Previous
Ombrosa’s Native Trees
While the native trees in Ombrosa generally symbolize the Age of Enlightenment and the era’s emphasis on connectedness, the d’Ondariva garden—including its exotic trees—symbolizes the Romantic era to come. The garden is full of non-native trees and plants that Cosimo thinks of as being direct opposites of the native trees in which he primarily lives, an observation that speaks to the tensions and conflicts that arise in the transition between the two eras and their guiding principles. When, at the end of the novel, Biagio notes that the native trees Cosimo lived in are gone and have been replaced by ones similar to those that once grew only in the d’Ondarivas’ garden, it forcefully illustrates that the Romantic era has not just come to stay, but has entirely overtaken the Enlightenment that came before it.
The d’Ondariva Garden and Exotic Trees Quotes in The Baron in the Trees
The The Baron in the Trees quotes below all refer to the symbol of The d’Ondariva Garden and Exotic Trees. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 21
Quotes
He saw her: she was circling the pool, the little gazebo, the amphoras. She looked at the trees that had grown enormous, with hanging aerial roots, the magnolias that had become a forest. But she didn’t see him, he who sought to call her with the cooing of the hoopoe, the trill of the pipit, with sounds that were lost in the dense warbling of the birds in the garden.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 30
Quotes
Then, the vegetation has changed: no more the holm oaks, the elms, the oaks; now Africa, Australia, the Americas, the Indies extend branches and roots here. The ancient trees have retreated upward: on top of the hills the olives, and in the mountain woods pines and chestnuts; down on the coast it’s an Australian red with eucalyptus, elephantine with ficus, enormous and solitary garden plants, and all the rest is palms, with their disheveled tufts, inhospitable desert trees.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Baron in the Trees LitChart as a printable PDF.
The d’Ondariva Garden and Exotic Trees Symbol Timeline in The Baron in the Trees
The timeline below shows where the symbol The d’Ondariva Garden and Exotic Trees appears in The Baron in the Trees. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 2
...are rivals, as they hold feudal rights that Baron Arminio wants and also keep an exotic garden with plants from all over the world.
(full context)
Cosimo climbs over the wall into a magnolia tree in the D’Ondarivas’ garden . Biagio explains that from this point on, he’s recounting the story as Cosimo shared...
(full context)
Chapter 3
...Cosimo announces that he never got down. This confuses Biagio, but Cosimo talks about the D’Ondarivas’ garden and refuses to take Biagio there. To test Biagio’s loyalty, Cosimo asks Biagio to procure...
(full context)
Chapter 5
...increases Cosimo’s mania. He considers leading the fruit thieves to ransack the trees in the D’Ondarivas’ garden , but also considers fighting them off to awe her. Feeling melancholy, Cosimo slumps in...
(full context)
Chapter 6
...shows up often in the di Rondò garden. However, he’s only passing through to the D’Ondarivas’ garden , even at times when Viola isn’t awake. Viola’s parents don’t worry much about her—none...
(full context)
...a package of medical supplies to take to Cosimo when he comes back from the D’Ondariva garden . When Cosimo gets over the wall, however, he sees a carriage and Viola dressed...
(full context)
Chapter 10
...Massimo to figure out where he came from, and the dog leads him to the D’Ondarivas’ garden . The villa is closed up and the garden looks even more otherworldly. Ottimo Massimo...
(full context)
Chapter 21
...this is indeed Viola, there’s only one place she’ll definitely go. He heads for the D’Ondarivas’ garden and sure enough, Viola gallops into the yard. She studies the trees, ignores his bird...
(full context)
Chapter 30
...Now, the sky is empty—there are no more trees. Where there are trees, they’re now exotic trees . Native trees only live up on the hills. Ombrosa is no longer around, and...
(full context)
