Al L'Ombra Della Rosa
Oblong, the garden lies between the Canal Grande and the Calle degli Assassini. Fences of intricately fashioned black wrought iron run along the sides, the open metalwork completely blanketed in climbing roses. Shades of crimson, bright and deep, prevail. They glow in the blue dusk like living rubies, like pulsing hearts. Other flowers mingle in the flowerbeds...black and purple tulips, black throated poppies with fine glossy cups of pink or red, pendulous velvety sprays of love lies bleeding. Lobelia blooms in the cracks between the paving stones, tiny ultramarine blossoms vivid amid the fragile, maroon green leaves. In the center of the garden, a white marble fountain offers a wide ledge to sit on. The cascading water lends its liquid murmur to the air, the soft sound mingling with the lapping of the canal. Bougainvillea in luminous hues of fuchsia and violet climbs the stairway and walls of the palazzo, weaving into the lavender wisteria draped about the bedroom widows. At the far end of the garden, rose laden trellises climb the walls of the Palazzo Sangue. Blooms of blood dipped white, magenta and lush purple black contrast with the deep red walls. Between the trellises another older fountain, now dry, is heaped with layer upon layer of petals to make a bed of roses. The twilight deepens around you. Overhead the stars flash multicolored opalescence and the moon glimmers, a shadowed pearl.
SnowRose is here.
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