Hidden Garden, Villa di Camigliano, Tuscany
Description:
In 2007 my wife and I joined our in-laws in Italy for a two-week holiday. For part of the vacation we used Lucca as our base to visit some of the beautiful parts of Tuscany. On our last day we visited the 17th Century rococo Villa di Camigliano, a few kilometres from Lucca.

On our way in we passed some of the estate workers' cottages and I caught a glimpse through an archway of this pretty garden behind the houses. The chaotic planting along with the rustic stone and brickwork were a complete contrast to the formal gardens of the villa but no less interesting and certainly more charming. The trailing surfinas (petunias) and potted geraniums blended beautifully with the oleander growing up the wall on the right. I particularly liked the way the dark archway framed the whole scene, which was bathed in the bright, midday sunlight. It was just begging to be painted!