Five Historic Gardens to Visit this Spring

Five Historic Gardens to Visit this Spring

STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES

James Fox-Smith

With its subtropical climes, the Louisiana- Mississippi region is known for its lush, fertile ground—which has served as a bare canvas to visionary green thumbs past and present. As our Southern spring settles in and the florals start to emerge, some of the finest gardens in the country are reaching their aesthetic height, and it is certainly worth it to pass an hour or two in their tranquil, sun-dappled spaces.

Windrush & LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens

Ten different flags have flown over Louisiana, and a conglomeration of peoples have settled here: Native American, French, Spanish, Anglo- American, German, African, and Acadian. Despite the disparity of their origins, the vast majority of these early settlers shared one bond: their dependence upon the land and waters of Louisiana for survival. Largely forgotten by the twentieth century, the lifestyles and cultures of pre-industrial Louisianans are recalled in the LSU Rural Life Museum. Steele Burden donated the 450-acre Burden Estate to Louisiana State University in 1972, creating an experimental research station for the LSU Agricultural Center and an oasis of tranquility in the center of Baton Rouge.

Windrush Gardens

Courtesy of LSU AgCenter

Before Burden donated the estate, he designed and planted a five-acre expanse of semi-formal gardens called Windrush. Winding paths and open areas lead visitors through the arrangements of aspidistras, nandinas, crepe myrtles, azaleas, and camellias, ornamented by European sculptures collected by Burden. Emphasizing form and texture in his “green garden,” Burden’s style was designed to highlight Louisiana’s particular foliage, scented by banana shrubs, gardenias, sweet olives, and butterfly gingers and enclosed by canopies of oaks, pines, and magnolias.

Adjacent to Windrush, visitors will find the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, which encompass specialty gardens featuring All-American Selection trial winners and Louisiana Super Plants; a Children’s Garden stocked with edible plants and butterflyfriendly flowers; the Early American and Stone Camellia Collections (one of the largest private collections in the United States); an educational herb garden displaying culinary and medicinal herbs from Louisiana's culture as well as those of Native Americans, Africans, Caribbean Islanders, the French, Spanish, and other Europeans who came to Louisiana; and a Pollinator Garden, a Rose Garden, a Tropical Garden, the Orangerie Garden, and a Memory Garden memorializing those who have contributed to the property. All this, plus five miles of walking paths through the Burden Woods and Arboretum, are part of the Burden Museum & Gardens remarkable property.

Courtesy of LSU AgCenter

Open from 8:30 am–4:30 pm seven days a week. Admission is $3 per person. Admission to the Rural Life Museum is $10; $8 for children ages 6–11; $9 for seniors, LSU Faculty, staff, and students; free for children younger than 6. No Admission fee for LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens. 4560 Essen Lane, Baton Rouge, La. (225) 763-3990

Afton Villa

Until 1963, a visitor's journey up the oak alley from Afton Villa’s gates ended in front of a forty-room mansion. But that year, flames consumed the Gothic Revival home, built by David Barrow for his wife, Susan, in 1849. Today, what remains are the breathtaking gardens that spread their magic across almost fifty acres.

Afton Villa

Alexandra Kennon

At their finest this time of year, the gardens are divided into a number of sections. The foundation of the villa, marked now by four classical statues carved from Italian stone purchased in Vincenza, Italy, still outline the shape of the house. In recent years, the area within the walls has been excavated and designated the “Ruins Garden,” where flowers bloom year ‘round.

From the ruins, the gardens sweep down in a series of graded terraces to the floor of the ravine beneath. A formal boxwood parterre comprises the first stage of the viewer’s descent through the stages of the garden’s design; an intricate maze awaits at its end. The music room—a small garden whose four ancient marble cherubs bear different instruments—is at the bottom of the stone steps. From there, stepping stones lead visitors into Daffodil Valley. Sixty thousand have been planted for naturalizing since 1984, and each April their delicate blooms daub the valley floor with spring colors.

Open 9 am–4:30 pm seven days a week from March 1–October 1. $5 admission for anyone over 12 years old. Highway 61, St. Francisville, La. (225) 635-6773 aftonvilla.com

Afton Villa

Alexandra Kennon

Houmas House Plantation and Gardens

Settled into its majestic and fertile curve along the Mississippi River, Houmas House’s history begins at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when an Englishman oversaw the construction of a simple Louisiana cottage called Donaldson House. In 1829, a certain General Wade Hampton took over the plantation and set out to build a mansion worthy of his wife. The majestic, classic Revival Style home has passed through many hands over the past two hundred years, but the colonnade remains just as Hampton envisioned it. Through a series of restorations that took place over the past two decades, the house now showcases the most iconic features from the various historic periods of its life on the Mississippi.

Houmas House Gardens

Raegan Labat

Outside of the house, though, thirty-eight acres make up the Gardens of Houmas House—a stunning display of exotics interwoven with native Louisiana florals and foliage. Designed to showcase seasonal beauty, the gardens undergo extensive color renewals each April and November—meaning that there is no bad time to visit.

While you’re there, be sure to visit the property’s newest addition, the Great River Road Steamboat Museum, which interprets the vital role of the River in the history of the communities who populated its banks.

Houmas House Gardens

Raegan Labat

Open 9 am–7 pm seven days a week. Garden tours are self-guided and free. Guided mansion tour packages start at $24. Admission into the Great River Road Steamboat Museum is $20; hours 10 am–4 pm. 40136 Highway 942, Darrow, La. (225) 473-9380 houmashouse.com

Rip Van Winkle Gardens

While a fellow famed for his stage performances (over 4500!) as the character Rip Van Winkle built the late 19th century mansion, whose white cupola now peeps above the trees as one approaches, credit for New Iberia’s magnificent gardens must go to a later resident and owner, J. Lyle Bayless Jr. Inspired by the Jungle Gardens of Avery Island, Bayless supervised the clearing of land around the Jefferson House, landscaped the area, and planted it with numerous azaleas, camellias, and other ornamental plants. Remembering his visits to English gardens as well as gardens in Java, Kashmir, and Spain, he incorporated exotic elements into his designs with a vision of future expansion.

In 1966, after the gardens suffered extensive hurricane damage, Bayless hired English horticulturist Geoffrey Wakefield to revamp Rip Van Winkle Gardens' design. Over the next three years, Wakefield imported plants from all over the world and added a large number of the camellias, for which Bayless gained wide renown as a master grower and propagator.

In November 1980, oil well workers drilling under Lake Peigneur punctured the roof of the underground salt dome that forms the island base. The entire lake drained into the mine, causing the earth around it to cave in. Sixty-five acres of the gardens, and Bayless's new lakeside home, were swallowed.

Around twenty-five acres of the gardens were restored only to be battered again by Hurricane Lilly’s 2002 fall. Today, the gardens have once again been restored to fifteen acres of gorgeous semi-tropical gardens, overseen by oaks over three centuries old and one of the most remarkable histories of any garden in the region.

Open 9 am–5 pm seven days a week. Admission is $12 per person; $6 for children ages 6–17; $10 for seniors. 5505 Rip Van Winkle Road New Iberia, La. (337) 359-8525 ripvanwinklegardens.com

Longue Vue House & Gardens

Courtesy of Longue Vue House and Gardens

The eight acres of landscaped gardens that surround Longue Vue bear testimony to Edgar and Edith Sterns’ love for gardening and Edith’s avid interest in horticulture, which began with her early association with landscape architect Ellen Biddle Shipman.

Shipman’s original concept of the gardens at Longue Vue was in the romantic picturesque tradition of landscaping that characterized the English garden of the late-eighteenth century. But by 1939, when the estate had acquired more land, Shipman enlarged upon her original plan, creating a series of interconnecting “garden rooms,” each dramatically different in character. Within each, she employed the colors and textures of plant material indigenous to South Louisiana’s semitropical environment to complement the architecture of the house. The formal Spanish Court—redesigned by Stern after Hurricane Betsy ravaged Shipman’s original Camellia Allée—was inspired by the Moorish designs of the fourteenth century Generalife Garden at the Alhambra in Granada, Spain. The Walled Garden was originally designed by Shipman to be the house’s kitchen garden and was transformed into a true “victory garden” during WWII. Today, students of the Cultivating Communities program work in the Walled Garden as part of their curriculum. Children of all ages can also enjoy hands-on, interactive experiences in the Lucy C. Roussel Discovery Garden, which features vegetables, herbs, and butterfly friendly florals. One of the historical stand outs at Longue Vue, though, is the Wild Garden, which is a diverse collection of species indigenous to Louisiana— featuring over 3,500 Louisiana irises and 120 camellia shrubs. The collection is the collaborative result of the property’s three iconic women horticulturalists: Edith Stern, Ellen Shipman, and Caroline Dormon.

Courtesy of Longue Vue House and Gardens

Visitors to Longue Vue can also take part in weekly activities on the property, including “Yoga with a Vue,” held from 9:30 am–10:20 am on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. Reservations required. $15 (admission included). Various hands-on workshop and volunteer opportunities can also be found on Longue Vue’s website.

Open 9:30 am–5 pm Monday–Saturday Reservations required. Admission is $10 for visitors ages 10–65; $5 for children, first responders and military, students and teachers with ID, and seniors. Free admission for children younger than three. 7 Bamboo Road, New Orleans, La. (504) 488-5488 longuevue.com

Courtesy of Longue Vue Gardens