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About where I live.................. see it LIVE 
I have a real passion for gardening and taking pictures of my cityscape garden. I also paint Voodoo Garden Blessing Stix and FuNky folkpots
I created my own rainforest/canopy on a balcony in a busy touristy, American city. It is above a busy store in a city known for its nightlife, one block from Bourbon Street. It is a city jungle but my private rainforest is above it all.
I have seen a man shot in the street beneath my balcony and I have seen drunks cut each other. There are tee-shirt shops on each side of me--one that blasts loud Cajun music, the other Mardi Gras tuba --the same songs over and over again and a noisy cafe where rude tourists gawk and stare at you when you step outside your door. Royal Street used to be a romantic place where you could stroll leisurely to galleries and antique shops. Now it is a circus, fast becoming another Bourbon Street with trashy souvenir shops and inferior street performers who can't get real gigs and have to use loud amplifiers to make their music heard. it is hard to get much peace out there anymore, you can't hear conversation or your own music half the time so I lose myself by taking photographs. The ole French Quarter is not what she used to be--it's fast becoming another theme park with the cheap noise, smells and bad entertainment of a county fair midway. The fine old buildings are still standing but huge delivery trucks rock their foundations. It is sad that no one much thinks about preservation in the long run, it's all about making a quick buck. Unfortunately the world is becoming so crowded it is hard to find solitude and serenity. It is my opinion that if more people tuned into nature and built gardens in the city we would have a healthier world! In a city, you must have a real passion for gardening to bother doing it. People yell when water drips down to the street. The plants require a little extra TLC to combat the harsh elements of soot, sun and wind. Tropical storms can wreak havoc if plants aren't secured and hurricanes or freezes mean bringing everything indoors.
Spiritual Inspiration....................
"To Garden is to Believe in Tomorrow."My garden surrounds me with love and joy. It is a miracle to see a tiny seed become a huge flowering plant. It is a joy to watch and smell the delicate blossoms of a pristine white nicotiana or the bright yellow and fushia 4 o'clocks (that open usually at 6 pm. here.) The musky clean smell after a good New Orleans rain washes the greasy smell of restaurant trash, cheap perfume and cigars clean and forces tourists to run indoors leaving you alone to appreciate your verdant greenery against the antebellum brick and wrought iron balconies...It makes you glad that you have planted and grown!
My photography...
My favorite times to photograph my garden and the surrounding neighborhood are at sunset and after it rains. At dusk, the harsh rays of the southern sun have dissipated and you are left with romantic soft mauve, apricot and golden shadows. The lighting and temperatures soften and blur. I use a 35mm camera but no fancy lenses or anything. I feel you can better capture on film the feeling of history and what it was like when these antebellum buildings were built, before high tech equipment. When it rains, it pours! Tropical delluges from the gulf. The plants glisten, everything is fresh and new again and smells green and steamy.
Visit the galleries to this site or if you wish to see e-cards you can send of my photos go here for an index:
What I grow..................................
Some of the things I grow are roses and hibiscus, caladiums, cannas and bananas, yucca, scheflera, and rubber trees, raspberries and strawberries, peppers (faves are Hungarian hot wax and Cayenne,) herbs, and mesclun greens, tomatoes and beans (when it's not too hot),aloe and cacti, sunflowers, moonflowers, and morninglories, ivy and other vines...I have over 100 pots and other containers. I recycle whatever I can find like gallon milk jugs, detergent and bleach bottles. My garden is pretty much all year round except when we get hurricanes or freezes, I have to move them indoors and lose a lot. Each spring (more like February here) I start old fashioned annual seeds like nicotiana, marigolds, cleome, love lies bleeding, petunias, and four o'clocks. My favorites are sweet smelling night bloomers because you can appreciate them when it's cooler in the evenings.
The WWW & urban gardeners..................
Let's face it cities are getting bigger and people more alienated. We're always rushing to and fro. The garden is a place for you to relax and get in touch with nature again.
Now thru the use of computers and the www, we can meet people around the world and share our thoughts and photographs.
I hope to connect with other people gardening in cities around the world who share my philosophy and passion for gardening and possibly photography too. Let's talk about our gardens and the environmental situation we live in! Trade tips and offer support... If you are a gardener with similar concerns, please join my mailing/discussion list and new club where we can swap ideas! They are free and don't worry, your name won't be passed on, I won't try to sell you anything, it's all for FUN!
JOIN MY YAHOO CLUBS!!!
chatrooms with message boards, a place to enter your own photos, links and profiles!
Go to CITY JUNGLES CLUB YAHOO!
Click to subscribe to cityjungles
or Onelist, search Rosemary Basil.
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It's time for THE WEATHER! 
Someone once said, "The weather is no idle topic for those who wrest their livings from the sea." Well, I agree but must also say, "The weather is no idle topic for those who garden!" So, I will feature some weather data and useful links below. Just click for the WEATHER that interests you.
This summer it is unbearably 
so we are warned about spending too much time and energy outdoors. The heat indices reach 103-115F.(That
's 39-46C)Temp Converter
When it stays above 80 for 48 hours they issue additional warnings. This has happened lately a lot too. It is New Orlean's hottest summer since 1980 and I wasn't living here then so let's just say this is the HOTTEST damn summer I ever experienced (& last winter too, but I wasn't complaining then, hee, hee) La Nina is playing with us. Cuidado! (Be careful!)
So on a day like that, I tend to my garden in the evening. Sunset is my favorite time anyhow. We get some beautiful ones here...(To see the pix, scroll down to bottom of page.)
Just BE CAREFUL, gardeners! Curious about the Heat Index? Click on "HOT" above for a quick conversion chart!
click... 
(loop)(static)...to see The Gulf coast where I live.
click... 
for a satellite view of the Caribbean...
& here...
to see The WORLD !!!
And here's one for those of you have aches and pains...
...The PAIN index...(sorry I'm warped!)
Here, near the Gulf, we have to keep our eyes out for hurricanes. One of our favorite local yokels has a fine Hurricane page...
for info...
or latest Gulf reports from National Weather Service...
Want to have some FUN? Visit The Weather Tiki Lounge
for your recreational weather needs! (golf, sail, ski, flight advisories in various cities)
THE NEWS!
Go here for top news stories, health articles, and to solve some mysteries...
Thank you for stopping in! BOOKMARK & return to see what grows in this garden!
NEXT: Go to 
for more pix and treats!
or visit the galleries:
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tequila?
...garden visitors since July 3,
1998...
Thank you to 
and 
for the weather links!
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