Spring gardens

Something of a magical destination, the ruined mediaeval town of Ninfa to the south of Rome is where, over a century, generations of the Caetani family planted and cultivated a wildly romantic English-style garden. Since the death of the last Caetani in the 1970s Ninfa has been owned and protected by the Fondazione Roffredo Caetani. It is said that the garden began with the English-born wife of Onorato Caetani, Ada, who took her children to picnic in the ruins of Ninfa in the late 19th century and planted some seeds. Her work was continued by her children and later by Marguerite, the American wife of Roffredo Caetani and editor of literary magazines. Now, rambling around the ruins of the mediaeval castle and churches you