Wild Ones Greater Baton Rouge

Charles and Virginia Yarbrough’s Woodland Garden Earns LCHP Gold!

By Peggy Coates

As a 35-year labor of love for Charles and Virginia Yarbrough, their exquisite shade garden was created in a beech-magnolia forest on two adjoining lots in the Lake at White Oak subdivision in Baton Rouge. It is a green oasis in the city with a unique woodland landscape that contains both native and exotic plant species. Designed with a Japanese stroll garden in mind, the garden leads its visitors along long stretches of moss-covered paths into a variety of garden “rooms.” Visitors can wander among the native trees, over bridges, through pergolas, and by the lake.


Charles, a retired R&D chemist with Exxon-Mobil and a EBR Master Gardener, designed the oriental-inspired garden on a 3-acre property by “wandering around the site and letting the landscape suggest the next step.” His visits to Japanese gardens on the West Coast were a key source of inspiration, and his garden’s style was also influenced by an LSU extension course extolling curved paths and hidden destinations.


However, Charles never made drawings to work from. Instead, by combining his love of visual art and nature with his skill as a woodworker and carpenter, he gradually developed a series of garden features: a boardwalk, a gazebo, curved bridges, arbors, and pergolas. He also brought in rocks, bricks, stones, ironwork, and sculptures to enhance his design vision, and expanded the plant palette by adding native and other shade-tolerant plants to “foster a native environment while incorporating beautiful and suitable plant selections from around the world.” As Charles suggests, “First, build a bridge or a pergola or another garden feature, and the path to it will become obvious. Then, add plantings to create the desired mood, and allow nature itself to decide your next step.”


Along with Charles, his wife Virginia has a life-long appreciation for native plants. While living in Oregon, she discovered the western white trillium that blooms pure white and then transitions to deep red as it ages, acting as a signal to pollinators. Growing up in the Chicago area, she explored the forest preserves designed by Daniel Burnham in his 1909 Plan for Chicago, where native mayapples blanket the forest floor in early May. Inspired as a young girl, by a children’s book, Minty’s Magic Garden by Charles Rice, Virginia is amazed these days to be living in her own Louisiana magic garden, designed by her husband Charles. To add interesting textural and flowering layers to local gardens, she would like to see more gardeners plant native understory trees, such as the red buckeye, two-winged silverbell, winged elm, parsley-leaf hawthorn, black cherry, and hop hornbeam.


One of the rare plants in their “Tranquility” garden, the Christmas fern, was identified for the Yarbroughs by Dr. Terry Rehn. This plant was also a favorite of Emory Smith. Other native woodland perennials that call the garden home include an array of nodding ladies’-tresses, green dragons, Jack-in-the-pulpit, and trilliums.


Although floods, winds, and drought have provided unpredictable challenges—resulting in the loss of mature tulip poplars, oaks, giant spruce pines, and many understory trees—the native forest still thrives and is in constant renewal with native tree volunteers. This year, spruce pine tree saplings are present in large populations. A collection of small animals, and many bird and insect species regularly visit the garden. Neighbors drop in to make use of the “Prayer Garden” room. Last year, Charles built a free little library that is located near the common ground sidewalk of the subdivision. Daughter Julia Freeman, a designer with Rebel Graphix in Baton Rouge, created unique and educational plant identification labels for display when visitors come for tours.


The garden has been certified by the National Wildlife Federation. It was featured twice in the LSU Hilltop Arboretum’s garden tours and once in Louisiana Gardener magazine. LA Master Gardeners toured the garden in 2024, and local artists from Baton Rouge Plein Air have twice visited to paint this unique landscape.


Charles and Virginia, Congratulations for achieving a Louisiana Native Plant Society, Gold Level Certified Habitat!

Michael Orr Achieves a LCHP Gold Level at Iberville Landing!

By Peggy Coates

Iberville Landing, purchased two years ago by Michael Orr and Clyde Morales, is located at the confluence of Alligator Bayou and Bayou Manchac in Iberville Parish, a 20 minute drive from Baton Rouge. The facility (visit www.ibervillelanding.com) provides a rare opportunity to explore a historic piece of swamp with over 100 planted native trees and shrubs, along with other species that naturally grow on the site, located on the edge of the approx. 10,000 acre Spanish Lake Basin. Mowed walking paths, canoe rentals, cabins, and primitive camp sites provide opportunities to explore the native flora and fauna, and to paddle in the shadows of Louisiana's indigenous tribes and French explorers. The Alligator General Store located on site is under renovation and will soon provide picnic items, bait, tackle, outdoor supplies, native plants, gifts, and Louisiana made goods.

As a youngster, Michael explored the natural areas of the state with his father, Paul Orr, retired Urban Forester with the LA Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and LSU Hilltop Arboretum Site Manager. Michael continues his work with the Louisiana Environmental Action Network (LEAN) in communications, while managing his new business venture. The purpose of LEAN is to foster cooperation and communication between individual citizens and corporate and government organizations in an effort to assess and mend the environmental problems in Louisiana. LEAN's goal is the creation and maintenance of a cleaner and healthier environment for all of the inhabitants of this state.

Michael says most people live in a flood plain, but they don’t understand what it is and how it works. The facility provides the opportunity to explore and learn. The bottomland hardwood forest includes a rich palette of native trees: bald cypress, pond cypress, persimmon, nuttall oak, parsley hawthorn, pawpaw, swamp maple, deciduous holly, roughleaf dogwood, sweet gum, and green ash. In 2014, Michael and his father Paul visited Point Clear Island in Mississippi and collected acorns from the sand oak (Quercus germinata). Paul germinated the seeds, and now eight trees are successfully growing on the site. Chinese tallow trees have moved into sunny areas when mature trees are lost, and over 1,000 saplings of these have been removed to date.

Native shrubs, including the palmetto, mallow, groundsel bush, and wax myrtle, have been planted to provide a screen between the 10 primitive camp sites. Around the two cabins are a variety of native perennials, including the amsonia blue star and pineland squarestem. Plants found in the wetland areas include the iris fulva, button bush, and swamp t**i. For birds, Paul built blue bird and wood duck boxes, using wood from a local lumber mill and installed them along the edges of the bayou.

Congratulations, Michael, on earning a Louisiana Native Plant Society Gold Level Certified Habitat!