756 
The Garden Magazine, November, 1923 
THE LILY POOL IN MR. DAVID B. FISCHER’S GARDEN 
I hough small and shut in by high walls this garden spot is blessed with all the serenity of a stilly 
wood and in it many plants find themselves happily at home. Hydrangea, White Fringe, Snow-bush, 
Azalea. Camellia, Oleander, Crepe Myrtle, a purple Plum, Jacaranda, blue Eucalyptus from Cali¬ 
fornia, a Judas tree, Lombardy Poplars, Scotch Broom from Oregon, an array of Lilies (the blood- 
red St. Joseph, Easter, Weeping Mary, Lemon, etc.), as well as lowlier things like Larkspur, Colum¬ 
bine, Bleeding-heart, Jingle-bells, Campanula, and Liatris. Twice awarded the Henderson cup 
“To get in touch with all garden lovers; to help growers of 
plants to identify and correctly name their plants; to profit by 
the experience of other growers in determining the best plants 
to grow; to encourage an interest in plants in schools and the 
beautifying of schools and playgrounds; to encourage and 
promote the floral beauty of the City Parks under the direction 
of the Park Commission; and finally, to make New Orleans 
the Garden City of the country,” were among its aims. 
1 'he Society has achieved some measure of success along all 
these lines. Its greatest achievement, however, was the in¬ 
auguration of a campaign to rid the city of the Argentine ant, 
which had become a menace. Brought to Louisiana in the cof¬ 
fee ships from South America in the ’80s, this insect had spread 
so rapidly that its ravages to gardens and crops were costly and 
serious, fhe Garden Society began a systematic city-wide 
poisoning block by block in the fall of 1921 and the invading ant 
has been pursued to its lair with murderous food for the last two 
winters, and though it has not been entirely exterminated, its 
harmfulness has been reduced to a negligible point. 
Professor Cocks has done notable work in increasing the 
garden beauty of the city and in spreading a contagious interest 
among others to do likewise. His lectures were for three years 
the leading feature of the fall and winter meetings. 
T O STIMULATE interest in the development of beautiful 
gardens, there is an annual garden contest open to 
all amateur garden owners in the city, whether members of the 
Society or not. fhe Henderson Cup is given annually for the 
best garden regardless of size. Other trophies are given for the 
development of seasonal gardens and color harmonies. 
1 he public schools are given annual prizes in the Mary F. 
Reams School Garden Contest, instituted by and named in 
honor of the Society’s first secretary. 
fhe Society is now cobperating with other organizations to 
protect the wild flora of the state, endangered by automobile 
tourists, if not restrained by education and other methods. 
Individual activities of several members of the Society 
have also afforded pleasure and profit to the community. 
Among these workers are two incomparable spirits, where garden 
interests are concerned—Colonel 
George Derby, a retired army 
officer, and Mr. Clarence F. Low. 
Before the society was formed these 
two plant lovers had created the 
New Orleans Plant Acclimatiza¬ 
tion Society, with a membership 
of two, though let it not be im¬ 
agined this fact lessened the effec¬ 
tiveness of the organization. They 
bought a 55-acre tract beyond 
City Park on Gentilly Road and 
built their homes there. Then 
they set about importing rare trees 
and plants from Australia, China, 
Japan and other parts of the world. 
This delightful venture in garden¬ 
ing, which created so much interest 
at the time, has since been devel¬ 
oped as a sanatarium. 
The hobby of another member is 
experimenting with hybridized Cala- 
diums. Mr. Charles Mauthe has 
been collectingCaladiums for a quar¬ 
ter of a century and worked for seven 
years before he succeeded in produc¬ 
ing the first of his remarkable hy¬ 
brids. The plant does not normally 
produce seed, but propagates by tu¬ 
bers. Mr. Mauthe has developed 
some combinations of enormous size, 
brilliant color, and fantastic shape. 
An interesting garden which won the Henderson Cup in 1922 
is that of Mrs. Andrew Stewart, fhis is a large garden, full of 
lovely spots, and carefully arranged with regard to environment 
and the quaint old colonial cottage which it frames. An en¬ 
chanting nook is a cement pergola, covered with drooping 
yellow Jasmine and the yellow Lady Banks’ Roses add ever¬ 
green beauty; a tall yellow Jasmine, clinging to one column, 
gives height and an artless uneven top; a Trumpet-vine forms a 
beautiful background for a Silver Moon Rose, Climbing Am¬ 
erican Beauty, and the Coral-vine. As these flowers bloom 
at different times, the pergola is always “a thing of beauty.” 
Variegated Periwinkle, Lemon or Day Lilies, and feathery 
Ferns, grow along both sides of the stepping-stones through the 
pergola. 
Other noteworthy gardens (shown in the accompanying pic¬ 
tures with full descriptive captions which preclude the necessity 
for much detail here) are that of David Barrow Fischer, twice 
awarded the Henderson Cup and remarkable as an example of 
the triumph of horticultural enthusiasm over discouraging con¬ 
ditions and city limitations; Eugene H. Roberts’s garden which 
w'on the Coleman E. Adler Cup offered last spring for the most 
harmonious color effect: and the soft-toned pastel picture which 
is the garden of Mrs. J. C. Rathbone, winner of the Henderson 
Cup in 1921. 
The officers of the Garden Society this year are: Gustaf R. 
Westfeldt, Jr., president; Mrs. S. W. Labrot, Mrs. 1 . H. Stauf¬ 
fer, and John Many, Jr., vice-presidents; Miss Ethel Hutson, 
secretary; Percival Wraight, treasurer; and Eugene H. Roberts, 
chairman of the programme committee. 
B UT when all is said about New Orleans gardens that can be 
said, taking note of their quaint charm and tropic beauty, 
the forceful fact of their fitness must be mentioned. 1 hey 
belong to and are a part of New Orleans and are a proper setting 
for the homes they adorn. Climatic conditions long ago proved 
that high-ceilinged houses were best suited to withstand the 
long summer’s heat, and many galleries and balconies, with their 
charming wrought-iron railings, followed as a matter of comfort. 
The gardens were the finishing touch. 
