Édith de la Héronnière leads us deep into famous Sicilian gardens, rooted in distant history faintly tinged with Oriental scents. These oases, so rich in floral species, colors, and aromas, share a creative exuberance. Behind fences, nature has not only allowed botanical ingenuity to bloom, it has also produced poetic and literary genius. For this is the land of Lampedusa and Lucio Piccolo, visited by Goethe and Dumas. Under giant ficus trees frozen in the sun, spreads that shadow of death with which Sicilians have slowly composed a kind of "hymn to silence"--a song of their unique wisdom.