It’s Milan Darling.

It’s Milan Darling.

During the weekend of June 3^rd, a few friends and I made the decision to travel to Milan, the fashion capital of Italy, and arguably the world. The day started painfully early at 5:30 AM having to run down to the station to catch the 6:15 AM train to Florence. From there, we boarded the “fast train” directly to Milan arriving about four hours later, close to 10 AM. First thing on the agenda (besides food and lots of coffee) was to see the Duomo, the famous gothic church of Milano!

Awestruck, was an understatement for its beauty and magnificence. Everything about the Duomo was so finely detailed. It was virtually impossible to fathom and appreciate its magnificence. However, one of the most resonating factors of the trip to Milan was the beauty found of the many surrounding gardens with beautiful flowers and plants. It is clear to me that these gardens are often overlooked in comparison to the many other historical landmarks of this famous city. It is clear that these gardens are taken for granted and blend in with the rest of the scenery.

One plant in particular that really captivated me to my very core was some of the Hydrangeas I discovered while visiting the Leonardo Da Vinci museum. These plants were in the courtyard and were a dazzling view with colorful flowers. They were also the largest Hydrangeas I have ever seen before and each plant easily spanned 4-5 feet (1.2 to 1.5 m) wide.

This trip brought to my realization the beauty of these ornamental plants and I started to play closer attention to this particular plant species, the Hydrangea. Noticing how it really thrives in this Tuscan area and observed some equally beautiful Hydrangeas in the Boboli Gardens. It was also at the Boboli Gardens that we learned that the color of a Hydrangea flower is directly affected the soil pH. For example if the soil is acidic, pH below 6, flowers turn blue. In alkaline soil, pH above 7 the flowers turns pink or red. Learning about these flowers and how they interact with a soil property has led to a new obsession. So much so, it was my inspiration for my drawing that we did at Menci’s. (As seen below)

Altogether, Hydrangeas have become my new favorite flower.

-Rebecca Lascano