Azaleas return to the Spanish Steps in Rome this spring.

Rome's Spanish Steps, which link Piazza di Spagna with the church of Trinità de’ Monti, are once again decorated with hundreds of flowering azalea plants.

The time-honoured spring tradition, which was interrupted last year during Italy's covid-19 lockdown, dates back more than 80 years.

The plants are cultivated in the capital’s nurseries at S. Sisto where for around a century 3,000 azaleas of the Rhododenron Indicum variety have flourished.

Once the azaleas cease flowering they are usually returned to the city nurseries until next spring.

You know spring has truly arrived in #Rome when the azaleas appear on the Spanish Steps. Today. pic.twitter.com/xXdbYGiP6O

— Wanted in Rome (@wantedinrome) April 8, 2021