the Gardens, everyone will find intimate scenarios and fantasy figurations hidden in transparencies of water, or in the expanses of mysterious flowers, sacred to Egyptian mythology. From the romantic Valletta to the expanse of the Heather, from greenhouses with the 'Victoria Cruziana' to the avenues of Azaleas, Maples, Rhododendrons and Camellias, from the gardens of the Dahlias, with over 300 varieties & agrave;, to the thousand colors of autumn blooms.