Let’s talk about Genesis—how did your story begin?
D: In 1996. After finishing my studies, I was hired on a trial basis by a small local nursery. After two years of experience as an employee, I acquired the company and started my independent business.
E: My passion for nature was passed down to me by my family from a young age. It was a pleasure to walk through my grandmother’s garden among hydrangeas and lilies of the valley or do small gardening tasks alongside my mother, unknowingly learning my first techniques.
As a teenager, the balcony of our city home was my open-air laboratory, where, with the arrival of spring, I would start sowing in pots and containers.
As I grew older, I decided to deepen my technical knowledge and compositional skills through university studies.
Now, my passion is my profession.
If, at first, I loved large monospecific masses with a strong visual impact, I am now drawn to plant associations, the mutual aid that exists in the plant world, and how plants with different shapes and colors enhance one another.
How does nature inspire your projects and lifestyle?
D: My projects draw inspiration from nature in terms of shapes, colors, and rhythms.
E: Nature inspires my projects through a respectful approach. I always keep in mind the words “Right plant, right place” (to quote a well-known saying): giving plants the right place and space so they can develop and express themselves to the fullest. I embrace nature’s surprising dynamics by using species that are respectful of their context.
From pristine natural environments, I can learn about textures, structures, and plant layers to incorporate into my designs.
The same respectful mindset guides my lifestyle—respect for nature and for people.
How do you imagine your “mental landscape” when you create? Are there real or imaginary places that guide you?
D: I imagine landscapes typical of the English countryside. When possible, I try to recreate in my gardens the spaces, harmony, and silence characteristic of those places.
E: I don’t have a predetermined mental landscape. Each project belongs to a different setting, with unique colors, shapes, balances, and emotions. Sometimes I strive for harmony; other times, I seek contrast. Every project is born from an idea, a desire, and the pursuit of evoking a specific emotion.
Nature, without a doubt, remains my primary source of inspiration.
Who are the people who have most inspired you artistically and professionally?
D: Roberto Burle Marx, Patrice Taravella, Piet Oudolf.
E: Vita Sackville-West, for her feminine ardor and the charm of her compositions. Piet Oudolf, for the lightness of forms, the evolving nature of a design across seasons, and the spectacle of dormant nature—powerful and magical when it awakens.
What does Avant gardening mean to you?
D: I would use a quote from Gilles Clément: “The garden is a place where we can read the future and experiment with how best to face it.”
E: It’s a form of gardening with antennas always raised. It doesn’t just seek beauty but pursues it with a keen awareness of the environmental and ecosystemic significance of each intervention. It is a type of gardening that thinks first of the future, then of the present.
How do you practice the search for wonder?
D: It’s a kind of intellectual exercise. I try to stay curious and seek out new situations that can spark an unexpected sense of awe.
E: I try to look at the world as if I were still a child. When we are young, we don’t have cultural, ideological, or preconceived filters that alter our perception. There is only the pure ability to marvel! And that is the first step in capturing wonder.
What emotion or feeling do you hope people experience when engaging with your work?
D: The feeling I wish to evoke is that of stepping into an untouched landscape, a primordial space characterized by harmony between flowers and colors—a garden of delights.
E: I hope to create a sensation of the unexpected, leading to wonder. A gaze that fills the eyes and reaches deep into the heart. An emotion that stirs the soul and lingers in memory.
Five words that you closely associate with the concept of the Garden of Eden?
D: Lush nature, fertility, water, light, delight.
E: Peace, harmony, balance, untouched, tree.
Bio
Born in Parma in 1983, Elena Ziliotti has always been passionate about plants. She earned a degree in architecture with a specialization in landscape design. Eager to discover unknown plant species and open to artistic influences that inspire the shapes and colors of her plant compositions, she now focuses on designing parks, gardens, and small architectural projects.
Davide Passera, born in Parma in 1972, founded Davide Garden in 1996, launching his garden design and construction business. He collaborates with technical studios and works for private clients, public institutions, and companies.
Over the years, together with his wife, he has further expanded the business by providing floral arrangements for corporate and trade events in Italy and abroad.