Landscape Contracting and Horticulture Students Study Gardens in Italy
-Dan Stearns, Professor of Landscape Contracting; J. Franklin Styer Professor of Horticultural Botany

Eighteen students from the Department of Horticulture spent two weeks in May visiting a selection of classic gardens in Italy. All were enrolled in a Spring semester course in which they researched the history and highlights of gardens and public spaces in and around Florence and Rome. As the semester was ending, excitement was building for the “field trip” part of the course. The group met in Philadelphia for an evening flight to Rome via London. Upon arrival, the tired but upbeat entourage boarded a bus for a four-day stay in Florence. Experiences at the Boboli Gardens and Villa Gamberaia combined with explorations of the city’s piazzas and streets to expand everyone’s definition of landscaping. Visits to historical sites including the famous Uffizi Gallery, the Academia and the Duomo were also highlights. Side trips to Pisa (the tower is still leaning), San Gimignano and Bagnaia offered glimpses of medieval living and the fabulous renaissance gardens at Villa Lante.

There was plenty to experience in Rome, plenty of walking each day. Ancient Roman ruins vied with the Vatican for top billing. The Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and the many piazzas offered opportunities for studying people, Borgese with its Borgese Gallery offered some welcome respite from mid-day heat. A trip to Tivoli to visit the impressive gardens and water features of Villa d’Este was another highlight of the trip, as was a trip to Ostia Antica, complete with an opportunity to wade (or swim) in the Mediterranean.

Six students missed their graduation ceremony to attend the trip. In celebration, they had their own brief ceremony on our bus at the exact time their classmates were graduating at University Park. Later on, they posed for pictures dressed in a Penn State cap and gown in front of the Colosseum. That’s a graduation to remember!

The trip provided a wonderful opportunity to bring all of that Larch 060 knowledge to life. The group saw landscapes that have withstood centuries, even millennia, with only minor changes. Memories of “Italy 2007” will undoubtedly remain with these students throughout their lives.