Southern Garden Symposium

03/01/2026

Have you seen Gardening with Sylvia? What a great story on the 2025 Southern Garden Symposium. Follow along for more stories from the garden!

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Beautiful gardens to see fabulous plants to purchase and a stunningly awesome surprise which delight your eyes and inspire your gardening! Please like subsc...

10/19/2025

A heartfelt thank you to everyone that joined us for the 36th Southern Garden Symposium! Please enjoy a look at highlights from the event and follow along in the coming days as we share more of each workshop- each unique in their own style and expertise- but all connected to promote our mission to “preserve and commemorate gardening in the Deep South through lectures, workshops, and tours of historic gardens.”

Thank you to everyone that made it possible and a great success!

10/17/2025

The 36th Southern Garden Symposium isn’t possible without the support of many friends, sponsors, and supporters. A steering committee plans the event but it is not possible without the generous support from our community! From opening their homes to providing meals, book sales and silent auction items- we are incredibly thankful for all of the support we have received for this year’s event! Looking forward to sharing a wonderful program with you!

09/30/2025

We are in the final days of planning the 36th Southern Garden Symposium and it is sure to be one of the best yet! This year’s Symposium offers an outstanding program of educational and inspiring lectures, design workshops, delicious and gracious hospitality, all set in beautiful historic venues for our guests’ comfort and enjoyment.

2025 Speakers








and Barbara Sullivan

Purchase your tickets today!

09/12/2025

Rosedown’s gardens are some of the largest and most intact of all the early 19th century gardens still in existence today. Martha Turnbull, mistress of Rosedown, documented daily life and her gardens in great detail. Today daily operations and plantings in the gardens are planned by park manager Trish Aleshire who makes a point to stay true to its roots.

We are delighted to share Rosedown with you on Friday and Saturday during the Southern Garden Symposium.

On Friday morning Tammany Baumgarten leads an informative workshop on native plants of Louisiana and their benefits, including those that may help qualify Rosedown as a certified Louisiana Native Habitat!

The Saturday Symposium offers a plant sale, book sale, and a silent auction as well as a wonderful program of 4 speakers, all taking place at Rosedown.

Barbara Sullivan- Wilmington, NC
Margaret Zainey Roux- New Orleans, LA
Ryan Cole- New Orleans, LA
Tammany Baumgarten- New Orleans, LA

Register Today!

09/09/2025

Ryan Cole, Landscape Architect

For over three decades, Ryan Cole has crafted timeless landscapes that marry classical elegance with the romance of the Southern garden. From intimate, walled courtyards in New Orleans to sweeping Texas ranches, his work is entirely bespoke-rooted in history, attuned to place, and designed to endure. Known for his artistry, horticultural expertise, and unerring sense of proportion, Cole transforms every commission into a living masterpiece.

Ryan joins the Southern Garden Symposium to present two programs. On Friday guests have the opportunity to hear Ryan at Havenwood during a Friday afternoon workshop and on Saturday Ryan joins a panel of speakers at Rosedown!

He will present on five overlooked design elements that elevate style and character and talk about plants that create structure in a formal garden.

Don’t just scroll through! Make plans to join us in St. Francisville for the Southern Garden Symposium!

09/05/2025

The floral design demonstration at Afton Villa Gardens is a favorite workshop of the Southern Garden Symposium! Set under magnificent oaks, near beautifully planted ruins gardens, guests will enjoy the arrangements of Mary Cox Brown of Marigold Designs!

Morning refreshments are served in the ruins garden and guests have time to enjoy the gardens, planted perfectly in fall hues. A special Afton Villa treat is in the works for you!

Mary Cox will lead the audience in designing beautiful arrangements, of all shapes and sizes, explaining techniques and tricks to help hold each stem in place.

New this year, after the arrangements are made a painting group from The Art House in St. Francisville will use them as their inspiration for paintings and they will be on display on Saturday!

Grab a friend and join us at Afton Villa Gardens October 17, during the 36th Southern Garden Symposium!

Tickets are available online and a registration brochure is available on our website.

08/25/2025

The program and locations are set, the weather is changing (for the day) and we are looking forward to the Fall and this year’s Southern Garden Symposium. Take a look at today’s newsletter and make plans to join us in October!

The front porch at Catalpa, the location of this year's Speakers' Gala.

08/14/2025

Tammany Baumgarten is a horticulturist and the owner-operator of BaumGardens, a landscape firm in New Orleans specializing in native and habitat gardens. She is Past President of the Louisiana Native Plant Society and the founding President of the Native Plant Initiative of Greater New Orleans and co-founded the Louisiana Certified Habitat program in 2021 and recently co-founded and helped develop the Louisiana Certified Native Professional Program. Her gardens are a celebration of eye-popping seasonal color and contrasting foliage texture and hue - all designed to serve wildlife and humans alike.

Tammany leads a workshop on native plants on Friday morning at Rosedown and will speak again on Saturday during the symposium panel!

Register today for the Southern Garden Symposium and learn all the benefits of using native plants in your landscape!

08/13/2025

Ryan Cole, Landscape Architect, joins the Southern Garden Symposium program delighting guests with the Garden’s Secret Language. Ryan is a former student of Dr. Neil Odenwald at LSU’s School of Landscape Architecture. When meeting with program participants- Ryan’s enthusiasm and passion for design and gardening was evident and we can’t wait to share his talents with you!

On Friday afternoon learn five elements of design from Ryan at Havenwood and on Saturday Ryan will speak on plants that create structure and form in formal garden.

Register today for the Southern Garden Symposium!

07/22/2025

Looking for a place to stay for the Southern Garden Symposium? The West Feliciana Parish Tourism Commission website has all accomodations in one place for you!

Check out all of the places our town has to offer!

Visitors to West Feliciana Parish can choose from cozy bed and breakfasts, charming historic inns, and modern hotels. For those who prefer a more rustic experience, there are cabins and campgrounds that provide a peaceful and secluded getaway. Popular lodging options in West Feliciana Parish include...

07/18/2025

From the journal of John James Audubon- c. 1821 upon his arrival at Oakley

“The rich magnolias covered with fragrant blossoms, the holly, the beech, the tall yellow poplar, the hilly ground and even the red clay, all excited my admiration. Such an entire change in the fall of nature in so short a time seems almost supernatural, and surrounded once more by numberless warblers and thrushes, I enjoyed the scene.”

We are delighted to share Oakley with you during the Southern Garden Symposium!

Friday afternoon we will hold a workshop at Audubon State Historic Site on the fundamentals of cut flowers with and

Visit our website to learn more about all of Friday’s workshop offerings!