A few kilometres further west, one can drive through
a peculiar avenue of palms, in Ospidaletti. It consists of a lot
of inter-mixed Brahea. Phoenix, Syagrus and Washingtonia. An adjacent
park, right on the coast, has some interesting varieties of Chamaerops
humilis.
For those who like cacti, the "Giardino Esotico
Pallanca", east of Bordighera, will be interesting. Besides
all the cacti, they have planted out some small palms, among them,
surprisingly, a Latania. I was told that these palms are not protected
during the winter; it will be interesting to see how this baby survives.
In Bordighera itself I came upon a small, well-maintained
park, planted mainly with palms. Among the 'commons' it has a large
multi-stemmed Phoenix reclinata, and a moderate, bluish, fan-leaved
palm, which I took to be Brahea dulcis.
One of the more well known of the Botanic Gardens
on the Riviera is the "Giardino Hanbury" at Mortola, only
a few kilometres east of the Italian-French border, also directly
on the Via Aurelia. The garden was founded in 1867 by Thomas Hanbury
and has been one of the most important in Europe before World War
II when it was badly damaged. In fact, some of the palms retain
big holes and scars in their trunks, probably caused by allied bombing.
A Palm Trip along the Via Aurelia
