Last weekend, I strolled about Biltmore Village on the impervious, knee-damaging sidewalks that are supposed to be so helpful for type-2 diabetes. Enjoying the beauties of a hot summer day, my sense of place was obsturbed by a huge white lily plant growing in a wildflower garden. “How dare they!” thought I. Building codes would never allow such nonconformities in architecture. Worse, the nonconforming plant was proximal to the New Morning Gallery, owned by John Cram. Cram is an entrepreneur who is deeply involved in community affairs, and he is even known to come up with a good idea here and there. How could he let his botanical feng shui hair down? I could hardly comprehend the emotional damage and anxiety attacks rippling through the community, and the blow to the tourist industry. In my despair, I wanted sweeping regulation of gardens, and I started thinking of all the other things we need to regulate, the code officers we need to hire, the taxes we must raise to pay them, . . .
What’s that? Did you say it was “the thing” to put big white lilies in wildflower gardens this year?
