When she thinks of the name of a plant, it spontaneously comes to her in Latin. Elena Secondo cannot help it: Her love of botany takes her every step of the way. This 34-year-old Italian woman owes her devouring passion to her gardener father, who taught her from childhood to respect and care for nature. In fact, green is her favorite color.

Elena began her engineering studies at the Polytechnic University of Turin, but soon followed it up with a course in landscape architecture at the University of Genoa. She began her career at the Palace of Venaria, the former residence of the Savoy royal family, whose gardens were among the most renowned in Europe at the time. The art of flowers has a long tradition in northern Italy.

In 2018, won over by France, she joined the team headed by Alain Baraton, the media-savvy head gardener of the Domaine de Trianon and the Grand Parc de Versailles, as an “art gardener.” After all, it is all about art. It is not just a question of planting and watering, but also of creating the design and composition of the flowerbeds so admired by the millions of visitors to the château, drawn by the renown of the French gardens. When Secondo is asked if she ever imagined herself as one of the heirs to the great André Le Nôtre, king of gardeners and gardener to the king, she simply replied: “Of course not, but it is true that it puts a bit of pressure on.”

Today, she is feeling the pressure. In charge of the flowerbeds at the Grand Trianon, she has been taking part in the Olympic Games adventure for several months now. Pierre Le Goupil, head of the cross-country course for the equestrian eventing competition, enlisted her to design the obstacles that will line the 5-kilometer course he devised in the Parc de Versailles. “Elena has great taste and ideas. I think we’re going to be able to put together a pretty fabulous layout,” said the French Equestrian Federation’s expert.

‘Appetizing’ obstacles

Part of the race, scheduled for Sunday, July 28, will take place along the Grand Canal, with the castle in the background. The aerial view of the Etoile Royale ford, represented by an emblematic fleur-de-lis, should delight television viewers all over the world. A water basin will serve as the central petal, while two large beds will make up the lateral petals.

“This is where our gardening team comes in. We’ll be planting around 3,000 flowers: snapdragons, petunias, carnations, as well as daisies and gypsophila,” said Secondo. “All were brought out of the estate’s greenhouses in May and will bloom magnificently this summer. In October, the drop in temperature will wilt them, as is the natural cycle.”

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