This past September I led a small group of three ladies on a nine-day garden tour to the Italian Lake District. We began our trip in Milan during the height of Fashion Week and capped it off on Lake Como at the Villa d'Este (one of the Western world's most refined hotels), so the middle of the journey was designed to feature the splendid horticultural highlights the region is so famous for.

In Milan we lodged at the Grand Hotel for three nights, taking in Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper, La Scala opera house, the Galleria and much window shopping along Via della Spiga and Via Montenapoleone. A friend and curator from Washington introduced us to the director of the Poldi Pezzoli Museum in the meantime, and it was there that we found ourselves immersed in a marvelous private collection formed in the late 19th century that eventually became the model for 'house museums' such as the Frick in New York and the Gardner in Boston.

Sitting in the Northern part of the province of Lombardy, located just below the border of Switzerland, the Lake District is a glacier-carved region host to numerous splendid palazzo and villas dating back to the Roman era. Still highly coveted by the world's wealthiest individuals and famed for its intrinsic beauty and mild climate, the villas which dot the landscape of this area are filled with treasures both inside and out.

In the 17th century the aristocratic Borromeo family were rulers of Lombardy and with the building of various palaces, churches and fortifications were highly influential in the artistic cultivation of the region. Utilizing natural islands in the center of Lake Maggiore the family created such masterpieces as the magnificent Borromeo Palace, a baroque jewel set atop Isola Bella, complete with a vast and splendid garden that creates the illusion of a galleon ship floating on a sparkling blue ocean.

Formal gardens consisting of seasonal plantings within boxwood parterres were designed alongside pleached hornbeam hedges and highly pollarded European Plane trees. Potted citrus lined the edges of crushed gravel paths with flowering Bougainvilla vines and centuries old creeping fig climbing stuccoed walls and columns. Beyond black pebble fountains surrounded by Ostrich fern and pink begonia, the deep blue sky formed a backdrop for lush Himalayan pines, marble urns, finely carved finials and Roman inspired statuary atop splendid stone plinths. Upon reaching the highest point of this island palace, one was left breathless at the incongruous sight of fuschia colored ivy geraniums, snow-capped mountains and lush Mediterranean vegetation all within the same view shed.

And so it was only natural that in this magnificent part of the world we were to have our glorious and highly anticipated horticultural epiphany.

For not only did we immerse ourselves in the wonder of this captivating setting but we also indulged in magical visits to Isola San Giulio at Lake Orta, the botanical gardens at Villa Taranto and Bellagio at the center of Lake Como.

Then, toward the end of our trip, after arriving at the small village of Cannero Riviera, we disembarked from our private boat and walked the lovely promenade of this exquisitely refined gem of a town. While enjoying lunch on the terrace of an intimate boutique hotel, we admired the views of the mountains in the distance and the sparkling blue water before our eyes.

And, as a 19th century paddle-boat moved slowly across the lake, framed by camphor trees at the water's edge, we sat back in our chairs, took a deep breath and marveled at the exquisite atmosphere surrounding us.

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