Hundreds of people turned out for the Bayou Gardens Open House special event Saturday to celebrate the historic gardens located in Lacombe. They also enjoyed the informational booths that shared tips on gardening to help pollinators and wildlife.
The gardens, which were once a private estate owned by former Governor Richard Leche, are renowned for camellias and azaleas, and its spring artesian water. According to early descriptions, it was the site of an old Choctaw Indian Village. It later became the site of Holy Redeemer College and today is the headquarters of the Southeast Louisiana National Wildlife Refuges.
The grounds of the former tourist attraction were nationally known as “Bayou Gardens” and feature over 100 cultivars of camellias and a variety of azaleas blooming along a number of walking paths under oak and pine trees. The Saturday event showcased these gardens and offered tours, displays, and workshops with a focus on learning about ways to support native plants and pollinators in neighborhood landscapes. Camellia experts were on hand to identify some of the hundreds of blooms in the gardens.
Additional information was available with workshops on gardening with native plants and how to host butterflies and pollinators, plus a number of family-friendly craft activities, exhibits from local area organizations, and a “bug-arium” exhibit for kids.
Here are some photographs from the event. Click on the images to make them larger.
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