'Every other jewelry maker seemed to be concentrating on using the fleur de lis, a stylized lily that is a symbol of the Kings of France and the city of New Orleans. [Chris] Des Jardins found another south Louisiana plant that caught her fancy--the lotus. The fragrant water flower grows wild in the swamps. "It was perfect," Des Jardins says. "The flower and seed pod rise high out of the muck, representing the spirit's ability to bloom in any circumstance." She particularly loved the Cajun name for lotus, graine a voler, "seeds that fly." (The oval shaped seedpod shoots its seeds into the air.) "That was what I was looking for, the organic shape combined with symbol of hope."'

'Swamp Bloom'
by Mary Tutwiler
The Independent Weekly
February 6, 2008