The Giardino Botanico Fondazione André Heller (2 acres), also known as the Giardino Botanico A. Hruska, is a botanical garden

Botanical garden

A botanical garden The terms botanic and botanical, and garden or gardens are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word botanic is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is a well-tended area displaying a wide range of plants labelled with their botanical names...

 located on the grounds of the André Heller

André Heller

Franz André Heller is an Austrian artist, author, singer and actor.- Biography :Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manufacturers . His almost daily visits to the Café Hawelka were in his opinion a key element in the development of his literary orientation...

 Foundation above Lake Garda

Lake Garda

Lake Garda is the largest lake in Italy. It is located in Northern Italy, about half-way between Brescia and Verona, and between Venice and Milan. Glaciers formed this alpine region at the end of the last ice age...

, via Roma, Gardone Riviera

Gardone Riviera

Gardone Riviera is a town and comune in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy.-Main sights:* The Vittoriale degli Italiani is a former residence of the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio. He donated it to the Italian State before his death...

, Province of Brescia

Province of Brescia

The Province of Brescia is a Province in Lombardy, Italy. It borders with the province of Sondrio in the N and NW, the province of Bergamo in the W, province of Cremona in the SW and S, the province of Mantova to the S, and to the east, the province of Verona and Trentino .Source for statistical...

, Lombardy

Lombardy

Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It is open daily in the warmer months.

The garden was established circa 1901 by Arturo Hruska, an Austria

Austria

Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...

n dentist, who from 1910-1971 collected many species on the grounds of his villa, organized as a dense forest of bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

, Japanese ponds, streams, and waterfalls, as well as alpine plant

Alpine plant

Alpine plants are plants that grow in the alpine climate, which occurs at high elevation and above the tree line. Alpine plants grow together as a plant community in alpine tundra.-Alpine plant diversity:...

s in ravines. Since 1988 it has been owned by artist André Heller

André Heller

Franz André Heller is an Austrian artist, author, singer and actor.- Biography :Heller was born in Vienna into a wealthy Jewish family of sweets manufacturers . His almost daily visits to the Café Hawelka were in his opinion a key element in the development of his literary orientation...

, and now contains interesting sculptures by Keith Haring

Keith Haring

Keith Haring was an artist and social activist whose work responded to the New York City street culture of the 1980s.-Early life:...

, Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement...

, and so forth, set among more than 500 species including cactus

Cactus

A cactus is a member of the plant family Cactaceae. Their distinctive appearance is a result of adaptations to conserve water in dry and/or hot environments. In most species, the stem has evolved to become photosynthetic and succulent, while the leaves have evolved into spines...

, edelweiss

Edelweiss

Edelweiss , Leontopodium alpinum, is a well-known European mountain flower, belonging to the sunflower family.-Names:The common name comes from German edel, meaning "noble", and weiß "white", thus signifying "noble whiteness".The scientific name Leontopodium is a Latin adaptation of Greek...

, fern

Fern

A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s including Osmunda regalis, magnolia

Magnolia

Magnolia is a large genus of about 210 flowering plant species in the subfamily Magnolioideae of the family Magnoliaceae. It is named after French botanist Pierre Magnol....

s, orchids, water lilies, and trees.