A detailed description of the species in the park could be done only by an expert due to the wide variety of plants and flowers. This is rather a short story written by who lovingly takes care of the park and the gardens by planting, seeding and curing, year after year, all of the botanyc collection, from the grass to the centenary trees.

TREES
Speaking of the trees and their massive presence due to height, shape and "personality", it must be said that there are no exotic species but the most representative and elitary local ones are present.

In the past, surrounding the extensive garden, from the deer pits down to the Mondarello Brook, the conifers dominated due to their height (up to 40/50 meters), their shady position behind the hill and their dense population. In the last 30 years nature has adversed their presence by air storms, lightnings and heavy snow in periods other than deep winter.
More than a hundred had to be cut down thus leaving wide areas of an unusual and misterious fashion, close to a nordic landscape. Common sense suggested not to plant similar trees where old roots still laid so new species were chosen: beeches, red oaks, liquidambers and maples. This choice also gave a more shining look to the park during the winter.
Deciduous conifers where planted along the Mondarello Brook together with the water loving Baldcypresses whose roots, time passing, shape in frivolous manners.

Hornbeams are the most peculiar and amongst the oldest trees in the park. They form a long alley along the northern walls. They age 400 and more years but aren't as big as one would think. Infact, to preserve the fashion of the alley, they are topped every three years and the young branches are weaved together to form the vault. The hornbeams form also most of the hedges crossing the park in a geometrical way.

The most noticeable tree is the Tulip tree, due to it's hight and look. Althought it prevails on the other plants it in fact is the youngest of the old trees (about 150 years).

High trunk trees present in the Malingri di Bagnolo park:

THE HEDGES
They trace an antique plant, older than the one of the XIX th century romantic garden. There are mainly three kinds of hedges: common boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) surrounding the flowerbeds along the south front and the eastern wall and as decoration of the stairs of the eastern front; hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) along the bounderies of the garden and through the park and the deer pits; at last Taxus baccata along the brook. A rim of Hansa roses along the boundary walls colours in purle and white with it's flowers and, during the autumn, in red and orange with it's berrys.

FLOWERING BUSHES
It's difficult to find out who brought in the otherwise austere park the loveliness of colours given by the flowering bushes. The oldest are the one coloured rhododendrons placed in groups very near to the palace, so to frame it and be visible from the inside.
Being the soil acid and rich of heap of dead leaves and pine needles all the acidofile bushes grow with ease. As a matter of fact rhododendrons and hydrangeas are the real stars of the park. Camellias have recently been planted and are blossoming. Every year new species are chosen to improve even further the colorful effect and to create a wide collection.

RHODODENDRONS
The antique rhododendrons are in three monochrome bushes up to 6 meters high. Entering the garden, under the huge Tulip-tree (liriodendron tulipifera), the first to bare flowers at the end of april, stands a rhododendron with big pink flowers veined in dark reddish-purple, of an unknown kind, probably a hybrid dating to the XIX th century; at it's left the deep purple R. Ponticum is the last one to flower along with the Fastosum flore plenum can be seen; at last, beside the fountain, stands the snow-white rhododendrons nick-named “antique white”, probably R. maximum of north american origin and imported at around the middle of the XVIII th century.
A low and beautiful rhododendron, of the most peculiar red color, was about to die out but having taken care of it it now stands at it's best. A son of it now glares it's misterious colors in another part of the garden.
The oldest rhododendrons have been layered and placed in strategic way. they undoubtly are the most robust and better grown.
The garden has recently been enriched with new kinds delivering even more colours and forming a shining under-wood. At the beginning the plants were chosen here and there on the market, regardless of the origin and leaving some of them without a name. Today the effort goes in the direction of cataloguing in a strict botanycal manner all the species.
Dark purple: Purple Splendor (1994)
Bright red: Jean Marie de Montaigne (1996), Abeille Erika (1998), Rosso-Genova o Garibaldi(1999), Redjack (2000),
Purple with darker stripes: Volcan (1994)
Snow-white: Veitchianum Ashcombe (?)
Heart-red and yellow: Souvenir Waterer (2001)
White/pink, red and purple: Lady Annette de Trafford (2001)
Bright red: Michael Waterer (1990), Doktor H.C. Vesselius (2000)
Very dark red: Nigrescens ( 1998), Catawbiense Boursault
White with deep purle dots: Madame Linden ? (1997)
Cream yellow with amarant dots: Golden buckett (2002)

The Azaleas are also sub-species of rhododendrons and pair with them in beautiful manner creating a flow of glaring colours. They lay by the old bushes and the big trees. The prevailing colours are purple and red but also deep purple and apricot-like. the yellow and orange tones are given by the recently planted AZALEAE MOLLIS (late eighties) but only the name of few of them is known:
Violet Azalea: Blue Danube
White trimmed in purple Azalea: Martha Hitchcock ( 1990/1995)
Orange Azalea: Alladin scout, late flowering (1984)
Scarlet Azalea: Vuik's scarlet (1989/2002)
White Az.Mollis: Persil
Deep red Az.Mollis: Hotspur red,
Yellow Az.Mollis: Golden Flare
Orange Az.Mollis: Gibraltar
Deep yellow Az.Mollis: Golden Sunset
Apricot orange Az.Mollis: Lemonade
Red-orange Az.Mollis: Knaphill red

A big antique specieman of KALMIA is also of the same family (ericacee). Some probably date as far as the oldest rhododendrons and some are recent. It has a beautiful foliage and discreet white flowers.

CAMELLIAS
they have lately been planted: the first one (double flower, deep pink, unknown kind) was planted in 1997 and is a gift from Roberto Gabetti to the owner Consolata d'Isola. After living 5 years in a vase in Turin it began to suffer and it was brought to Bagnolo. The cold winter climate (down to -18 C°) was thought to be excessive for the camellias.
Fortunately the experiment was a success and this camellia became the first one of a growing collection. It will take time and passion to have camellias become a significant part of the park but they are intensly cared after and looked at as if watching them could make them better and better!

Camelia japonica Dr. Burnside

Camelia japonica Lavinia Maggi

CAMELIE JAPONICA:
White: Magnoliaeflora, Nuccio’s gem, Superba, Suprema, Nobilissima
Deep red: Adolphe Audusson
Dark red: Dr. Burnside (fiore grande doppio)
Pale pink: Pearl Maxwell, Magnoliaeflora (fiore a campanella doppio)
Bright pink: Altheiflora, jean May ( doppia)
Veined pink: Lavinia Maggi, Oki No Nami

CAMELIE SASANQUA:
Bright red: Kanjiro
Snow-white: Hino de Gumo
Pale pink: Cleopatra

Hydrangeas
The hydrangeas' season begins when all the other bushes have lost their flowers, at the end of june, and it lasts till late summer. Blu prevails because the acid soil dosn't permit other colours (pink ones stay so only for one season, then they change to violet and finally to blu). The only other ones to remain of same colour for their whole life time are the white ones such as the Paniculate.
White flower: Quercifolia, Petiolaris rampicans, Paniculata grandiflora, Annabelle, Soeur Thérese, Preziosa, Aspera macrophylla, Schnee ball.
Blue flower: Hydrangea macrophylla Otaksa, Europa, Blaumeise, MissHepburn, Nikko blue, and other century old ones of unknown kind.

Hydrangea macrophylla Otaksa
Aspera macrophylla
Ortensie Quercifoglie

The flowering bushes have been planted by Anna Lomellini di Aragona wife of General Aimaro Malingri. Being her family from another region, sunny Liguria, she brought along the colours and flowers she loved and was used to paint in a wonderful manner.
Azzaruolus (Crataegus azzarolus - white flowers - acid peculiar fruits)
Harlequin (Clerodendron trichotomum, little white scented flowers)
Weigela (Weigela Gustave Mallet ?)
Deutzia (Deutzia gracilis e Deutzia gracilis grandiflora)
Philadelphus ( Philadelphus lemoinei, white citrus scented flowers)
Buddleia ( Buddleia davidii - bright pink)
Synphoricarpus albus (strange white flowers)
Viburnum (Viburnum tinus)
Buisson ardent (Chaenomeles superba - bears spikes - it's bright red flowers declare that pring has began)
Aucuba (Aucuba japonica and Aucuba japonica variegata - evergreen - red berries)
Olea fragrans (Osmanthus osmarea)
English laurel (Prunus laurocerasus Otto Luyken)
Lily (Syiringa blue hyacinth)
Kerria (Kerria japonica pleniflora - gold flowers)
Kerria (Kerria japonica pleniflora)

Kerria japonica pleniflora

Purple hydrangea rim

ROSES
Being the soil acid and not having that much sun time, it's difficult to grow roses at their best. This said, some are able to live well and are grown so to have some beautiful flowers at hand, when needed to ornate the palace interiors. their long trunk shows they are reaching for more sun and away from the cold and shady earth.