Beauty Inside

In downtown New Orleans we’ve seen lots of real life.  And walking the garden district is an amazing mix of ultra swank, fluffed-up places, cute renovated cottages and seriously poor shacks on the edges.   But we had an agenda — figure out what fits in my friend’s front pots.  To avoid the too, too trendy, we drove way of town, way out River Road, to the best seafood dive around, The Seafood Pot — complete with a daquiries drive through window. Then on to a little country greenhouse.  In Luling, Lousiana, we stopped at a friends, a multi-generational nursery, owned by friends, who sell plants and do design and stuff in New Orleans, as well as in the country.  The manager, Hope, had to show off her plants.  “You like my brain cactus?”  “Look at this orchid, it was here when I started 20 years ago — I only propagate a few to give away.”

In the back, we found a few massive, floppy, really messy old night blooming Cereus pots.  It’s an old pass along, a novelty plant I guess— charming for it’s middle of the night, tropical sweet flowers.  We love the connection to the old, the pass along people, the country, but we were looking for plants for an elegant, formal entry way.

It’s fun to be able to look at that mess of leaves and see the beauty inside.  There’s structure, elegance, grace in that cerus.   I know I can find it, chop out the rough, reveal the beauty.   Here’s what we did:

While we were working, neighbors stopped by.  One left with a handful of cuttings — passing it on.  That’s what a lot of gardening is about isn’t it?  To show other people how we see and interact with the world?   Go garden visiting to see what other people want to show you.  Look for garden tours in your area….here’s a link to what gardeners outside of Columbia, SC want to show off on their Garden Tour next weekend.