A Visit to Florence’s Iris Garden

Until May 20: IRIS GARDEN. Piazzale Michelangelo (take bus 12 or 13). Open 10 am – 12:30 pm, 3 – 7 pm. Free admission.

Tucked into the sheltered corner of Piazzale Michelangelo, an almost secret Iris garden with more than 2,500 different varieties is in full bloom most of May. Iris lovers of the world have donated a number of plants.

The secluded area is a relaxing escape, filled with only distant echoes of Florence. The Italian Iris Society, headquartered in Florence for its historical attachment to the flower, maintains the flowerbeds and sponsors an annual international iris competition.

White and pale blue irises grow, and have always grown, in and around Florence, and the great botanist Linnaeus actually named the rare white variety iris Florentina. The white iris against a red background was the city’s symbol up to 1250 when the Guelph party came to power. To emphasize that a political change had occurred in Florence, the Guelphs inverted the color scheme: the white iris became bright red on a white field, creating the city coat-of-arms, which is still used today.

From an aesthetic point of view, the Garden contains many different colored irises, both wild and cultivated types, as well as an aquatic Japanese variety for which an artificial lake had to be created. A prize is also awarded for the best irises, and after the competition, the winning flowers stay in the garden.