Pumpkin garden

The Giardino delle zucche (Pumpkin Garden) marked, in 2018, another step in the activities of Lugano al verde, the multi-year project aimed at enhancing, rediscovering, and reclaiming green spaces in the city. Over 1,000 pumpkin varieties were cultivated; at Parco del Tassino, about forty were grown, each with different colors, shapes, aromatic characteristics, and uses: sweet or giant pumpkins (Cucurbita maxima) at the base, butternut pumpkins (Cucurbita moschata) in the middle terrace, and field pumpkins (Cucurbita pepo) near the Torretta Enderlin. This was complemented by a flowerbed of ornamental pumpkins and another dedicated to the "three sisters"—corn, beans, and pumpkins—recreating an ancient association used by various Native American peoples.

After the Orto in Piazza Manzoni created with the students of the Centro professionale del verde di Mezzana, the Giardino degli odori at Villa Saroli, and the Frutteto di Cornaredo, Lugano's fourth thematic garden was dedicated to pumpkins at Parco del Tassino, spreading across its pathways along the slope up to the top of the hill.

The initiative was the result of a collaboration with the alberoteca, the Museo cantonale di storia naturale (Cantonal Museum of Natural History), ProSpecieRara, students from the Liceo cantonale di Lugano 1, and the special school. It followed the Sale in zucca educational garden project, cultivated on the lawn of the Liceo.