Restoration Of Gardens At New Orleans City Park

City Park in New Orleans is a 1,300-acre oasis which has enchanted New Orleans residents and tourists alike since 1854. Local tycoon John F. Popp made a fortune in the lumber business and was known for his penchant for classical architecture and music. He commissioned Popp’s Bandstand, a Classical-Greek style structure with twelve ionic columns and replica of the Temple of Love in Versailles. It was dedicated in 1917. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage to the entire area flooding it with waters that remained stagnant for almost a month and toppled over 1,000 trees.

The 2007 Founders Fund Award was given to restore plantings in the fountain garden around the Historic Popp’s Bandstand with the Peggy Martin Rose. Mrs. Martin had been a mainstay in the New Orleans Old Garden Rose Society for many years and lived in Plaquemines Parish. Her house and gardens sat under 20’ of water for two weeks following the Hurricane. The thornless rose she planted decades earlier was nearly all that remained of her once beautiful garden. Additionally, the grant was used to help create an educational wetlands ecosystem along historic Bayou Metairie to illustrate the vital roles of coastal wetlands.

The Peggy Martin Rose has become a symbol among gardeners and rose lovers of a tenacious plant associated with a spirit of renewal and regrowth in the aftermath of a devastating blow of Nature against those living and gardening in the Gulf Coast area.