Let’s look in detail at what it is possible to admire at this time of year, which accompanies us to the closing of the gardens on the 1st November and to the activities in preparation for winter.

On Isola Bella it is the moment of Olea Fragans and the varieties of Coleus.

Until around mid-October, a sweet, intense perfume spreads over the island from the tiny white, yellow or orange flowers in the area of the Pian della Canfora. This is Olea Fragrans: originating in China and Japan, it is a small evergreen bush with shiny leaves and round, thick foliage. In the 19th century it was much used precisely on account of its essence. Some maintain that a tea with beneficial properties was made from its flowers; others that it was used in the past to produce a much prized perfumed oil. In Asia it is a symbol of love and romance: it is said that in some wedding traditions from the Orient the plant was given by the bride to her new family to encourage a warm welcome and fecundity.

Decorative and colourful, with its bushy appearance in autumn the Coleus collection is the protagonist of the flowerbeds of Isola Bella. The plant is a perennial evergreen, but the colour tones of the leaves, from yellow to red, and their design, mottled and two-coloured, now give the garden a particular touch, even more lively and intense with the lowering temperatures. There are around sixty plants to admire, especially in the area of the cafeteria.

Moving on to Isola Madre, we now witness the culminating moment of the flowering of the seasonal botanical species: standing out in particular are the begonias – in bloom until the end of autumn -, the lantana plants, which bring joy with their little yellow and orange flowers (and it is said that these are a sign of pleasant surprises), the poetic hibiscus, and bougainvilleas, which colour the façade of the Building purple for around 40 metres.