A few years back now, Delphine and I were on a gal's trip in Cape Cod, admiring a garden exploding with hydrangeas and bluebells in the middle of June. I asked out loud why I couldn't get my garden back home to look like that, to which Delphine replied, "Nah, they got it easy what with their good dirt. Our dirt's just hateful." And never mind that back home the heat index was well over 100 degrees.

It took a bit, but since then I found that a number of wondrous things grow in hot, clay soil, especially if you give those things a little love and attention. I learned that as much as I love flowers, prairie grasses- namely their extensive root systems- are the underground wizards of our environment, acting as a carbon sink and collective sponge to handle floodwaters and prevent erosion. My garden still doesn't look anything like one in Cape Cod, and I'm so grateful, because what on earth would a hydrangea do to stop my house from flooding?

Our marshy multiverse is actually an ecological wonder. Houston is a funky cultural and architectural hodge-podge that befuddles outsiders and that amuses us. This website is about honoring our Gulf Coast home which may not be awe-inspiring to the untrained eye but generously rewards the careful observer. The art and writing therein are acts of love to celebrate it for those of us who love it, and help others see it in all its mystical, swampy glory.

In addition to supporting the artists, teachers, and native gardeners who contributed their work to the online store, partial proceeds of art sales go directly back into conservation of the endangered coastal prairie.