“Wild” is the key word that best describes an ornamental garden in the Middle Ages: local flora, plants that spread out and independently find their own space, species that are resistant to disease and that attract great biodiversity.
In the Prince’s garden, since it was particularly shaded and cool, we find many wild undergrowth bushes like bugle (Ajuga reptans), masterwort (Astrantia major), onion weed (Allium triquetrum), and biennials such as sweet rocket (Hesperismatronalis), sweet William (Dianthus barbatus), borage (Borago officinalis), and violets of all kinds. The presence of wild species played a primary role as the progenitors of ornamental plants, which today can rarely be seen in gardens, and they are not easy to find even in nature; in different sections we also find the common peony (Paeonia officinalis), royal fern (Osmunda regalis), clematis (Clematis viticella), and hyacinth bean (Dolichos lablab).
