Seduce them with floral color, then clobber them with education. Robert S. Hebb’s strategy for the creation of a Richmond botanical garden 25 years ago was easier said than done: build a world-class educational facility and tourist attraction filled with plant collections, display gardens, teaching areas and a research program. Hebb, first executive director of what would become Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, had trained at the Harvard University arboretum and the Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum of The New York Botanical Garden, so his knowledge and experience were extensive.

They come for more than just the plants. Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden is one of Richmond’s most popular wedding sites. Some visitors find its romantic nooks to be a perfect proposal spot. New moms connect there for a little exercise and a picnic lunch with children in strollers. Some go to the garden for a respite from high-stress, high-tech jobs. One Ginter member who had been through cancer surgery came to the garden with his wife to spiritually heal and reconnect with nature.

In 1803, the United States purchased the Louisiana Territory from France for $15 million, and New Orleans became American. Yet even as Americans poured into the port city, New Orleans was not really of the United States. New Orleans was always different, a little on the outside. The Creole-Caribbean heritage, the racial fluidity, and the languidness of weather and residents alike created a place unlike any other. New Orleanians boasted of their city’s uniqueness and attendant quirks: exceptional food, corrupt officials, why-work-so-hard? approach to life. By choice, they identified themselves as outside the American mainstream.

At a festival in Germany, when six women walked by wearing specially created “SpongeBob SquarePants” shirts, Stephen Hillenburg’s wife nudged him: “Why don’t you tell them who you are?“  Hillenburg, who created SpongeBob and all his undersea friends at the Krusty Krab, declined.

Lyric Ave, a Richmond-based group of creative artists specializing in poetry and variety-based performances, will celebrate its sixth anniversary with an 8 p.m. show July 11 at the Lincoln Theatre in Washington. The group, which features creative disciplines including acting, poetry, comedy and music, started by performing in nightclubs, such as the Underground in Shockoe Bottom, from 2003 to 2006. In 2007, it took its show to the Empire Theatre, where its audience grew to 600. Since 2008, the group has been performing at the Byrd Theatre, where it’s doubled its audience to 1,200.