Louisiana’s Dreaming of Spring

Springtime will be here before we know it, and with it comes pleasant weather and spring blooms. Plan a trip to check out these gardens in Louisiana!

The Biedenharn Museum & Gardens(link is external)
The Biedenharn Museum & Gardens features the 1914 home of Joseph A. Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola, along with formal English gardens. ​ELSong —Emy-Lou’s song (named after Joseph’s daughter)— is designed with various settings including the Four Seasons Garden, Oriental Garden, and Musical Grotto. Beautiful fountains and sculptures from around the world are paired with several thousand flowers that embellish the estate. The Conservatory is modeled after fine English glasshouses and is home to thousands of tropical and semi-tropical specimens. The experience is enhanced by background music — one of ELSong’s unique features. Don’t miss the more quirky attractions at the complex, including a Coca-Cola Museum, a Bible Museum and Museum Store.

Burden Museum & Gardens(link is external)
Burden Museum and Gardens in Baton Rouge consists of the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens, Windrush Gardens and the Rural Life Museum. The Botanic Gardens is an extensive collection of specialty gardens, woodlands, wetlands, and arboreta. It features the Rose Garden, Children’s Garden, Stone Camellia Collection, Herb Garden, Tropical Garden, Barton Arboretum, Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie and even more gardens and trails to explore. At Windrush Gardens, you’ll find symmetrically designed beds, allees, open lawns, water features and European sculptures. As you stroll through the grounds, you’ll see aspidistras, nandinas, crape myrtles, azaleas, camellias, liriope, mondo and southern Indian hybrid azaleas and smell the fragrant banana shrubs, gardenias, sweet olives and butterfly gingers. The “green garden” uses the form and texture of plants, rather than flower color, to create a lush Louisiana landscape. Evergreen foliage contrasts dark areas, with golden euonymus, gold dust aucuba and red berries interspersed. Canopies of mature oaks, pines and magnolias tower over these garden spaces.

Louisiana State Arboretum State Preservation Area(link is external)
Established in 1961, the Louisiana State Arboretum was the first such area in the South and the first state-supported arboretum in the United States. The Arboretum features more than 600 acres of natural growth, with additional plantings of species that are indigenous to the state. Due to the great variation in topography, almost every type of Louisiana vegetation, except coastal marsh and prairie, is represented on the site. Take a walk along the nature trails and discover sycamores, maples, beeches, magnolias, hickories, ferns, and crane fly orchids.

Azalea Trail(link is external)
A springtime attraction since the 1930’s, the Lafayette Historic Azalea Trail is a winding drive through historic districts, downtown, the university and neighborhood garden districts for about 25 miles. Along the trail, you’ll spot an abundance of azaleas in a spectrum of reds, pinks, whites, purples and salmons. The Southern Indica Lavender Formosa Azalea was christened “The General Lafayette” in the 1950’s as the city flower in honor of the Marquis de Lafayette. In 2015, Scenic Lafayette began extensive revitalization of the azalea trail with over 1,000 stunning azaleas planted since. Lafayette earned the Azalea City Certification in 2016 by the Azalea Society of America – so you know it’s the real deal!

Learn about more of Louisiana’s outdoor experiences at LouisianaTravel.com.

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