Tuscany villa 'may please plant lovers'

The region is "the heart of Italy's huge horticulture industry", writes Libby Russell in the Telegraph.

Ms Russell joins garden designer Arabella Lennox-Boyd and Martin Rix on their quest for the perfect plants ahead of the 2008 Chelsea Flower Show, which takes place in May.

And Pistoia was one of the first stops on the list, home as it is to more than 1,000 nurseries.

According to Ms Russell, the warm sun - familiar to aficionados of Tuscany villa holidays - is also a godsend for the horticulture industry.

Together with irrigation, the heat encourages bamboos to grow to "formidable proportions", notes the report.

Meanwhile, tourists could combine horticulture with architecture on a trip to Pistoia, as the province is just an hour and 25 minutes from Pisa by train, observes Lonely Planet.

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