Let’s start from the roots, how does your story begin?
E: My story begins as a young girl, when I used to sow seeds everywhere to see what would grow. It then continued with studies in landscape architecture and a lot of experimentation, sometimeseven reckless, in the home garden
Q: After finishing my studies, I was hired “on a trial basis” by a small local nursery company, and after two years I took over the company, thus starting my own business.
Who are the people who have inspired you the most artistically and professionally?
E: Vita Sackville-West for her cultural activity, feminine ardor, passion for garden architecture and striking monochromatic composition. Piet Oudolf for the way he manages to compose volumes with herbaceous plants and grasses: one of his teachings, in addition to his infinite compositional ones, is that Nature is beautiful not only in spring, summer, and fall, but also in winter, when the inflorescences are dry and the brown tones contrast with the greens and the white of the frost. On an artistic level, the Impressionist current is a great inspiration: it allows one to consider the light brushstrokes of a thousand shades and digradation of colors as if they were delicate flowers mingling in a border; up close, one appreciates the color of the brushstroke, thus the detail; from a distance, on the other hand, one is amazed at the beauty of the painting, that is, the whole composition.
How does nature inspire your projects and lifestyle?
E: It inspires them through a respectful approach. Nature, if one does not override it, is not oppressive; on the contrary, it ensures balance and moderation. I always keep in mind the words
“right plant, right place”: give the right space for plants to develop and express themselves to the fullest, use species that are respectful to the context. Because it is beautiful to be surprised by unexpected natural dynamics that you had not anticipated.
The same spirit guides my lifestyle: respect for nature and people because we are all active participants in the same immense cycle.
The trip you most want to take.
E: I would love to go to Asia to deepen into the cultural aspects and immerse myself in a culture so different from my own: there is so much to learn! I would like to be transported by that world, to the less touristy and more authentic places. Then I would like to go to Udon Thani, Thailand, to see the Red Lotus sea and be enchanted by the red flowers floating on the water….
If you could be the main character in a movie, which one would you choose?
Q: I would like to be Professor John Keating in the movie Dead Poets Society, played by Robin Williams.
If you could make a tribute to the earth (soil), what would it be?
Q:I would guarantee biodiversity, one of our Earth’s most precious gifts: the richer the plant kingdom, the richer we are, humans and animals .
If your project were music, what track would it be?
Q: Life by singer Des’ree, from the 1998 album Supernatural .
Which plant do you identify with and why?
E: I could be a Hydrangea macrophylla because it is picky and has a nostalgic note.
Q: I identify with the Platanus, a balanced and stable plant.
What does Avant Gardening mean to you?
E: It is a gardening that strips away cultural legacies and looks toward the future with a critical eye and a technique that is mindful of the environment to be preserved.
Q: To express my concept of advanced gardening I quote Gilles Clément: “The garden is a place to read the future and experiment with the best way to face it.”
Five words for you closely related to the concept of land (soil).
E: Fertility, time, structure, life, mother.
D: Living organisms, climate, habitat and biodiversity, hydrological protection, regeneration.
Bio
From Parma, born in 1983, Elena Ziliotti, who has always been passionate about plants, graduated in architecture specializing in landscape. She initially worked as an architect, an activity she later put on hold to devote herself full time to his family and children. Eager to discover plants unknown to her and ready for artistic contaminations that can inspire the shapes and colors of plant compositions, today she is involved in park and garden design.
Davide Passera was born in Parma in 1972. After finishing his studies, after a brief experience working for a small nursery company, he founded the company Davide Garden in 1996 and started a busy garden design and construction business. Over the years, together with his wife, he further expanded the business by running several flower stores taking care of floral arrangements for corporate and trade show events in Italy and abroad. He is currently engaged in the renovation of important historic houses in the Parma region.
