Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007
Hi Nancy,
I met you about two weeks ago while visiting Key West . I greatly appreciated seeing your marvelous garden hidden away on a back lane there.
As a gardener, horticulturist, landscape designer and field botanist, it was wonderful seeing the rich multi leveled world you have created there.
Key West certainly enjoys one of the most enviable climates of the continental United States, and it was great to see a garden that took advantage of that special ecological niche that is so rare outside of the true tropics.
While much of the island is planted with numerous palms and other “tropicals”, it doesn’t take long for a discerning eye to realize that almost everybody is using the same old plants again and again. And while the general effect is lovely it’s not very interesting to a true plant enthusiast.
That is why it was such a joy to discover a place like your garden where the plant palette was tropical looking, but composed of an extensive variety of uncommonly seen elements; rare palms, rare ferns, rare cycads, orchids, gingers, etc., etc., etc. You could really immerse yourself in an environment that was literally “another world”. What a great resource to the local community to have gorgeous living examples of some of the finest plants growable in your zone; and growing so well. It seems unbelievable that your garden (and island) was decimated by a major hurricane only two years before, the garden is so full of robust vigor and multi-layered plant communities.
It was also a pleasure to meet you, and share in some of your intimate knowledge of your little paradise garden. Although I am pretty well versed in landscaping plants from around the world – having worked for 23 years at the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley ( California ), I obviously had walked by some of the “jewels” of your collection – thanks for pointing them out.
My primary expertise has been plants native to California ; but I appreciate native plants and their plant communities wherever I travel – be it Hawaii , Mexico , Florida or British Columbia . And, I don’t want to disparate efforts at creating gardens of native plants, or preserving areas of good native plant habitat anywhere – especially in rapidly growing states like Florida or California . However one thing I’ve learned over my career with plants is that most people crave something other than the native flora around their homes and in their gardens, best expressed by the old maxim, “Familiarity breeds contempt.” This is true no mater where one goes or lives. So it is always wonderful to see gardens created with an eye for something out of the ordinary – growing things that may thrive in the area but which come from other parts of the world. Your garden does just that, and represents some of the finest plants that can be grown in your remarkable climate. It is definitely on top of my list of places to return to the next time I visit Key West .
Thank you again for a wonderful experience.
Best,
Roger Raiche
(www.planethorticulture.com)
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