| Negative | petit_potager | On Dec 31, 2006, petit_potager wrote: New Orleans is a sultry, seductive city whose gardens reflect a rich history. Decadent nineteenth-Century buildings and courtyards provide an exquisite backdrop for exotic profligate vegetation. These serve as inspiration for all garden enthusiasts.
Beginning with A Brief History, that may not be brief enough; - the book stolidly drags the reader on through endless bayous of pages that recount the minutiae of the French settlers, Native Americans, African Slaves, German and Swiss farmers.
Subsequently, it combines the cities latest horticultural overlay of recent Southeast Asian immigrants depicted at vegetable markets with mounds of cut mint. Then, it offers impassive photos of the Warehouse Arts District, and dilapidated fence structures of no particular aesthetic merit, interest, or relevance.
The few published photos available to the buyer are quite nice. Nonetheless, the book itself, offers little more in the way of exotic balcony gardens, or lush French Quarter design to inspire ardent gardeners. This pre-Katrina effort adroitly circumvents all that is attractive, interesting, vibrant or comely within the city. It plods along with sluggish text, mostly unremarkable photography, and seemingly indifferent editing.
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