When the flower idea emerged, it immediately resonated.
We began to think that the message had to be so direct that even the pavilions should resemble flowers, Mr. Boeri said.
The next question became which flower to choose, a complicated decision in a country where flowers are often identified with political parties.
We entered in a madness about the relationship between politics and botany, he said.
Mr. Boeri first thought of a daisy, but then he and his team recalled that it was affiliated with a now defunct center-left party. They dismissed an Alpine flower, which is the symbol of the nationalist League. They flirted with the idea of the yellow sunflower, but it seemed too close to the bright yellow stars of Italys populist Five Star Movement.
But once the primrose entered the picture, it struck them as a no-brainer.
Mr. Boeri presented the plan to Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte and the countrys powerful health minister, Roberto Speranza. They expressed their pleasure with the positivity of the message and thanked him for his work, he said. But since the primrose comes in many different hues, we discussed a little bit on the color.read more
Italy Turns to Flower Power to Help Spread Vaccine Message
