Giardini Botanici Villa Taranto

The Giardini Botanici Villa Taranto (16 hectares) are botanical gardens located on the western shore of Lake Maggiore in Pallanza, Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, Italy.

The gardens were established 1931-1940 by Scotsman Neil Boyd McEacharn who bought an existing villa and its neighbouring estates, cut down more than 2000 trees, and undertook substantial changes to the landscape, including the addition of major water features employing 8 km of pipes.

[2] Captain Neil Boyd Watson McEacharn was born in 1884 in Hanover Square, London, England.

[5] Today the gardens contain nearly 20,000 plant varieties, representing more than 3,000 species, set among 7 km of paths.

Among its collections are azalea, cornus, greenhouses of Victoria amazonica, and 300 types of dahlias.