Amite Flower Shops

Amite LA News

Jan 26, 2018

Miniature pig enchants customers at floral shop

Larry or someone else. Lawfawnduh received her unusual name with its unusual spelling from a character in the movie "Napoleon Dynamite," as anyone who has seen that movie may remember. Her name is on a sign on her crate, much like children who have their name emblazoned on a sign on the door to their room. Lawfawnduh is bathed twice a week, when she gets a coconut oil skin treatment. Lawfawnduh is also hypoallergenic, and since pigs are unable to sweat, totally odorless. The stereotype that pigs are dirty creatures derives from their need to regulate their body temperatures and get a protective sunscreen by rolling in the mud. Lawfawnduh hates the rain and will go out of her way to avoid mud puddles. Her tail is straight and swings almost constantly: most definitely a sign of happiness. This special pig is very docile and loving; the word Larry uses is "empathetic." If he is having a bad day or is upset, Lawfawnduh will drag her bed over with her snout to be nearer to him. She's very sensitive to humans. Other than one sibling in her litter, she has never "met" another pig. Larry walks her in a special pig harness on Main Street, where dogs are very interested in her (yet she totally ignores all dogs). A favorite outing of Lawfawnduh’s is to Kilwins, where she is fed the occasional spoonful ice cream. Mini pigs live 10-14 years, but if love has anything to do with it, as I greatly suspect, than Princess Lawfawnduh will be gracing Hendersonville for many years. People visit the floral shop just to meet her, where she is quite the stealer of hearts. Lawfawnduh’s intelligent, almost-human eyes are blue, and she really appears to be contemplating life. Mischievous as always, she likes to pull paper bags that are at her eye level off the shelf and spread them around. A bored pig can become a destructive pig! Lawfawnduh seems to be able to tell time—as Larry confirms, he can set a clock by her behavior. She puts herself to bed precisely at 6 p.m. and sleeps all night, and is then up at 7 a.m., and demands lunch at noon. She is very much a one-person porcine, who loves her Larry. Visit Lawfawnduh at Flowers by Larry, located at 427 N. Church St. (BlueRidgeNow.com)

Oct 5, 2017

Flower Arrangements & Cutting Gardens

Susan MacAvery, the horticulturist in charge of the heirloom vegetable garden and the volunteer program—Locust Grove has a dynamite group of volunteers. Susan and I have been the only paid horticulture staff. We’ve seen a trend toward visitors to Locust Grove becoming ever more sophisticated in their gardening interests. What are the most important cultural considerations when growing flowers for cutting? Good soil preparation and adequate water is key, as it is for all types of gardens. The more organic matter there is in the soil, the better it can retain water and nutrients and make those available to plant roots. The flower borders at Locust Grove are topdressed with at least two inches of sterile compost each year. Self-sowing of desirable cut flowers should be encouraged. At Locust Grove, you’ll see some really neat plants self-sow like the ‘Green Gold’ hare’s ear with its brilliant chartreuse flowers, and snow on the mountain, a euphorbia with beautiful green and bright white foliage. If you mulch too thickly you lose the self-sowers, so as an alternative to mulch, keep all the plants vigorous and dense and selectively encourage the self-sowers, so you can crowd the weeds out (for the most part). click to enlarge Larry Decker In addition to the self-sowers you have things you direct-sow and plants you plant from seedlings, bulbs, or tubers. You can direct-sow zinnias, cosmos, sunflowers, love-in-a-mist, and others. (I recommend the compact varieties of sunflowers meant especially for cutting; otherwise they get too big and top-heavy.) Interestingly, certain plants, like Iceland poppies and blue lace flower, only want to be direct-seeded—never grown as seedlings. At Locust Grove, typically over 35 varieties of flowers are started each year in the greenhouse and transplanted as seedlings out into the garden. Which varieties do you recommend for beginners, and what are your favorite cut flowers currently? You want your cut flower varieties to be tall and have sturdy central stems. Three easy ones to grow w...

Sep 22, 2017

A Flower for the Graves

Every one of us in the white South holds that small shoe in his hand. It is too late to blame the sick criminals who handled the dynamite. The FBI and the police can deal with that kind. The charge against them is simple. They killed four children. Only we can trace the truth, Southerner -- you and I. We broke those children’s bodies. We watched the stage set without staying it. We listened to the prologue unbestirred. We saw the curtain opening with disinterest. We have heard the play. * * * We -- who go on electing politicians who heat the kettles of hate. We -- who raise no hand to silence the mean and little men who have their nigger jokes. We -- who stand aside in imagined rectitude and let the mad dogs that run in every society slide their leashes from our hand, and spring. We -- the heirs of a proud South, who protest its worth and demand it recognition -- we are the ones who have ducked the difficult, skirted the uncomfortable, caviled at the challenge, resented the necessary, rationalized the unacceptable, and created the day surely when these children would die. This is no time to load our anguish onto the murderous scapegoat who set the cap in dynamite of our own manufacture. He didn't know any better. Somewhere in the dim and fevered recess of an evil mind he feels right now that he has been a hero. He is only guilty of murder. He thinks he has pleased us. * * * We of the white South who know better are the ones who must take a harsher judgment. We, who know better, created a climate for child-killing by those who don't. We hold that shoe in our hand, Southerner. Let us see it straight, and look at the blood on it. Let us compare it with the unworthy speeches of Southern public men who have traduced the Negro; match it with the spectacle of shrilling children whose parents and teachers turned them free to spit epithets at small huddles of Negro school children for a week before this Sunday in Birmingham; hold up the shoe and look beyond it to the state house in Montgomery where the official attitudes of Alabama have been spoken in heat and anger. Let us not lay the blame on some brutal fool who didn't know any better. We know better. We created the day. We bear the judgment. May God have mercy on the poor South that has so been led. May what has happened hasten the day when the good South, which does live and has great being, will rise to this challenge of racial understanding and common humanity, and in the full power of its unasserted courage, assert itself. The Sunday school play at Birmingham is ended. With a weeping Negro mother, we stand in the bitter smoke and hold a shoe. If our South is ever to be what we wish it to be, we will plant a flower of nobler resolve for the South now upon these four small graves that we dug. (MyAJC)

Apr 13, 2017

Native plants get their spot in the sun

The native plant sale takes place annually on the Moore Center Field, just beneath Lake Susan. This year’s event will feature coffee from Dynamite Roasting Co. and access to information about planting and caring for a diverse range of vegetation.Joining organizer Linda Hobson and the landcare committee for the event this year is the Buncombe Master Gardeners, a group of volunteers that provides “current research-based urban horticultural information,” according to the N.C. Cooperative Extension program website.The master gardeners are just some of the “native plant experts” participating in the event, according to Hobson, organizing the event for the second year.“The Firewise program, from the N.C. Forest Service, will be there to do a presentation on protecting your property from wildfires,” she said. “Which will be very apropos.”Appalachian Creek Nursery, In-Site Out Design, Professional Landscape Solutions and Ten Thousand Villages will participate in the event as well. They’ll be joined by Tom Ross, operator of Fairview’s High Country Nursery since 1998.The retired meteorologist’s nursery specializes in “unusual and unique” plant life, such as the Red Feather Japanese Maple, which performs well in Western North Carolina due to climate conditions similar to those in the plant’s natural habitat.The Montreat Landcare Native Plant Sale will information about planting and caring for plants, event chairperson Linda Hobson said. (Photo: COURTESY OF JOE STANDAERT)This region's designation as a "6b climate zone" - with the lowest expected temperatures between minus 5 and zero degrees in a typical winter - makes it home to a wide array of native vegetation, according to Ross."Our climate is really suited for berries," he said. "We do really well with blueberries, which grow all the way ... (Black Mountain News)

Aug 15, 2016

Killer flooding in swamped Louisiana could get worse

More than 12,000 people were staying in shelters and 40,000 homes and businesses were without power, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday. The Amite River, one of several rivers and creeks that poured over its banks, crested Monday in Baton Rouge but was still rising south of capital, the National Weather Service said. "These rivers won't recede below their banks for a few days, and it will take several days for waters to recede," National Weather Service hydrologist Jeff Gaschel told USA TODAY. Parts of southern Louisiana and Mississippi were hammered by up to 25 inches of rain late last week. The sun reemerged Monday, but water was everywhere. And the threat of showers remained. President Obama has signed a disaster declaration, and Edwards said that up to 30 counties could receive the declaration before the disaster has passed. Hours later, more than 11,000 people had registered for aid, Edwards tweeted. The available aid includes grants for temporary housing and home repairs not covered by insurance as well as other grants and loans. USA TODAY Here's how much rain fell in Louisiana In Ascension Parish, about 25 miles south of Baton Rouge, a convention center was playing host to almost 600 people chased from their homes. Parish homeland security official Meredith Conger told USA TODAY more were expected in coming days. Conger, in need of baby formula and other essentials, put out a call for help. The community responded. "We are getting what we need," Conger said. "It's a disaster and everyone wants to help. We have some great people here." USA TODAY Unusual meteorological phenomenon to blame for La. flooding Volunteers with boats aided the rescue effort, too. In St. Bernard Parish, Jared Serigne told The Associated Press he helped organize volunteer efforts ... (USA TODAY)

Feb 2, 2016

The Perfect Weekend in Sydney

Salaryman for sake and a BLT-inspired twist on classic ramen. Later, stop by Bourke Street Bakery, home to all things flaky and buttery and a dynamite ginger brulee tart . Courtesy of Bourke Street Bakery Bourke Street Bakery Nearby, Sydney’s acclaimed Belvoir St Theatre has an impressive 2016 season lined up, including The Great Fire, a comedy about the politics, hopes, and dreams of middle Australia, as well as a theatre revival of the classic Australian short story "The Drover’s Wife." A post-show gelato at Gelato Messina is one of inner-Sydney’s best traditions—though th... (Condé Nast Traveler)