The curator of ORNAMENTI’s collection of garden ornaments has recently returned from the Italian Lakes. We could not resist sharing his inspirational photographs of terracotta planters taken when he revisited the fabulous gardens on the island of Isola Bella on Lake Maggiore.

We love the way terracotta planters have been used to delineate steps and enhance the parterre. Planting with either box and citrus trees enhances the Italian style with green foliage contrasting brilliantly with the warm terracotta colour. As you will see, some of these terracotta planters are sadly showing signs of deterioration – they obviously didn’t source their terracotta planters from the same Italian artisans that ORNAMENTI use!

View ORNAMENTI’s collection of terracotta planters.

For more inspirational gardens to visit, and more information on Isola Bella, see our Six of the best: Great European gardens journal post.