154 
The Garden Magazine, November, 1923 
Another custom is to plant shrubs and (lowers around the foot 
of trees, creating a sort of Puss-in-Boots effect. Ferns, Aspi¬ 
distra, Caladiums, and Lantana are most frequently used in this 
way. 
Nor can the arrangement of trees themselves be overlooked— 
so symmetrical and luxuriant in their growth. The Palms have 
a stately habit of following the fence line and flinging their heads 
high above the housetop as a striking background for the house. 
Magnificent moss-covered Oaks, Magnolias, or a clump of Bam¬ 
boo or Banana are often the keynote of a lovely garden; for gar¬ 
dens, like pictures and music, are enhanced by a predominant 
motif. 
The lawns also occupy a prominent place in these gardens, 
taking precedence even over flowerbeds. A rather typical New 
Orleans garden boasts a beautiful lawn at the side of the house, 
outlined with shrubs and trees along the fence—and nothing 
more. The unbroken green loveliness of it is very refreshing 
during the long summer months. In shady places, where the 
foliage is heavy, Spanish grass amiably grows, so that the 
A CORNER OF MRS. L. VACCARO'S GARDEN 
“Palms have a stately habit of following the 
fence line and flinging their heads high’’ 
garden is never afflicted with poverty-stricken bare spots—not 
even in secluded back-yard gardens. 
O H YES, there are back-yard gardens as well as front-yard 
gardens in New Orleans. This is the result of European 
and American traditions which still live in this Old World city. 
The garden site depends on where one lives. “ Below Canal 
Street" the proper domicile of a garden is the back yard; that’s 
the European idea. “Above Canal Street’’ the desirable gar¬ 
den site is conceded to be the front yard, which is the American 
idea. The old French Quarter, or Vieux Carre, which was the 
entire city in Colonial days, dominates the region below Canal 
Street; while that “above" developed with the signing of the 
Louisiana Purchase when the Americans began moving uptown 
“ to have more room for gardens," Time was when the residents 
of these respective districts carefully explained to the stranger 
that they lived above or below Canal Street and why, and, 
though this naive custom has passed away, the traditions still 
live within garden walls. 
If you would find the hidden-away gardens and charming old 
courtyards, then it is “below Canal Street" that you must go. 
These distinctive bits of garden beauty, with their Old World 
charm, are quite hidden from the passerby and must be sought 
out. Waving Mulberry trees above the housetop of some 
quaint, close-shuttered home are often the only visible sign that 
a garden is tucked away in the back yard. This seems rather a 
selfish arrangement—from the outside. But within, you feel 
all the charm of a love-tryst without the restraint of gazing eyes. 
Chancing upon an open doorway, you may glimpse a courtyard 
with a beautiful low-hung balcony and an old, old fountain that 
has forgotten how to play; perhaps a Banana tree sways lan¬ 
guidly in the breeze or spreads a bit of shade across the stone 
floor as it droops limply in the noonday sun. The atmosphere 
of old Seville and the France of the “Grand Monarque" still 
lingers in the language, architecture, and gardens of this quaint 
section of the city, and the courtyards in their picturesque 
beauty silently bear witness to the grace and charm of an age 
that is gone. 
T HERE are always flowers blooming in New Orleans, 
whether the season is mid-summer, mid-winter, All Saints 
Day, Easter, or Twelfth Night, which is the beginning of the 
Carnival season that ends with the flaring fanfare of Mardi 
Gras. 
Religious holidays and their attendant customs have an in¬ 
fluence in decking the city in gay floral dress at certain seasons 
of the year. All Saints Day, November ist, is a famous holiday 
in New Orleans, being celebrated here almost as universally as 
Christmas. An old custom, long observed in New Orleans on 
that day, is the making of pilgrimages to the cemeteries and 
decking the graves of departed loved ones with flowers; and the 
churches are also decorated with flowers to pay honor to the 
saints of the Church Triumphant. 
The same flowery feast is repeated at Easter, only Easter 
Lilies are then the favored blossoms. Fortunately, Easter 
Lilies grow in New Orleans with the nonchalant profusion of 
Geraniums in other places. In truth last Easter more than 
thirty thousand of these chaliced blossoms “saw I at a single 
glance,” grown by one New Orleans man whose specialty is 
growing flowers for these festivals. 
The beauty of winter gardens in New Orleans is a thing to 
delight the eye of garden lovers, and it is at that season that 
garden owners think their flowers loveliest. Certainly, the 
winter gardens are more gorgeous, for the brilliant Poinsettias, 
Azaleas, and Camellias are then in bloom. Also many Roses 
bloom during the winter months, particularly the blood-red 
Louis Phillipe, so much used in hedges. 
Though singularly blessed as to climate, New Orleans gardens 
nevertheless have their “ ups and downs.” One of the “ downs ” 
is the prevalence of insect pests, which are encouraged to 
exuberant reproduction by the mild winters. The heavy soil 
