Piazzale Michelangelo’s Iris Garden in Bloom

Until May 20: IRIS GARDEN.  Piazzale Michelangelo.  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. 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.

This year, the Iris Garden will be enlarged thanks to a donation of an additional 3,500 square meters of land by the City of Florence.  The CR Firenze Foundation has allocated three year funding to create new flower beds, meadows and educational activities.

The International Iris Garden Jury will judge the entries sent for the 77th competition.  Rhizomes of different varieties are sent to Florence by plant breeders and are in the ground three years before the judges evaluate the flowers.  The winners will be announced on Saturday, May 10 in a ceremony in Palazzo Vecchio (11 am).