Representatives from Stresa accept the 2014 Four Golden Flowers Plaque at the Comune Fioriti 2014 awards ceremony in Bologna. 

After the recent news of Stresa being chosen as one of 20 real-life fairy tale locations in Italy, comes news of another award for Stresa. Once again, Stresa has triumphed in the national contest sponsored by Asproflor (the Association of Flower Growers). This year saw the participation of 140 municipalities, representing all 20 Italian regions. The awards ceremony was held in Bologna at the EIMA fair.

How did Stresa do? Great! Following a tradition of many years of winning different awards in this competition, this year Stresa came away with a Silver Plaque overall. In addition, Stresa took the first prize for communities with more than 5,000 inhabitants. 

And most impressively, Stresa this year won the coveted quattro fiori d'oro, Four Golden Flowers Plaque, which each year is awarded to only one municipality in all of Italy.  

Representatives of Stresa who accepted the award proudly said in acceptance, "These awards given to the city are a result not only of the Administration, but of all citizens and operators, who invest energy and resources to beautify our territory." And the awards are an incentive, they said, to do more, "for those who live in Stresa and its visitors."

Trellises covered with wisteria each spring.

 And mountains of hydrangea each summer.

To me, it all makes sense. Would you expect anything less from a town that is like a real-life fairy tale than to also be a town overflowing with flowers?