Hilltop's Fall Garden Tour
LSU Hilltop Arboretum 11855 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70810
Hilltop Arboretum
Hilltop Arboretum's Fall Garden Tour gets underway in November with "It Can Take Two to Make a Garden," an enchanting afternoon tour of three gardens in the Broadmoor and Wooden Ridge Subdivisions, plus a look at Julia Gates' Garden, along with the Paddle Boat and Pirogue Flower Show at the Baton Rouge Garden Center.
First stop is at Laurie Drummond's garden, which she inherited from her mother Marion. Marion was a native plant enthusiast, plant collector, and former LSU Hilltop Arboretum Site Director and Mobile Botanical Garden Director.
During Hurricane Gustav, Janet and Wally Taylor lost four oak trees in their backyard, turning their shade garden into a sun garden separated by his and hers planting.
Next, guests will visit Peggy and Charles Coates backyard, which was converted from a field of mature trees into a textured, layered garden of serene shades of green and subtle flowering plants. The couple also dug up the green strip along their driveway to plant a pollinator garden, and have made a special, secluded bird-watching space of their patio garden.
A member of the Baton Rouge Garden Club for over forty years, Julia Gates is memorialized in a special garden at the Baton Rouge Garden Center which showcases trees, shrubs, and flowers native to the Southeaster United States. The Paddle Boat and Pirogue Flower show, sponsored by the Baton Rouge Garden Club, will serve as a forum for learning and discussing the latest horticultural and design trends.
The first forty visitors at the Drummond Garden will receive a free potted plant, ranging from crocosmia and gladiolus to rare curcumin gingers, ground gingers, dancing lady gingers, black elephant ears, and more unusual plants.
1 pm–4 pm. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased at the location on the day of the tour or online at lsu.edu/hilltop.