Are you a Ditch Fisher?

Weathered and paint-peeled yellow signs scattered along Interstate-20 near Edwards, MS, advertise for the Mississippi Cactus Plantation. 

The plantation itself has obviously seen better days, but remains a unique and interesting place to visit. Once sporting fields of cacti and other odd plants (at least “odd” by Mississippi standards), the plantation is now little more than a few home-made greenhouses behind an old plantation home inhabited by a friendly widower named John. Though the house and the plantation grounds were both beautiful and interesting, it is the owner, John, who is really the star. At 85 years old, and still getting around perfectly fine when we met him in February of 2013, John was incredibly lucid for his age, and showed my wife and I a type of hospitality that is basically extinct these days. He lives by himself in a beautiful, somewhat run down, old plantation home that displays a graceful, old-southern charm mirroring John’s own character. Upon our arrival to the plantation and meeting old John, my wife inquired about a powder room.  Incredibly, John invited us, two complete strangers, into his home.  He freshened up the place for her, and while we waited, John took me on a tour of his home.  We visited a very touching shrine he had set-up to honor his late wife. He also showed us pictures of his family and grandchildren scattered throughout the house.

Then, John took us on a tour through his grounds and green-houses, displaying expert knowledge of his plants with a sparkle in his eye that showed a youthful character still thrived inside his aged appearance.  John told us the history of the plantation in great detail, answered our questions about his plants, and even talked us into purchasing a few to take home with us. He then took us across the yard to a little pond and let my wife and I feed the fish with breadcrumbs. The bream would come right up to the shore to feed, so close we could almost touch them.  They were completely unafraid of us,  obviously used to being well cared for by John.

When we said our goodbyes to John, my wife surprised me by giving him a warm hug, and then John surprised me with a handshake as firm as that of a twenty-year old.  He gave us a basket of pansies before we left, I believe, as a gesture of new found friendship.  Later that night, as my wife and I were discussing our day, we both agreed that we would visit the plantation again very soon, not for the plants or the tour, but to visit with old John again and see how he was getting along.