Metairie -- Bright Garden

The half-acre garden was originally planted by previous owners circa 1955 and along with the 1950 pale pink stucco house it was severely damaged in 2005 by Hurricane Katrina. In 2007 the owners had a formal garden designed and planted in semi-circular beds on either side of the iron gate at the back of the property that overlooks a golf course, giving them views of a pond, greens, and sunsets. The gardens contain white crepe myrtle, miniature Japanese boxwood, white camellias, azaleas, roses, sasanqua, agapanthus, and Chinese fringe tree – all white flowers except the New Dawn roses that climb the front porch and balustrades. White-flowering annuals fill in the beds, urns and containers so there is something in bloom or bud throughout the year. In addition to the iron fence in the rear garden there are stucco walls and a tall Japanese yew hedge in front enclosing the property. The European style of the house's porches, verandas and patio is augmented with garden ornaments: urns planted with white bacopa and petunias, several musical cherub statues along one of the stucco walls, wooden tuteurs as focal points and a purple martin house on a tall post. Stucco pillars topped with decorative falcons anchor the decorative iron gate at the rear of the property. The 2007 landscape was designed by Pam Hayne while the historic plaster restoration was the work of Tommy Lachine.