Date: April – May 2025
Role: Plant procurement and logistical coordination
PLANT PROCUREMENT AND LOGISTICS FOR THE RADICEPURA FESTIVAL
During the realization of the Radicepura Festival, I was entrusted with the management and coordination of plant material. It wasn’t part of my original role — but with ten gardens to be built simultaneously, it soon became clear how essential it was to have someone dedicated to the overall plant coordination. I took charge of sourcing from external nurseries, checking availability and sizing in the on-site nursery, and maintaining ongoing dialogue with the designers to evaluate substitutions and adjustments. Finally, I oversaw the delivery and distribution of plants across all gardens.
More than 1,500 plants, spanning nearly 100 genera and species, each one chosen with design intent. I approached the task with methodical precision: I created a central database that gathered all plant requirements across the projects — including pot sizes and quantities. After an initial review with the technical director, I contacted around twenty nurseries across Italy, comparing availability, costs, and delivery times.
At times, it felt like a race against the clock. Deliveries from external suppliers had to sync perfectly with those from the internal nursery, and any delay risked disrupting the whole process. When the trucks arrived, I personally coordinated plant distribution to each garden — A3 sheet in hand, filled with rows and columns, and a pencil ready to check off each plant. Almost a comical scene — but very real. I still remember the morning of the opening, when the last roses arrived from central Italy: they were planted just in time.
Substitutions were one of the most delicate aspects. One designer had requested Chrysanthemums (Chrysanthemum spp.), but none were available in Sicily. I had to look up north. A proposal to replace them with Ajania pacifica (Chrysanthemum pacificum) — a visually similar but less iconic species — was met with hesitation: “It’s not quite what I imagined,” they said. I understood completely — and in the end, managed to find the right variety, again in northern Italy.
Another garden, inspired by garrigue landscapes, required Brachypodium retusum, a highly specific grass that, even in encyclopedias on Sicilian flora, is described as rare and typical of abandoned fields and dry pastures. It was nowhere to be found on the market. After much research, I located Brachypodium pinnatum in Lombardy — a closely related species — and managed to secure 80 pots (18 cm) just in time.
Then there was red valerian (Centranthus ruber) — one of my favorite wild plants: hardy, drought-resistant, and long-blooming. Every time I climb in elevation from the sea to the flanks of Mount Etna, I see it — growing through dry-stone walls, along embankments, even above 1,900 meters. Yet it wasn’t commercially available in Sicily. I had to bring it in from Tuscany.
In some cases, even a small note on a drawing could create confusion. On one plan, I saw “50 cm” written next to Brachychiton acerifolius (flame tree). I interpreted it as height and ordered a small-size plant. But the designer meant trunk circumference. Thankfully, thanks to the wide stock in the nursery, we were able to make a quick adjustment without delaying the work — but for a moment, I held my breath.
It was a role of deep responsibility — grounded in listening, adaptability, vision, and attention to detail. I learned that in the plant world, every centimeter, every pot size, every delivery date can make all the difference — but also that with method and passion, every piece can find its place.
