Yesterday Andre Joris’ parents surprised me by coming to my garden to see what Andre was creating. This led to an invitation to their garden for cocktails. I was dying to finally see what Andre (who collects rare palms) had described to me many times and when we arrived, I realized that we had stepped inside a equatorial looking glass. Their house in Bahama Village appears modest from the outside, an old shotgun style home set close up against a wonky narrow street flanked on either side by skinny lanes and more small houses. But once through the gateway our vision was immediately directed upward to the swirling criss cross of palms – emerald and black against the turquoise of sky. This is what vertical gardening is all about. Huge palms enclose you in a tropical embrace and the real world feels far far away. Inside this garden is a feeling that anything is possible.
The house is small and ingeniously laid out. It is an artist’s enclave, with Carrie Disrud’s large bright paintings on the wall. I recognized them from Harrison’s Gallery www.harrison-gallery.com when we did the “Walk on White” (a gallery walk every third Thursday down White Street). An inside-outside maze, I had to walk through the house more than once to figure out if I was inside or in open air. Although small, if feels expansive and comfortable with ladders leading into secret rooms and openings for air circulation and more opportunities for artistic display.
The yard is large and the family recently completed a small two story house in the back where Andre lives, giving him an aerial view of the garden he created.
The food was fabulous, an impromptu feast of gigantic shrimps, Mexican style tortillas, thrown together with the casual elegance that only the truly gracious can master. We were joined by Michael, another recent transplant, (this time from North Carolina) who was also made welcome with legend and lore of Key West past. Tom, our host is a sculptor and if he permits, I will later post pictures of some of his and Carrie’s work. In the meanwhile, here they are in their natural habitat.
