Along with beloved Australian grass trees, enormous banyan and ficus, ancient olives and 160 acres of organic orange groves, San Giuliano, in eastern Sicily, is graced by its own chapel, engulfed by bougainvillea, and an allee of Washington palms framing the hulking view of Mt. Etna.

Gregg had the privilege to work alongside the gardeners of this magnificent property—learning, with hands in the dirt, about palms , succulents and cacti, subtropicals of all sorts, engaged fully in the rhythms of estate horticulture. He brought to the team 25 years of exuberant New England gardening, and when the workday was done, could be found writing poems in wildflower meadows or on the Bellini benches of the giardino Arabo.