Human Flower Project
Gloriosa Hallelujah!
We learned something from Eddie Safady, host extraordinaire of Austin, Texas. Get your guests through the door, then obliterate them with flowers. Instantly.
“So nice to meet you,” said Safady, as we shook hands in his foyer. That was right before our knees buckled at the sight of gloriosa lilies, too many to count, hanging from a bare tree.
We’d only seen these flowers in pictures, and read about them—the emblem of Tamil rebels in Sri Lanka, where they are a native species. The blooms are truly odd—”six red petals with yellow scalloped edges that reflex upwards, combined with clear green leaves each ending in a tightly curled tendril.” They look like balls of jagged flame.
In this display, each flower was drinking from its own little glass vial, so they shimmered, arrayed in front of a large glass panel looking into Eddie’s old-is-very-new abode.
When we came to, the host urged us to wander on in, get something to eat and drink, and meet the arrangement’s maker, his associate Lia Austin. Which we did, elbowing past Roy Blount and Robert Caro to find her perched serenely near the kitchen.
Originally from Puebla, Mexico, Lia is a self-taught designer. She said that she enjoys thinking about her floral assignments for several weeks, then submits her flower orders seven days ahead of the event.
“These gloriosa lilies came from Florida,” she told us. After a bit of reading, we discovered that, completely exotic as they look, G. superba might even grow in Central Texas. Here are some tuber tips for you experimental Zone 8-9ers.
We also think that Lia’s design looks a lot like Christmas. Just add tinsel.
A tree of Gloriosa lilies, designed by Lia Austin, greeted guests of the Texas
Book Festival at Eddie Safady’s home on Congress Ave. in Austin, 11/2/08
Photo: Aaron Farmer