Rome reopens pick-your-own tulip park

Rome's pick-your-own flower garden ready to welcome visitors from March to April.

Tulipark, which allows visitors to pick their own tulips for purchase, reopens in Rome at 11.00 on Friday 19 March and will remain open until April.

This year there will be around 360,000 tulips, from more than 100 different varieties, growing at the flower farm in the Prenestino-Labicano area of east Rome.

• Rome's pick-your-own tulip park returns

The 26,000-sqm Tulipark will be open daily from 09.00-18.00, probably until the second half of April, depending on the availability of its tulips.

The reopening of the park - on Festa del Papà, Italy's Father's Day - comes after it was forced to remain closed in 2020 due to Italy's nationwide coronavirus lockdown.

The first edition of Tulipark in 2018 made headlines after the garden was devastated within 48 hours of opening. Visitors pulled 7,000 plants out of the ground - instead of cutting the flowers - before pocketing the bulbs to replant at home.

• Rome's tulip park devastated within 48 hours

Organisers susbequently displayed rules explaining to the public how to pick the tulips properly, reminding visitors not to trample on the plants, not to dump flowers once they are picked, and to refrain from throwing litter and cigarette butts.

The flower garden can be found beside Villa De Sanctis on Via dei Gordiani 73. For full visiting information, including in relation to zona rossa rules, see Tulipark website or Facebook page.