The magnificent camellia park in Locarno was inaugurated on the occasion of the “InternationalCamellia Society” congress in March 2005 in the presence of numerous guests from all over the world.
At the moment of its opening, the park had over 500 different species and varieties of camellias, the flowering period of which covers nine months.
Over the last few years, this small spot has become a place of great importance for all camellia lovers, but also for those looking for a bit of peace in the middle of nature. The creators of this relaxing place are, above all, the gardeners of the municipal horticultural department, who, thanks to the knowledge they acquired at the Swiss and the International Camellia Society and thanks to collaboration with specialists from Italy, Germany, Belgium, China and the United States, have succeeded in doing so, many of them too to propagate unusual species, hybrids and varieties and to settle them in the park. In 2007, a small amphitheater was built using stones from the Maggia Valley, which offers visitors a welcome seat with a view of the lake.
The largest bed in the park - the one with the fragrant camellia species - surrounds the amphitheater, at the highest point of which a small stream arises that flows into the newly created small lake. The pavilion with the information boards about the camellias and the new lake help to further enhance one of the most important camellia parks in Europe.
Today, when the design work is practically completed, the park is home to 850 nomenclatured camellia varieties, including around forty species and ten fragrant hybrids. 70 camellias still need to be identified. There are also 130 double camellias on the southern edge of the public lido, which serve as a dividing hedge but also provide cut flowers for the annual exhibition in spring.
The park is divided into a variety of beds and designed to form a kind of labyrinth in which visitors can move among the flowering plants and get lost in the magnificent nature, the songs of the birds and the sound of the waves of the lake.
The park recently received the "Gardens of Excellence" award from the International Camellia Society and is part of the Gardens of Switzerland industry, which brings together the most beautiful gardens.