“Blue irises are the most beautiful flowers of the Earth, true orchids of the poor,” is how the iris was celebrated in a poem by Corrado Govoni. As happens every year, San Polo hosts the festival of the iris, which blossoms and gives the Chianti hills a truly unique tint in the month of May. The iris, or giaggiolo, has ancient roots and is widespread throughout the area between San Polo and Poggio alla Croce where the cultivation for the harvesting of the roots was one of the fascinating agricultural resources at the start of the last century. The roots of the iris are powdered to perfume powders and linen, but above all subjected to a long and laborious drying and subsequent distillation process. 
It is said that the perfume extracted from the iris root was Caterina dei Medici’s favourite, which explains its name, “the queen’s water”. In flower symbology, the iris means “there’s a message for you” since its many shades of colours resemble the rainbow, which was identified as Iris in Greek mythology. To come down to Earth from Olympus, the maid servant of Hera, the messenger, used the rainbow and it allowed her to speak with the other gods. The iris festival in San Polo is scheduled to take place on 22 and 23 May with events for everyone, walks amongst the flowers, crafts and tastings of wine, oil and local peasantstyle dishes.(Portions of this article first appeared in "Toscana & Chianti News")
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