Green isle Ischia: garden walks

Ischia is known in Italy as the Green Isle and indeed the island has been nurtured by the sun's warmth and sea's gentle embrace. Ischia is a dreamy island in the Bay of Naples, a small distance from the island of Capri.

Ischia's inhabitants once worshipped the sun god and legend is that a ranting imprisoned giant was responsible for the island's water fissures and steam vents that now bless Ischia's thermal spa resorts. But whatever the origin of Ischia's fertile soil and nutritional water, its habitat and flora have reaped the rewards and the island is the set of many varied parks, gardens and woods.

The woodland backdrop to the town of Casamicciola offers the chance for tranquil evening walks and the larger Magdalene Forest reaches the edge of the island's volcanic crater. Trekking through this unusual terrain two rare species of plant, Cyperus polystachyos and Pteris vittata, can be found.

More to the west of the island, Epomeo's chestnut forests and Frassitelli's acacia woods are longer walking expeditions but you might find porcini mushrooms, nuts and wild berries to collect along the way and the height of Mount Epomeo offers awe-inspiring panoramas.

In a more structured environment, the botanical Myrtle Gardens of Forio are a beautiful tended landscape. They were created by Susana Walton, wife to renown British composer Sir William Walton, and are home to tree ferns, protea, aloe, yucca, magnolia, bauhinia, palms and the mirto divino - divine myrtle - amongst many other species.

The exotic plants of Ischia's Ravino Garden, on the other hand, began as a sea captain's cactus collection. Sailing the world, Captain Giuseppe d'Ambra would return home with unusual keepsakes that in the end led him to create this unique and interesting garden in Ischia's Forio. Now Giuseppe's garden has taken flight and the grounds are also home to peacocks, ponies and goats as well as a bonsai display.

Closer to the commercial heart of the island, near the town of Ischia Porto, the imagination can run wild in the evocative Faiano pinewood. It's easy to imagine Peter Pan and Tinkerbell flitting about in the pinewood's wild jungle gym while the shade of the tall trunked pines, their perfumes and shadows are a fresh oasis from summer heat or peaceful wintertime jogging track.

Descending towards Ischia Porto, the island's Aroma Park beckons, calling out for an after-lunch stroll and contemplation of the diversity of this green Isle - Ischia.