A stroll down any street in Italy will draw your attention to the array of flowers found everywhere--on street corners, steps, window sills, wildly growing in fields. Many flowers we find in American are native to Italy and other parts of Western Europe.
The common name for Aquilegia vulgaris is European columbine. This flower can be found growing wild in Italy. It is a branching perennial that self-seeds. The blue, violet and pink spurred petals can appear on stems up to two feet tall.
Native to Northern Italy, Alllium neapolitanum has white flowers and cannot tolerate cold weather. It must be planted in a sunny area.
This flower is found growing wild in hedges and along rocky walls and the sides of buildings. Leaves appear in the fall on the arum and flowers appear in the spring. These flowers are herbaceous perennial and grow over a foot tall.
This is the Byzantine gladiolus. Gladiolus can be poisonous if ingested, so if you see this flower while walking along woodland paths, be sure your dog or children do not consume it. As many as fifteen flowers can come from one plant. It can be identified by its blue-green foliage.
Nutans, the drooping star of Bethlehem, grows in woodland areas of Italy. This flower is white and is one of the most abundant flowers.
The Sicilian honey lily is a popular flower to plant that blooms in early spring and late summer. The blue-green foliage has a smooth texture.
