(map) 
It’s that time of year again. Walk along Via della Paglia from Piazza Sant’Egidio in Trastevere, and you’ll notice that the street is lined with what appear to be little twisted bits of purple crêpe paper.
(And yes we know, we know. This shot of the street, its cobblestones, the vespa zipping by, it’s picture perfect to the point of being pathologically quaint. But the other shots were even more out of focus, so we had to go with this one.)
Turns out that those aren’t bits of paper, but bougainvillea leaves, and so you know it has happened again. Now, forget for a second that it stands out even more because it grows above a mechanic’s garage, or because it’s framed at the bottom by a minivan sized cascading white rose bush. Even on its own it would command attention. Attention you will pay.
Il mostro (the monster, as the kids call it) has bloomed once again.
– Contributed by GB (see bio), Editor, Italian Notebook.
Fabulous monster, GB! I sat under a smaller one of these at Bagnoli station yesterday and was grateful for the shade, also for the pretty strands of purple framing my view.
Wow, aren’t they something? What a vivid colour. Along with your wonderful poppies, they paint such a wonderful scene.
Impressive, to say the least!
bellissima!
che magnificenza!!
This is a story well told…one of beauty and dreams of a place in which we all wish to be. More of this, please.
GB, you have a way with words, photos are truly stunning. Ciao cousin.
Quanto mi manca l’Italia! Che bellezza, che non vediamo qui a Boston!
Incredible, an overwhelming sight! Thanks for bringing it into my day.
How charming…and botanically correct!!! The leaves of the Bougainvillea come in two forms…..The colored bits are called bracts, modified leaves and they appear in a set of three, always. If you pry open the twisted bits you will find a tiny flower attached to each colored leaf!!!!! The booming time for the tiny hidden flower is really quite short but the brightly colored bracts persist for a long, long time, making it a garden favorite because it “blooms” for so long.
What do they feed this Bougainvillea?
Living in Florida, I see bougainvillea all the time, although certainly not this big. But, I had no idea that it grew in Italy as well. Thank you for sharing this bit of trivia and beautiful pictures.
Great pictures especially enlarged on the website.
Aggiungiamo anche questa pianta a tutte le bellezze italiane’ Meravigliosa!
Bourgainvillea put on a great show…but have u ever had to prune them….they have “monster thorns” and can even go through work gloves….i think that is why they are planted by fences. Handle with care! horticulteraly yours, Ken “il giardiniere”
I remember well these fantastic bush-flowers in the small villa yards in Monte Sacro, Rome, where we lived for 15 years. Assolutamente fantastico. Veramente bello. Thanks to Ken Borelli, however, I now know that in all of that natural beauty are dangerous thorns. What a lesson of life. Thanks.
Incredibile! Thanks so much for sharing these photos. They took my breath away.
We prune our monster in Positano very heavily in winter or it would look like that. It still need dominating with the shears in summer.
Wow! Spectacular!!
Oh, this makes me once again wish to be back in my favorite of all countries, Italy! Thanks you for all this beauty!
GB you are sooooo clever. I’m very partial to MY ‘monster’, but it surely nothing like this treasure you have found!! Good for you (as always).
Fantastic pics it seems like yesterday when we went
Frank
So beautiful! Thank you for sharing…One day soon, we’ll be able to travel to Italy and maybe see this beauty!!!
the pictures are just Magnificent what a beautiful cascade down the side of the building.
How beautiful!!!!!! I wish we could be back again to see this wonderful work of God.
Thank you for sharing this with us.
Ciao!!!!