The garden was made by the English composer, William Walton and his Argentian wife. Walton loved the isolation and composed there for 35 years. His wife believed there was a connection between music and gardening. La Mortella is situated on Isola d’Ischia in the Bay of Naples. The garden was started in 1951 by Sir William and Lady Susana Walton and has been continued since his death by Lady Susana who has exhibited at the Chelsea Flower Show.

Russell Page advised on the design of the garden initially and his influence can be seen in the formal central axis of the main garden. The garden is in three parts: the Valley Garden, the Tropical Houses and the Upper Garden. The garden was made within a disused quarry; the lower part, the Valley Garden is now well furnished with mature trees which are underplanted with an amazing range of plants, the Tropical House is home to Victoria amazonica, a truly amazing plant while the upper areas continue to be developed; already there is the final resting place of Sir William, the open air theatre, the crocodile cascade, Thai Tea House a very odd-looking blue glass ‘pond’ among others.

Temperatures while we were there were 35 celcius and above each day and such temperatures along with low precipitation makes the lush and full growth of La Mortella all the more astonishing. Obviously much watering was done in the garden and we saw several of the gardeners hosing beds.

I will post photographs which show views of the garden at first and later - if I haven’t been told to give you a rest by then - I will post some photographs of the many attractive plants in the garden. The first photographs are from the Valley Garden, mainly showing the main axis along a rill running from one pond and waterfall to another.
Opening Dates and Times: Easter to October Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Open 9am to 7pm
La Mortella (on Ischia), Fondazione William Walton, Via E Calise 35, 800075 Forio, Isola d’Ischia (NA) Italy