NEW ORLEANS TOUR SITES
FOR 2018 CONVENTION
CONVENTION
INFORMATION
CONTRIBUTORS: EILEEN HOLLANDER, PAMELA BUCKMAN, AMY GRAHAM, SUSAN CAPLEY, PATRICK O’CONNOR, ROLAND GUIDRY
Reprinted from Fall 2017 & Winter 2017 Fleur de Lis: The Journal of the Society for Louisiana Irises
LONGUE VUE HOUSE AND GARDENS
Longue Vue House and Gardens is a National Historic Landmark
consisting of a majestic classical revival mansion completed in 1942
and surrounded by eight acres of gorgeously maintained gardens. The
estate was built by New Orleans civic activists and philanthropists
Edith and Edgar Stern. The country place–style gardens were created
beginning in 1934 by Ellen Biddle Shipman, the dean of American
women landscape architects.
The estate was opened to the public in 1968 and in continuous
operation until the Hurricane Katrina levee failure flooded the
property for two weeks in 2005. Although the flood waters killed
60 percent of the plant collection, including around 200 trees and
shrubs and 90 percent of the perennials, the garden’s integrity
was maintained by referring to 44 Ellen Biddle Shipman drawings.
Recovery was greatly aided by the Garden Conservancy and
countless national and local horticulture groups.
The gardens at Longue Vue are highly varied, in keeping with
the “garden rooms” concept. Some areas are formal and feature
fascinating garden architecture. The Wild Garden, where the
Louisiana irises are found, is large and relatively free-flowing. Longue
Vue can boast an historic planting of Louisiana irises originally created
in 1947 by Caroline Dormon. Dormon was a prominent conservationist,
writer, artist, and botanist, and the first female employee of the
U.S. Forestry Service. She labored to win public interest in the
dwindling wild iris population, and fought to save the long leaf pine by
establishing Kisatchie National Forest, which was perhaps her greatest
contribution to conservation. Dormon also was an early hybridizer of
Louisiana irises.
Today Longue Vue displays a large planting of the five Louisiana
iris species and a mix of modern cultivars and older irises dating
back many years. The planting design looks much as it did at the
garden’s inception, with a long curving path of nearly 100 yards
planted with irises on each side and growing in concrete troughs
that were designed to hold moisture and repel tree roots. The mix
of irises shows what they looked like in their natural state, and it
demonstrates the changes that have been wrought by around 70
years of hybridizing.
Longue Vue opens the Wild Garden each year during bloom
season for a Louisiana Iris Day celebration. The popular earlyevening
event is a laid back opportunity to enjoy the irises along
with refreshments and music. For the AIS/SLI Garden Tours, both
the House Longue Vue and the Gardens will be open, although time
limitations will force a choice. Lunch in the Pavilion behind
the house will further compete for visitors’ attention.
The house at Longue Vue
The winding iris path in the Wild Garden
Rhododendron austrinum and Louisiana irises
blooming together in the Wild Garden
38 AIS Bulletin Winter 2018