Author(s): Joan Marble

Gardening

Thirty years ago Joan Marble and her sculptor husband, Robert Cook brought an unpromising piece of land near the little hamlet of Canale, north of Rome, that was the home to the ancient Etruscans. Here they built a house and more importantly, grew a wonderful garden.

All was not plain sailing, however, as they encountered blank incomprehension from the local inhabitants. 'Why do you want to have a garden here?' they were asked. 'There's no water, the ground is like cement, it's too cold in winter and too hot in summer, it never rains, it rains too much, the roads are impassable...' But Joan and Robert's enthusiasm for the land, their ignorance of the obstacles that faced them and their downright obstinacy - all served to conquer the intransigent terrain.