The landscape of Tuscany is always beautiful but each season boasts particular charms; the impossible technicolour of lush green lawns, sprinkled flowers, and blue skies of Summer, the golden tones and heavy vines of Autumn, the stark appeal and fogs of Winter, and, of course, the stunning fields of colourful blooms in Spring. Tuscany is especially lovely under a blanket of flowers so why not go ahead and find a vacation rental in Tuscany and explore the rolling hills and sleepy villages under a spell of blooms from the beginning of Spring right through Summer? If you are planning a trip over the coming months, these are the areas and flowers that you should keep an eye out for as you wander the region....
1. Foreste Casentinesi National Park
This national park is always a natural beauty and incredible nature reserve but it is even more amazing during Spring when the snowy white narcissus anemone, purple saxifrage, and red bilberry all start to sprout up among the maple and spruce trees like a rainbow-coloured blanket.
1. Foreste Casentinesi National Park
This national park is always a natural beauty and incredible nature reserve but it is even more amazing during Spring when the snowy white narcissus anemone, purple saxifrage, and red bilberry all start to sprout up among the maple and spruce trees like a rainbow-coloured blanket.
2. Maremma's Sunflowers
Sunflowers may be native to Central America but they really took root in Italy (pun very much intended) and are even actually one of the symbols of Tuscany today. They begin blooming in June and last until the start of August and are best seen in various parts of the Val d'Orcia and the Maremma, where they flood the valleys and fields like a golden sea. Head near the coast, to areas like the hamlet of Pian d'Alma and around the town of Castiglione della Pescaia and you should find them. They can move around a bit as they are a rotation crop that change fields every year but you should come across them pretty easily if you drive around for a little while.
3. Cherry Blossoms, Peach Blossoms, Apricot Blossoms and More...
Speaking of the Maremma, this is the area of Tuscany that has a lot of fruit orchards and these trees sprout the most beautiful blooms before they bear their fruit. We're not just talking cherry blossoms either but peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, apple blossoms and more. Soft pastel flowers that blanket the ground like someone has just gotten married and silhouette prettily against dark brown branches, these lovely blooms can be seen from the beginning of Spring until the first of the fruit arrives and then, around mid-May you have delicious cherries to console you over their loss. Be sure to find a vacation rental in the Maremma and enjoy the beauty of the area at this time of year.
Sunflowers may be native to Central America but they really took root in Italy (pun very much intended) and are even actually one of the symbols of Tuscany today. They begin blooming in June and last until the start of August and are best seen in various parts of the Val d'Orcia and the Maremma, where they flood the valleys and fields like a golden sea. Head near the coast, to areas like the hamlet of Pian d'Alma and around the town of Castiglione della Pescaia and you should find them. They can move around a bit as they are a rotation crop that change fields every year but you should come across them pretty easily if you drive around for a little while.
3. Cherry Blossoms, Peach Blossoms, Apricot Blossoms and More...
Speaking of the Maremma, this is the area of Tuscany that has a lot of fruit orchards and these trees sprout the most beautiful blooms before they bear their fruit. We're not just talking cherry blossoms either but peach blossoms, apricot blossoms, apple blossoms and more. Soft pastel flowers that blanket the ground like someone has just gotten married and silhouette prettily against dark brown branches, these lovely blooms can be seen from the beginning of Spring until the first of the fruit arrives and then, around mid-May you have delicious cherries to console you over their loss. Be sure to find a vacation rental in the Maremma and enjoy the beauty of the area at this time of year.
4. Wine & Poppies
If you're visiting a winery in mid-April, you'll enjoy an extra treat in the poppies that bloom between the rows of vines. So, as you taste some wines and learn about the vineyard, be sure to admire the vibrant red flowers set amongst the green of the vines.
5. Mediterranean Beach Flowers
Also in the Maremma, not just in the countryside, but also on her beaches, you will find that the Spring brings a blanket of colourful blooms to admire. Shocking pink flowers, the likes of which you have never seen before, called Sour Figs flowers (of the succulent Carpobrotus Acinaciformis) are scattered across dunes that back the lovely beach of Torre Mozza and other beaches along the Parco Costiero della Sterpaia nature park.
6. Chianti's Flower Markets
If you don't want to merely admire blooms but would like to purchase some to enjoy in your own time, then head to Chianti, where there is a rich tradition of flower markets. Among them you will find the annual Flower Festival in Greve in Chianti in May and the famous flower market in Gaiole in Chianti. Secure a vacation rental in Chianti and come enjoy her wines, blooms, and flower markets.
7. The Mountains
The Apennine Massif stretches through much of Italy but there is a section called the Tuscan-Emilian Apennine Park that exists in Tuscany, near Pisa, where you will find the Eugenia violet (Viola eugeniae), a symbol of Italian flora that is one of Italy's representative blooms and a beauty, as well as daffodils, evergreen primroses and colourful mountain tulips. In the area you will also find cardamines, snowdrops, scilla, and corydalis, which flower between April and May and are stunning examples of mountain forest flora. If you're interested in wild orchids, in particular, then just head to Monte Falco near Poppi or the Riserva Naturale delle Cornatee Fosini (which also boasts anemones, crocuses and splashes of wild pink cyclamens), near the Tuscan hill town of Gerfalco. Then there is the I Frignoli Center for Biodiversity in Fivizzano with its lovely pink peonies, the absolute wealth of beautiful flora in the Orto Botanico Pietro Pellegrini in the Apuan Alps, and the Botanical Garden of Valbonella with its 300 indigenous species. Head to the medieval town of Pontremoli and you will find the Bancarel Fiore flower market in the picturesque setting that is the Piazza della Repubblica.
So, what are you waiting for? Just find a villa rental in Pisa and set aside a day for some hiking so that you can go admire the flowers that line the many routes winding through Tuscany's peaks.
8. Months of Flowers in Pietraporciana Natural Preserve
This nature reserve, locate just south of Chianciano Terme has a whopping 341 hectares of land, sprinkled with beechwood groves that boast different blooms throughout the Spring and Summer months: snowdrops in February, sweet-smelling bedstraw and green-tipped Polygonatum Multiflorum (also known as Solomon’s Seal, David’s Harp and ladder-to-heaven due to its curved multi-flowered structure) in April, and the pink martagon lily and the orange-speckled tiger lily (which are two varieties of rare wild lilies) in June.
9. Florence's Rose Garden
While there are plenty of wildflowers that pop up in Tuscany in Spring and Summer, there are many excellent gardens full of blooms to enjoy too, such as the Rose Garden in Florence. Bringing together art from Belgian artist Folon, roses, and stunning views over the city, this little-known gem is home to a collection of 400 different varieties of roses, 1000 botanical varieties, lemons, and other plants, a Japanese garden, and sculptures by the artist Folon. It is located in the Oltrarno area below Piazzale Michelangelo and is best visited in May and June when the roses are in bloom. Just find a luxury villa in Florence and experience this beauty for yourself.
10. Florence's Iris Garden
The Iris Garden is also a gem and is especially dear to the city as the iris has been a symbol of Florence since 1251. Also located near the Piazzale Michelangelo, it houses more than 1,500 (15 of which are at risk of extinction) varieties of iris during the annual competition, the "International dell'Iris", which they began hosting in 1954. Held between the end of April and the end of May each year, it sees the garden open daily to the public, free of charge.
Get planning a trip to Tuscany ASAP so you can enjoy the region over the next few months when it is in full bloom and most lovely!
