From April 25th to May 20th the Iris Garden of Florence opens its doors to the public
Every year, next to the Piazzale Michelangelo in the Podere dei Bastioni, the Iris Garden is open for free to the public for a month, in the middle of the iris’s blooming season. Situated in the city who chose this flower as its symbol, the Iris Garden is unique in Europe. The garden was created in 1954 to host an annual competition for the best varieties of Iris called the “Florence Prize”. Nowadays the garden is managed by the Italian Iris Society who is committed to the protection of this species.
First designed by the architect Giuliano Zetti, the garden continued to evolve over time. In 1967, a pond was built in the lower part of the garden to host two new iris species: the Louisiana and Japanese irises.
From April 25th to May 20th the Iris Garden in the heights of Florence opens its doors to the public to offer a unique experience.
The Iris Garden offers a very special and beautiful landscape. Thanks to its location on the hills above the city, the garden offers a spectacular view of Florence. During the blooming season, the irises transform the garden into an amazing colorful carpet of flowers. Large of almost three hectares, the garden is composed of hundreds of iris species from the rarest to the most common ones. The most spread in the garden are the tall irises with the intermediate, the border, and the dwarf irises. The species present in the garden are not only Florentine ones but thanks to numerous donations, species from all over the world are planted in the garden. Among the “foreign” species the visitors can admire the California, Sibirica, Spuria irises and many others.
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The Iris Garden also hosts numerous collections of ancient species of iris and one of the most important of them is the American Dykes Medals from 1927 coming directly from the Presby Memorial Garden in New Jersey in the US. The Iris Garden also has historic irises from the Prague Botanical Garden since 1957, the Florentine garden receives the winning irises of the International Iris Competition.
In addition, the Iris Garden also hosts other types of flowers and plants. The hills on which the garden was built were actually used for years to grow olive trees. Some of them remain in the garden today with other types of trees like cypresses, laurels, and strawberry trees. Thanks to the diversity of species present in the Iris Garden, the latter represents a precious resource for the numerous botanists, scientists, and horticulturists, who come to visit it every year.
The Iris Garden is the perfect place to take a walk while admiring a unique flowered landscape with a special view of the city of Florence in the background.
The Iris Garden
Viale Michelangelo, 82 e Viale G. Poggi, 3/C
Open every day from 10am to 6pm
