““The Royal Horticultural Society is delighted to welcome the Gardens of Villa della Pergola to its RHS Partner Garden programme this year. With its valuable botanical collections, not to mention the wonderful collection of over 40 varieties of wisteria and 500 varieties of agapanthus, it is one of the jewels of the Italian Riviera, alight with shades of white and blue in early summer. We know that the garden will delight RHS Members visiting your beautiful country and we look forward to seeing a thriving partnership between the RHS and Villa della Pergola in the years to come, fostering closer horticultural collaboration, celebrating our shared cultural heritage and creating joy through plants.” ”.
This is the message read by Alessandra Ricci during the official ceremony, held this morning in Alassio in Piazza della Libertà, in front of the Town Hall, with which Prunella Murray, Manager of the RHS Partner Garden, welcomed the entrance of the Gardens of Villa della Pergola as a “Partner Garden” of the Royal Horticultural Society, the most prestigious horticultural institution in the world, whose Patron is His Majesty King Charles III.
The ceremony marked the official unveiling of the “Partner Garden” plaque, awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society to the Gardens of Villa della Pergola, which this year became part of its exclusive international network, rewarding the botanical and landscape excellence of the historic park of Villa della Pergola.
The event took place as part of the event “Alassio and the English 1875–2025”, promoted by the Department of Tourism of the Municipality of Alassio, with the involvement of the Departments of Culture, Commerce, Sport and Animal Protection, and with the patronage of the Liguria Region and the De Mari Foundation. A major project - carried out on the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the first British citizens in Alassio, who starting in 1875 chose this pearl of the Riviera di Ponente as a destination and source of inspiration - which confirms the foresight of the Alassio Municipal Administration in uniting culture and tourism in an integrated vision of valorization of the territory.
In the presence of civil and military authorities, illustrious guests and citizens, the mayor of Alassio Marco Melgrati, the deputy mayor with responsibility for Tourism Angelo Galtieri, the regional and municipal councilor Rocco Invernizzi representing the president of the Liguria Region Marco Bucci, the honorary consul of the United Kingdom, Denise Dardani, the patrons Antonio Ricci and Silvia Arnaud Ricci, owners of Villa della Pergola; the historian and essayist Alessandro Bartoli, vice president of the De Mari Foundation; the head of the English Library Jacqueline Rosadoni, Prof. Bruno Schivo, Dr. Giuseppe La Mastra of the Association of Parks and Gardens of Italy, and the journalist and writer Francesca Centurione Scotto Boscheri, president of the association “Friends of the Hanbury Botanical Gardens”. The round table entitled “English cultural heritage in Alassio” was moderated with sensitivity and competence by Magda Bensa Rosso.
Particularly significant was the presence of the Honorary Consul of the United Kingdom Denise Dardani, who brought official greetings from the British authorities, and of Caroline Hanbury, heir of the illustrious Hanbury family, symbol of a historical and cultural continuity that deeply unites Liguria with British citizens. Mayor Marco Melgrati delivered an official plaque from the Municipality of Alassio to both of them as a sign of recognition and institutional homage.