Going ape for azaleas

Photo by Cheré Coen

Reposting and updating this 2017 post because we're almost to Peak Azaleas this week in the Deep South and we're all giddy as heck.

Spring comes first to the Deep South, allowing us to thumb our noses at the rest of the country buried in snow. It’s payback for those hot, sticky months when the north baths in summer’s balmy best. The flowers here bloom in spurts, first the Japanese magnolias, then azaleas in brilliant colors of fuschia, pink and white with bridal wreaths and daffodils and, in some places above the subtropical lines, dogwoods and other colorful shrubs and trees.

It’s the azaleas, however, that turn ordinary people into bubbling gardening idiots. These bushes of brilliance rob our senses, turning us into mindless statues staring endlessly into their cascade of colors. Which is why there are azalea trails everywhere.

Designated the Garden Capital of Texas, Nacogdoches, Texas, offers 25 miles of self-guided driving routes through its Azalea Trail that meander through town and the Ruby M. Mize Azalea Garden, the largest in the state with more than 7,000 azaleas, according to Sherri Skeeters, marketing director for the Nacogdoches Convention and Visitors Bureau. The routes are divided into three trails named for the azaleas they feature, including Southern Indica Trail, Evergreen Azalea Trail and The Fashion Azalea Trail. Each trail begins at the Charles Bright Visitor Center located at 200 E. Main St. Trail maps are available at the Visitor Center or from the Azalea Trail website and special events are ongoing.

Not to be outdone, Tyler, Texas, has its own trail and includes more flowers and festivities at the Azalea and Spring Flower Trail that will be held March 16 – April 1. Want to see a video accented by pretty music? Click here.

In Houston, the River Oaks Garden Club hosts its Annual Azalea Trail every March and this year the date hit early March. Azaleas are big in Houston; in 2006 the City of Houston was designated an “Azalea City.” 

In Louisiana, New Iberia and Lafayette both have azalea trails with self-guided maps to assist visitors and can be downloaded from the tourism websites and picked up at the prospective welcome centers.

The Wild Azalea Trail in the Kisatchie National Forest provides a glimpse into the state’s only native variety. Maps to the former may be picked up at tourist welcome centers and the Wild Azalea Trail end points are at the Kistachie National Forest’s Valentine Lake Recreation Area and Woodworth Town Hall.

The 17-mile Azalea Trail of Mobile was chartered in 1933 and by 1940 was attracting 100,000 visitors. Today, the three trails guide visitors through historic downtown, Spring Hill and the University of South Alabama and Sky Ranch. Download a PDF of the map here.

You won’t want to miss Bellingrath Gardens annual display. The 65-acre gardens located outside of Mobile contains more than 250,000 azaleas and their website posts blooming times in their “Azalea Watch” section. Visiting in March provides glimpses into lots of other blooming flowers as well. The Rose Bloom Out, for instance, will be April 21-30.

And that’s just a few!

Want to know more? Here’s a link to Bellingrath Gardens article by Bill Barrick titled “Azaleas: The Flaming Drama of the South.”

Cheré Dastugue Coen is a food and travel writer living in South Louisiana who is the author of several Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire and the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

It's about blooming time!

As I write this, the azaleas bushes right outside my window are about ready to burst forth. It’s that awesome time of year, when colors explode in shades of pink, crimson and fushia all over the Deep South. Nothing quite matches the first blooms of spring, when the azaleas announce winter is over.

            Here are a few places in Louisiana to visit where displays of azaleas are magnificent:

            Avery Island

Most people recognize Avery Island as the tourist destination for Tabasco pepper products. Tourists can tour the Tabasco factory, but the companion 250-acre Jungle Gardens offers brilliant displays of azaleas as well. In addition, there are centuries-old oak trees laced in Spanish moss, thousands of snowy egrets in the “Bird City” rookery and a shrine with a Buddha as its centerpiece. The driving tour usually results in many gators sunning themselves along the pond and bayou banks so bring a camera. To enter Avery Island costs a dollar toll, and there’s a charge to tour Jungle Gardens.

Jefferson Island Rip Van Winkle Gardens

The Rip Van Winkle Gardens on Jefferson Island is a dramy escape from reality, acres of beautiful azaleas as well as centuries-old oak trees draped in Spanish moss and the tranquil Lake Peigneur. Actor Joseph Jefferson, known for his role as Rip Van Winkle, built his home here in 1870 with a dramatic view of the lake. A successor developed the surrounding gardens, naming them “Rip Van Winkle Gardens” in honor of Jefferson. In addition to the gardens and historic home, visitors can enjoy lunch at Café Jefferson.

            Hodges Gardens State Park

            More than 700 acres of gardens, both wild and cultivated, await visitors at this spot near Toledo Bend, south of Many. The gardens are a product of oilman A.J. Hodges Sr. who opened them to the public in 1956 and were later donated to the state as a park. They contain a variety of flowers, including azaleas, and a lake created from an abandoned quarry that pipes water through waterfalls and fountains throughout the property. In addition to the 5-mile walking trail, there are rental cabins, campsites and boats for use on the lake. For more information, call (800) 354-3523 or visit crt.state.la.us/parks/ihodges.aspx.

            Shreveport

            Heading to Shreveport to visit the impressive collections of the R.W. Norton Art Gallery, including the artworks of the American West, is reason enough. But the free gallery sits on 40 lovely wooded acres that includes extensive varieties of azaleas. These hundreds of native flowers bloom in a rainbow of colors as well, including red, yellow, orange, pink, purple, white and a mixture of many, and visitors can view them all via a walking path that includes a pond, a bridge over a stream and waterfall, benches and outdoor sculptures. If you visit Shreveport, be sure and stay overnight at one of its charming bed and breakfasts such as Fairfield Place, one of many historical properties in the city’s Fairfield-Highland district. You can even take a walk through the neighborhood and witness more azaleas — and other flowers — blooming, then enjoy a fabulous meal at one of the city’s landmark restaurants, Ristorante Giuseppi.

Centennial within a bicentennial

            This year marks the bicentennial of Louisiana statehood, honoring our state’s entrance into the Union on April 30, 1812.

            This year, in March, also marks the centennial of M.S. Rau Antiques, one of the most impressive antique dealerships in the United States, located within the French Quarter of New Orleans. Rau’s 25,000-square-foot store is the largest antique seller in North America by sales. Products include famous paintings, European furniture, classic jewelry and silver such as Paul Revere armorial coffee pots, among so much, much more.

            This year the antique dealership will launch the Rau for Art Foundation, a non-for-profit program and art contest for New Orleans high school art students in the 10th to 12th grades. Prizes and scholarship money totaling $17,000 will be awarded to the winners and their high school art departments. Winners’ artwork will be exhibited at M.S. Rau Antiques and Fine Arts in March. For information, visit www.rauantiques.com.