Ten finalists have been selected for this years Most Beautiful Garden in Italy contest, organized by Briggs & Stratton, the US manufacturer of garden equipment and machinery. The competition, which aims to heighten the publics awareness of the green jewels in their territory, has now reached its 8 th edition. Previous winners have been: Giardino di Valsanzibio di Galzignano Terme (2003), La Mortella, Ischia (2004), Giardino di Castel Trauttmansdorff of Merano (2005), Villa d'Este, Tivoli (2006), Isola Bella Borromeo, Stresa (2007), Villa Pisani,  (2008) and the Royal Pallace of Caserta (2009).

Piedmont:

Turin: the Venaria Reale. This was the Savoy familys luxury hunting lodge, re-opened after a long restoration. The park is considered one of Italys most significant examples of a Baroque garden.

The Park of Castello di Racconigi, a romantic XIX century garden with a vast variety of plants and protected animal species.

Liguria:

Genova Pigli: The Garden of Villa Durazzo Pallavicini, a splendid example of an aristocratic residence and one of the principal historic gardens in Italy.

Lombardy:

Tremezzo, Como: The Gardens of Villa Carlotta, set in a natural hollow between the lake and the mountains against the magnificent backdrop of the Dolomites.

Lake Garda: The Vittoriale degli Italiani, the home of the eccentric poet Gabriele d'Annunzio, now a national monument.

Fruili Venezia Giulia:

Trieste: Parco del Castello di Miramare on the Gulf of Trieste, created on a rocky promontory by Hapsburg Prince Maximilian.

Tuscany:Florence: Gardens of Villa Medicea di Castello, now the seat of the prestigious Accademia della Crusca and considered to be the best preserved example of a garden in the traditional Italian style.

Lazio: Viterbo: Castello Ruspoli di Vignanello, a formal garden with hedged borders grouped round its extensive fishpond.

Latina: The Gardens of Ninfa, one of the worlds most romantic gardens, set in the ruins of an abandoned medieval town.  

Sicily:Agrigento: Giardino della Kolymbetra in the Park of the Valley of the Temples, with a historic lemon grove containing rare plants, cultivated according to ancient Arab techniques.

For information: www.ilparcopiubello.it