Florence in spring is enriched with flowers blooming: in short, some of the gardens to visit
The Agriturismo I Casalini, which is about 10km from Florence, is an excellent starting point to visit the capital of the Renaissance and spend relaxing holidays in a dream resort immersed in the Tuscan countryside. Florence, in the spring, becomes even more beautiful enriching itself with the colors of the flowers that blooming in the parks of the villas and historical residences. We suggest you some of the most beautiful gardens in the city not to be missed.
Rose Garden
The splendid Giardino delle Rose is a park in the Oltrarno area is a place of extraordinary beauty; one of the most beautiful panoramic gardens in Florence , ideal for a romantic walk or to relax in a real green oasis in the heart of the city.
In the Garden there is a collection of roses, lemons, tillandsias and other plants and botanical rarities; here you can admire about 400 varieties of roses and a total of 1,200 plants. The architect Giuseppe Poggi, in 1865, created the garden in view of Florence as the capital of Italy. It is located on the hill of San Miniato, just below Piazzale Michelangelo, where some varieties of roses bloom even in late autumn and the first winter.
Il Giardino delle Rose enjoys a privileged position that makes it a perfect green balcony on the breathtaking view of the beautiful Florence. The garden welcomes about a thousand varieties of roses and other ornamental plants, including as many as 350 species of ancient roses, and is a true hidden treasure that is worth discovering to immerse yourself in nature and enjoy a spectacular view of the city.
From here, in fact, you can embrace all of Florence with a glance , and perhaps relax in the shadow of the small Japanese oasis Shorai , created by the architect Yasuo Kitayama, as a donation from the city of Kyōto, twinned with Florence. Moreover, in more recent times the works of the Belgian artist Jean-Michel Folon (ten bronze sculptures and two plaster casts), donated by the artist’s widow to the City of Florence , have been installed in a perfectly harmonious way , so today it has become also a sculpture park to be discovered.
This garden is a pearl set under Piazzale Michelangelo , far from the usual tourist circuits and therefore less known, but loved by tourists and photographers. Ideal for spending a few hours relaxing, the garden is certainly charming and romantic, thanks to the panorama, the colors and scents of its magnificent roses.
Free entry all year round
Timetable: from 9 am to sunset Telephone: 055 234 2426
Address: Viale Giuseppe Poggi, 2, 50125 Florence FI
Iris Garden
The Iris Garden at Piazzale Michelangelo was established in 1954 with the aim of hosting an annual International Competition for the best varieties of Iris. The city of Florence was considered its natural home for the bond that it has always had in history with this flower, so much so that in its banner, as an emblem, there is a red Iris in a white field. The Municipality assigned to the promoters of the competition the land on the east side of Piazzale Michelangelo , the so-called “Podere dei Bastioni”; in fact, in 1954, the first International Iris Competition was announced.
The garden, based on an initial project by the architect Prof. Giuliano Zetti and inaugurated in May 1957, had meanwhile been enriched with donations made by many foreign farmers and also with a vast collection of historical Irises. In addition, the surface of the garden, of about two and a half hectares , held in olive groves and with a view of the beautiful landscape offered by the city of Florence. It is divided into zones that host: permanent exhibition of tall, intermediate, dwarf and border-bearded irises, Japanese, spontaneous species and ornamental plants of various types.
The garden can be visited all year round by appointment with the possibility of booking guided tours.
Open to the public from April 25th to May 20th (free entrance)
Timetable (Last admission available half an hour before closing time):
Monday – Friday: 10.00 am – 1.00 pm | 15.00 – 19.30
Saturday – Sunday: 10.00 – 19.30
Address: Viale Michelangelo, 82 – 50125 Florence
Villa Bardini Garden
Green and elegant oasis in the heart of the city, the garden of Villa Bardini is located on the Costa San Giorgio . Since the Middle Ages, the Bardini Garden has belonged to rich families that succeeded one another; born for agricultural use, it has been transformed over the centuries into a splendid Italian garden. Later, in the early twentieth century it was used by the owner from which it takes its name, the collector Stefano Bardini . Bardini, known as the “prince of antique dealers”, made it a spectacular representative environment in which to welcome his wealthy clientele.
Known as “the garden of the three gardens” because it integrates three gardens, different by age and styles. The Italian-style garden with its magnificent Baroque staircase, the English forest which, with its exotic elements, represents a rare example of an Anglo-Chinese garden and the agricultural park where a new orchard and the splendid arbor found of wisteria, a slightly sloping arbor completely covered with the very fragrant purple flowers of wisteria.
From this small elevated paradise you can enjoy spectacular views over the whole city. It is the ideal place to spend a relaxing afternoon, walking among the flowering plants and sipping something fresh in its Kaffeehaus.
Open every day (free for residents of the Metropolitan City of Florence and in the provinces of Arezzo and Grosseto)
Schedule:
November, December, January, February: 8.15 – 16.30
March: 8.15 am – 5.30 pm
April, May, September, October: 8.15 – 18.30
June, July, August: 8.15 – 19.30