Look inside some of the Baton Rouge Garden District’s private gardens on the Friends of LSU Hilltop Arboretum’s Spring Garden Tour on Sunday.
Local designers will enhance a few of the porches, and musicians will entertain throughout the day as participants enjoy the event subtitled “Celebrate the Garden District: A Designer Porch and Garden Stroll.”
Ginger Ford, Corner Pollinator Gardens, Camellia Avenue
PHOTO BY COLETTE DEAN
One of the oldest neighborhoods in Baton Rouge, the mature live oak trees and large blooming magnolias lining the boulevards of the Garden District guarantee a pleasurable stroll from garden to garden.
The Garden District is in the Mid-City area between Government Street and Park Boulevard and is made up of a conglomerate of three historic districts defined by the Louisiana National Register of Historic Places: Roseland Terrace, Drehr Place and Kleinert Terrace. Homes vary between grand or quaint, connected by sidewalks and alleys. Preservationists have continued to uphold and maintain the neighborhood’s beauty and appeal, and several homes have commemorative historic plaques posted.
The featured homes on tour include:
Cindy and Steve Tiek, 2355 Olive St. (historic house)
This home was built for the W.P. Craddock family in 1928 and designed by architect Lewis Grosz, who lived on Reymond Boulevard. The backyard garage and carriage house were renovated in 2007 in conjunction with the backyard landscape. The space now functions as a pool house and dining area with a cooking fireplace. Two large live oaks flank a central flower bed; the walkways and driveway are all made of granite cobblestones. Boxwood hedges throughout the yard are set off by plantings of hydrangeas in the front beds. Wood ferns and autumn ferns are planted under the live oaks and fig trees line the driveway. A “secret garden” is a central water feature that connects the property’s water features from the front to the sunroom. The backyard is in a checkerboard design with limestone blocks and grass. Planters surrounding the yard contain magnolias and satsuma trees. A wisteria arbor connects the pool house to the main house. The antique decorative obelisks and a bust behind the pool are from France. Tiek ByDay is the front porch designer. Cindy Tiek and her daughter, Bridget, co-own Tiek ByDay with Hance Day Hughes. The firm will soon have a showroom on Government Street.
Vicki and Dennis Swain’s home, 803 Camellia Ave.
PHTO BY COLETTE DEAN
Vicki and Dennis Swain, 803 Camellia Ave. (historic house)
The Swain home was built in 1914 as an old schoolhouse and underwent a complete renovation in 1980. The Swains decided to take out two “out of control” azaleas in the front yard, do away with the grass and enhance with garden plants throughout with small rock garden paths. The porch was left intact, with the addition of railings added through the years. The backyard has been transformed from a small grassy area by adding a brick patio with decks. Along the way, they’ve added a small cocktail pool, a koi pond and an outdoor kitchen. Better Homes and Garden Magazine photographed the Swain yard for a potential article a few years ago. The Swains have enjoyed sharing their yard with guests and have hosted three weddings on the property, the last one for a niece. For the tour, the “Fretless Yard Girls” quartet will be playing ukuleles on the front porch.
Diane Garrett, 2236 Tulip St.
After almost 30 years of pool ownership, Garrett filled in her backyard pool last year and has never looked back. She is enjoying the extra yard space she now has for more gardens, including installing two aboveground bins that host seasonal vegetables. A native plant enthusiast, Garrett is always on the lookout to add more species to her ever-growing collection. Ornamental trees bring color and some much-needed shade to the area. Many of the flowers are passalong plants or gifts from family and friends. She has also included a wilder “meadow” for testing new varieties of flowers. Allyson Hicks Design Consulting will be enhancing Garrett’s back patio area. Hicks’ showroom is located on Highland Road.
Ginger Ford, Corner Pollinator Gardens, Camellia Avenue
PHOTO BY COLETTE DEAN
Ginger Ford, Corner Pollinator Gardens, Camellia Avenue
A lifelong resident of the Garden District, Ford remembers when most of the neighbors had lush gardens, including vegetable gardens in their yards. Two years ago, she began to plant corner pollinator plots along Camellia Avenue. In the spring, the gardens explode with vibrant colors: yellow coreopsis, purple coneflowers, red salvias, pink zinnias and orange blanket flowers. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are regulars to the street. During the pandemic, Ford began giving away small flower bouquets from her porch. Her neighbors have credited her for beautifying the neighborhood and bringing gardens back to the Garden District. She has begun expanding the corner pollinator gardens to other streets in the neighborhood and encourages everyone to include pollinator plants in their home gardens. Ford has been credited by many neighbors for teaching them how to transform their yards into an oasis for pollinators.
Whitney Hoffman and Elgine Sayal, 1959 Tulip St.
Whitney Hoffman Sayal has been a resident of the Garden District since 2006 and now shares the home with her husband, Elgine. Sayal originally chose the neighborhood for its proximity to City Park, the incredible canopy of trees and the lush, vibrant plant life. Its proximity to LSU was also a determining factor as her life in Baton Rouge began with obtaining her master’s degree from the Robert Reich School of Landscape Architecture. Her passion for landscapes and urban spaces led to a career at the Downtown Development District, conveniently also just a short commute to her home. Over time, she has poured a great deal of “sweat equity” into renovating the entire house, carefully restoring and reimagining every corner. The porch is a peaceful and shady spot to showcase her love of plants and bright design. The tree and porch cover provide an ideal location for saying hello to her many neighbors and displaying many of her houseplants during the hot Louisiana summers. The porch designer for the Sayal home is Baton Rouge Succulent Company, which is located on Highland Road. Dave Randall, acoustic guitarist and vocalist, will provide musical accompaniment to the garden stroll.
Ray and Greta Corona, 2175 Myrtle Ave.
When the Coronas first bought their home, there was an enormous red oak tree on the front corner providing shade to the front and backyards and, Corona admits, there wasn’t much to garden. In 2008, Hurricane Gustav took out the tree. Within 15 seconds, the yard transitioned from complete shade to full sunlight. Greta Corona slowly started to fill garden beds with plants and added a fence based on a design she admired which featured wood with heavy gauge hog wire lattice. The fence provides a great visual barrier for neighborhood dogs without having to fence in the whole yard. Grass kept creeping into her garden beds, so the couple agreed to scrape up all the sod and dedicate the front yard to garden beds with pathways between. She is a tomato plant aficionado and makes sure to plant several varieties every season. Meyer lemon, satsuma and a recently replaced grapefruit thrive on site. Intuitively, she has been gradually using permaculture techniques in creating her multipurpose garden. Trees, shrubs and vegetables are in her front yard which provide food, shade and soil improvement offering the Coronas a mini “farmers market” just outside the front door. Walkways throughout the yard enable the Coronas to check out pollinators, as well as the readiness of fresh herbs and produce while keeping beds tidy. Tribe Market, an antiques and plant shop located behind Circa 1987, will offer porch enhancements.
Megan & Aaron Sheehan-Dean, 615 Camellia Ave.
The Sheehan-Deans lived in Virginia, Florida and West Virginia prior to moving to Baton Rouge in 2013. They planted small butterfly gardens in each yard, and Megan Sheehan-Dean enjoyed bringing monarch caterpillars into her classrooms for her students to observe the life cycle. While raising children, they kept up their well-manicured yard on Camellia but admired neighbor Ginger Ford’s garden from afar. In January 2019, Ford helped them transform their whole yard into a garden. Ford helped her get over concerns about getting it right — “if a plant didn’t thrive in a certain spot, I could move it,” Sheehan-Dean said. The yard now has plenty of purple coneflowers, gaura and giant black-eyed Susans. Now, the couple enjoys watching the hummingbirds, bees and butterflies that frequent the yard. Cutting grass and edging never brought much joy. “I’ve had many lovely conversations with strangers and neighbors walking by which never would have happened with a lawn. I can bring gifts of cut flowers anytime I go to someone’s house. Who doesn’t like that?” she said. Louisiana Nursery Home and Garden Showplace will decorate their porch. Brian Babin, former LSU band member and saxophone player, will entertain at this site.
The Garden Tour proceeds will support site development and educational programming at the LSU Hilltop Arboretum, located on 14 extraordinarily beautiful acres in Baton Rouge. It showcases an extensive collection of Louisiana native trees and shrubs. The property known as “Hilltop” is on Highland Road, south of LSU.
Spring 2025 Garden Tour Fundraiser: ‘Celebrate the Garden District: A Designer Porch and Garden Stroll’
Benefitting Friends of LSU Hilltop Arboretum
1 p.m.-4 p.m. Sunday
$20 for members/students; $25, general public
www.lsu.edu/hilltop or (225) 767-6916