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| spontaneous sidewalk gardens |
Along
with Northern Lazio ‘s numerous majestic, historic gardens with pedigrees going back hundreds of years, there are
humble sidewalk and piazza gardens which are the spontaneous labor of
love of the inhabitants.
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| the giant jasmine climbs the wall on Vicolo del Sole |
Here are a few examples I noticed
this week, all within a few minutes of my home.
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| Piazza S. Egidio (or Piazza Garibaldi ) |
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| jasmine thrive on the sunny corner of the piazza |
Adriana takes pride in her corner of Piazza S. Egidio, caring for plants such as this azalea left behind by previous owners who
returned to America.
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| Adrianna's azaleas |
Marcella and husband Spartaco are the self appointed
guardian/gardeners of Piazza del
Sole. A white azalea, once belonging to
Marcella’s mother, along with hundreds
of roses and other plants beautify the
piazza thanks to the personal care of this couple in their 80s.
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| Franco's wall garden |
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| Marcella of Piazza del Sole |
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| American visitors in Piazza del Sole with Angelino and Spartaco (right) |
Some
towns have flower festivals and motivate
citizens, often with cash prizes, to beautify their
streets thus attracting tourists. Spello in Umbria is an example along with the
mid-June Festival of Fiori in Finestra e
Cene in Cantina here in Vetralla.
Luckily most citizens do not wait for official recognition nor annual
festivals for they look after their
spontaneous gardens all year round.
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| an abandoned corner |
Sometimes a spontaneous garden blooms not with flowers.
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| a bombed out building |
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| became a quirky garden |
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| a wall of memories |
That is until a fireworks technician with a well developed aesthetic sense came to live nearby.
Lately the area has been transformed
by the hard work of one anonymous
neighbor who cleaned up the rubble, transforming the area into a quirky garden.
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| the cantinas were cleared of rubble |
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| found in the wreckage, |
Using bits and pieces found on site, he created a wall of memories, setting the stones into piles and inserting objects found among the rubble along the walls.
Monday: stop press!
Just met the "gardener" on the street and he let me take this photo while he was eating a panino. He told me a bit about how he worked for 8 months digging through 60 years of garbage and junk to clean up and arrange the rocks and rubble into something more pleasant to look at. Bravo Emidio!
Monday, June 17th
Happy to announce that Emidio Di Bonaventura was just named winner for this year's Cene in Cantine Fiori alle Finestre competition. All his hard work paid off! Congratulations!
The motivation reads:
1 Angoli Vicolo della Cera Emidio
Now if only the owners of the building will get their act together this section of town will be a decent place to live.
Monday: stop press!
Just met the "gardener" on the street and he let me take this photo while he was eating a panino. He told me a bit about how he worked for 8 months digging through 60 years of garbage and junk to clean up and arrange the rocks and rubble into something more pleasant to look at. Bravo Emidio!
Monday, June 17th
Happy to announce that Emidio Di Bonaventura was just named winner for this year's Cene in Cantine Fiori alle Finestre competition. All his hard work paid off! Congratulations!
The motivation reads:
1 Angoli Vicolo della Cera Emidio
"Per aver recuperato un angolo abbandonato e
dimenticato di Vetralla con un lavoro lungo e costante , riportando alla
luce oggetti, attrezzi e strumenti
legati alla vita e al lavoro del passato" (For having recuperated an abandoned , forgotten corner of Vetralla with a long and constant work, bringing back to the light objects, tools and instruments connected with the life and work of the past" )
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| Emidio |
