Sometimes, after a week spent dealing with the logistical and bureaucratic aspects of moving to a new country (opening a bank account in Italy and accessing online banking are not for the faint-hearted, for example), all you want is a tiny bit of peace. That can be hard to find anywhere near the usual sights of Rome. But there are two spots where it is possible if you get to each when they open: the walled-in ‘Non-Catholic” Cemetery in Testaccio (burial place of Keats, Shelley, and other luminaries), which I will write about later, and the Botanical Garden of Rome in Trastevere, which is featured in this post. Despite having lived in Rome before, we had never been to this lovely spot; beyond the horticultural appeal, it would have been a fantastic, open place to take our (then young) children and let them run around. That is why you should get there right when it opens, especially on weekends–Roman families start arriving later in the morning.
Entrance sign; View of fountain
Hybrid Tea Rose ‘Altesse;’ White Gossypium (cotton) flower
White water lily and its reflection; Ferocactus pilosus (cactus)
View from Medicinal Garden; Tropical Greenhouse
Giant Water Lily pad; a young pad unfurling
–More photos from the Botanical Garden of Rome here.
Perennial Pastimes 