Baltimore city's secret beauty

Orleans St., Baltimore City

It's said that Baltimore is one of the nation's "up-and-coming" cities. After all, we are located in the richest state in the Union if you believe the U.S. Census report (2008). But if you live here, you may see a different story...so much poverty and crime, it's painful. There are too many neighborhoods that are just barely surviving. It's easy to lose faith in a city as beautiful and rich in history as Baltimore when there is so much gray, starkness and despair in between.

West Baltimore

I visit the heart of the city and wonder why so few houses have tended gardens or any garden for that matter. It can depress you to the point of turning your car towards the county just to get a glimpse of some colorful annuals or a well-trimmed lawn. And it's even more distressing to see that the only forms of vegetation are from city plantings by the local monuments and office buildings or, God forbid, the "yuppie" parts of town. It's a feeling of defeat, if you're a nature lover like myself.

near Hillen St., Baltimore City

But if you dare to visit the neighborhoods less traveled, wonderful things can be found if you just keep your eyes peeled. For example, I've turned down a random street, and suddenly I'll notice something bright and growing. Amid the gray paneled doors and abandoned row homes there lies a vibrant presence in the form of volunteer plants, artificial flowers, plastic yard statues, wind chimes and visionary yard art.

Northeast Baltimore City

I thank God for houses like these and the efforts made by the owners and tenants who live inside them. Through their make-shift gardens and wacky yard decor, they have instilled a level of hope within myself. "Inner city beauty"....if only it were contagious.

Near Hillen St., Baltimore

These are some pictures I've taken with friends while living in Baltimore. There are many more, but these I feel these represent a cross section of the various neighborhoods and decorating styles that can be found. Some folks like silk flowers and plastic containers with porcelain yard figurines while others go all out with container gardens and yard art and sculpture. But it doesn't really matter to me. What impresses me most is the effort, especially in the poorer neighborhoods. The faded silk flower displays and mini-animal menageries on Calvert St.are my favorites. They always somehow manage to make me smile, even on the worst of days.

St. Paul St., Baltimore

The house below is in a neighborhood where many homes have been abandoned and there is a high rate of drug abuse and crime. If you are familiar with the city, the house stands out on Calvert St. going north. I actually met the owner to ask permission to take this picture. I call her Plant Lady. She is very proud of her make-shift garden, as well she should be, she had created a colorful utopia in the midst of asphalt, trash, boarded-up buildings, and branchless streets. It was as if a spotlight was on her little house, declaring to all that here lives someone who was paying attention, someone who cared. Creating beauty amongst her surroundings perhaps gave her hope. This lovely woman made something wonderful from very little. That's the true definition of neglected beauty.

But she is not alone, there are others living all around us in major urban cities where crime and poverty and hopelessness is a daily way of life. And they too have created tiny flowering oases in the midst of a very rough and desolate terrain. While they are hard to find, they do exist.

Calvert St., Baltimore City

The last picture is part of a little garden plot found near a city school in south Baltimore in need of major repairs (the school, not the garden). Right before the end of the school year, someone must have seen this little spot and bought a few annuals to brighten it up. Situated next to an alley, it will not be seen by many, but it doesn't matter; it adds life and color to another dismal section of Baltimore's urban landscape.

Calvert St., Baltimore City

Then there are those up and coming neighborhoods that are attracting wealthier professionals. They are forming neighborhood associations and planting community gardens. It's refreshing to see their efforts: hanging baskets, group gardens and creative displays of yard art. These folks surely have the advantage financially to create some gorgeous gardens, but never dismiss the neighborhoods that aren't as fortunate.

South Baltimore

"Always remember to look up in the city. Skyscrapers aren't the only things you'll find."
~Flower Spy

Bolton Hill, Baltimore City

Bolton Hill, Baltimore City

"Hope is both the earliest and the most indispensable virtue inherent in the state of being alive. If life is to be sustained hope must remain, even where confidence is wounded, trust impaired."
~Erik H. Erikson:

Calvert St., Baltimore, MD

ALL PHOTOS BY BALANCE PHOTOGRAPHY AND C. LANGRALL

Bolton Hill, Baltimore City