Hot off the heels of talking about two projects in my e-newsletter column last month, I now want to update you on a plethora of other projects that have been ongoing at Bellingrath Gardens & Home.  Honestly y’all, it sometimes takes a scorecard for me to keep up with everything! Although it’s not quite the ten frames from a bowling scorecard, we think you’ll be impressed.

Project 1 – Permanent Lighting for the Overflow Parking Lot – As part of our “Laying the Groundwork for the Centennial Master Plan” fundraising campaign, Cory Sparks and I worked hard to secure $235,000, and counting, in funding for this year alone! One of the first projects let from this initiative was for McCollum Electric (Mobile, AL) to install buried electrical conductors running to, and then among, six light poles installed at the perimeter of the overflow parking lot (adjacent to the Greenhouse Complex), and then to affix new LED light fixtures purchased last year to these poles. This work will eliminate BGH’s need to rent diesel-powered portable light towers during seasonal events such as Magic Christmas in Lights. I am happy to report that this project is almost complete, as of this May 31 writing. We thank the Crampton Trust for a major $75,000 gift recently given to the “Laying the Groundwork” campaign and also our other funders: The J.L. Bedsole Foundation, A.S. Mitchell Foundation, Dr. Monte L. Moorer Foundation, Laidlaw Foundation, and Julien E. Marx Foundation.

Project 2 – Revitalized Arbors – Visitors regularly enjoy walking around Mirror Lake at BGH, and we often see them appreciating the swings on the North Arbor and West Arbor, and also the ones on the Brick Patio. As with wooden members that we had to replace on the Bayou Boardwalk last year, these Arbors also required significant repairs. BGH’s own Maintenance Department, superbly led by Harold Fischer, has addressed these concerns and topped them off with nice paint jobs using our Urbane Bronze color as a finish. Thanks, Harold, Mitchell, Dubby, and Becca!

Project 3 – Archaeological Dig Redux (Round 2026) – Way back in 2000, the University of South Alabama’s Center for Archaeological Studies, then led by Dr. Gregory Waselkov, conducted several digs at BGH to identify and locate the 1760s era “Lisloy Plantation” site. That work resulted in significant finds of artifacts, but, alas, no follow-up studies were done.  We decided to re-engage the Center, now under Dr. Philip Carr’s leadership, and in May hosted USA Archaeology students for follow-up digs in several areas. More artifacts were found, and a report will be generated in the coming months. We are so thrilled and honored to have a continuation of this important research on the BGH campus.  We thank the Alabama Humanities Alliance for providing funding in support of this project, too. Stay tuned for more when Professor Carr presents a preliminary report on Monday, June 22nd, at 10 a.m. in the Magnolia Room.

Project 4 – Headhouse Insulation Progress – Over the past winter and early spring months, we crowd-funded a $25,000 project to replace the insulation at BGH’s Headhouse building (the metal-frame, mid-1980s structure that serves as the working space for our Greenhouse staff). Thanks to you – and with no small amount of “enticement” from our irresistible “greenhouse sales kitty,” Kiwi, we were able to reach this goal! Energy Control Insulation (Theodore, AL) recently completed the first phase of this project – the removal and disposal of the old insulation. We are now working in an interim period with E. Cornell Malone Corp. (Mobile, AL) on some follow-up needs on the roof seal work they performed last year as well as sealing work needed on the exterior walls. We feel that by mid-summer, we will have the new insulation installed by Energy Control Insulation, bringing this much-needed building improvements project to a close!

Project 5 – New Greenhouse Fans – Thanks to the successful award of a $21,000, nationally-competitive grant from a California-based charitable foundation, BGH has been able to embark on a “critical-need” project – the replacement of all of the exhaust and circulating fans for all of our greenhouses. This $21,000 grant, awarded in December, allowed us to purchase enough exhaust fans to completely modernize our two largest greenhouses with industrial-grade, top-line fans and to install premium-quality circulating fans in all of the greenhouses. Although many more exhaust fans need to be replaced, we can now say that we have achieved serious momentum on this crucial need of maximizing functionality of our aging and deteriorated Greenhouse Complex facilities.

Project 6 – Electrical Infrastructure Engineering – Bellingrath’s electrical infrastructure is old.  Four years ago, we celebrated the reconstruction of new, buried power mains leading to our property, a major leap forward for us. Until this year’s success with our “Laying the Groundwork for the Centennial Master Plan” capital campaign, however, we did not have the budgetary means to address the electrical infrastructure that we own – the lines, panels, subpanels, etc. from the Alabama Power transformers “inward” onto the BGH campus. Thanks both to the technical expertise of Hargrove Engineers and Constructors and their generous support as Business Circle members, however, we can now say that we are literally days away from having a brand new, site-wide electrical engineering plan for Bellingrath Gardens & Home! You will be hearing LOTS about this plan in the coming months, as we soon shift gears to rebuild our electrical infrastructure, replacing outdated, inadequate infrastructure while also expanding our grid to accommodate our continuing growth and future development per the Centennial Master Plan. The days of cables hanging from trees and breaker panels fastened to our live oaks will soon be over, and we cannot be more thankful. Harold Fischer, BGH’s Maintenance Manager, and I have worked hand-in-hand with Hargrove’s Brian Penn, P.E. and Jake Lake, P.E. to produce a new vision for electrical infrastructure at Bellingrath Gardens & Home.

Project 7 – Summer House Painting – With the recent installation of the copper louvers on the new cupola on the Summer House, the only task remaining to officially close out this project is to get all of the painting work completed, a complex and not insignificant task, I might add. Fortunately, our Maintenance Department is hard at work on this, and over the next several weeks, you will see a renewed focus on this project now that other priority projects have been completed. We think you’ll also like the new color scheme that has been developed for the restoration of this historic structure.  (Anyone up for some Haint Blue ceilings?!) From primer coats to paint with carpenter bee deterrents added in, we are taking this project very seriously so that this restoration lasts for another 50 years! Come and watch final bits of the project be completed over the next several weeks. (This project, as you may recall, was funded through several significant grants from local foundations, plus a crowd-funding campaign, and even a special bequest from a former Board Chair’s estate. We are planning a fall ribbon-cutting ceremony, which will be announced soon!)

Project 8 – Magnolia Room New Doors – Last but not least is a project that has also progressed since last year – the Phase 1 Renovation of the Magnolia Room. The final aspect of the project was to add in a set of custom doors – the fabrication of which became yet another test of patience on BGH’s part. With the doors now installed and hardware affixed, the only tasks remaining include painting and then installation of the closing and latching mechanisms. Due to the time required for fabrication and the above subsequent tasks, it’s probably a nice thing that Olivia Garrett, BGH’s crackerjack Marketing and PR Manager, decided to place our “step and repeat” banner in front of the unfinished doors back in January! To our pleasant surprise, the banner almost instantaneously transformed the “doors” into one of BGH’s most popular selfie stations, LOL. In the coming weeks, you’ll see painting commence and the remaining hardware installs completed, such that we will at last have finished up Phase 1 of the Magnolia Room. What about Phase 2, you ask?! Well, to that, we’ll have to ask you to stay tuned for more good things and more future projects to come.

And so, with all of these words, you now know about eight projects. That these eight projects represent only a portion of everything that is happening at BGH means that not only are there future tales to tell, but also that we have tremendously exciting things continuing to occur at Bellingrath. For this all to happen, we can only thank you, our members, supporters, and patrons. Thanks to you, we are enjoying historic investments in Bellingrath Gardens & Home, investments that will pay dividends in the years to come as we approach and then cross over into our second century as the Gulf Coast’s leading historic public garden.

Todd

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Every month, it seems, Bellingrath Gardens & Home is either making a new announcement or starting a new project. For the month of May, there are two items that I am excited to write about:  our boathouse, and also our long-sought-after plant labels. Although neither project is complete, we still feel that both are newsworthy at this stage.

Well, what is actually happening with these two, disparate projects?!  First off, we have officially decided to undertake the process and work of defining all of the needs of our now 20 year-old boathouse, which we have renamed as the River Pavilion. Practically ever since the Bellingraths purchase the Fowl River property in 1918, there has been a boathouse here. Today’s one, constructed after the previous one was destroyed by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, has served its purpose of allowing guests to access the River, while also in the past serving as an embarkation point for the river cruises, but it is showing its age. We are working on plans to replace the wood shingle roof with a metal roof, restore and improve lighting, replace and/or encapsulate the deteriorating pilings, redeck the walking surface, and install new railings to provide enhanced visitor safety. To this end, we have launched a $25,000 fundraising campaign to garner funds to start tackling the process of bringing the River Pavilion back to full functionality, with the goal of stabilizing it for the next 20 years and beyond. We are asking for your consideration in helping us to realize this goal.

Another project that is commonly mentioned in reviews of the gardens is that our plants lack labels. Now, whole master’s theses have been written on this topic, and I can assure you that it is fraught with pitfalls and moments of glory alike. Our take, for starters, at BGH is that we are going to label plants from a prioritized list based both on garden spaces and on our core collections. For instance, you can see a photo in this article of one of our beta-version plant labels of a rose in the Rose Garden, an area that has experimented with plant labels over the decade but that needs a unified approach so that all of the roses are labeled consistently and appropriately for such a grand garden space. We will soon be ordering labels for all of the roses growing here, and so we ask you to stay tuned. After that, we will label 100 of our specimen camellia plants because a) camellias are one of our core collections, and b) we will be hosting the International Camellia Congress next year. What information will you find on our plant labels? Well, we’ll do the standard, basic stuff of giving you a common name, the scientific name, the cultivar name, and some tidbit about the plant’s origin. However, on top of that, we’ll communicate if the plant is patented, who originated it, and from where. At some point down the line, we plan on having this information housed on a mini-database, which visitors will access via QR codes or via our website.

While both of these projects – boathouse and labels – couldn’t be more different, they collectively demonstrate our commitment to excellence in bringing Bellingrath Gardens & Home forward. As the signature public garden of the Gulf Coast Region, we take what we do seriously, and that means that before we unveil something publicly, we vet it and make sure that it will shine appropriately. We think that you, our supporters, will enjoy seeing our plans unfold for the River Pavilion just as much as you’ll learn new things about our plants as we begin labeling them.

Thank you for continuing patronage of BGH.

Todd

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Camellias carry with them the stories of their creators, their origin, their caretakers, and the gardens around them. Camellias secure a sort of unrestricted accessibility across a timeline more far reaching than our own mortality affords. Through it all, Camellias bring people together—past, present, and future.

The Camellia was Walter Bellingrath’s favorite flower. The Horticulture department is in the early stages of rebuilding the Camellia Arboretum that was originally inspired by Walter’s passion for Camellias, and built to honor his legacy. We are adding as many varieties as possible—one at a time. We have amassed several hundred varieties so far…with several thousand to go!

Recovering and reestablishing our collection is a top priority for all the reasons above. As these new plants become established, memories begin to resurface. A bloom might offer more than a burst of color or platform that honeybees do their best work. For many of us, a close examination of a flower results in an experience far beyond chromatic. The blossom resurrects memories from long ago—disjunct and out of focus at first, so many images, feelings, sensations—details so minute you’d have to have been there to know what I mean—all of it…ALL of it…somehow and suddenly reassembled, recollected, reanimated on petals of the past.

And while we are standing there in a translucent state, because a part of us is 20, 40, 70 years in the past, a second honeybee enters the picture, and clumsily bumps into the honeybee that was there first. In the still morning mist, the sound of their midair collision is abrupt but gentle…oddly grounding. Neither bee seems to mind. There’s plenty of pollen to go around—and they pupated just six cells apart. So, they just go about their business (buzzness?). In that moment, we feel we are in the midst of a bigger picture. We consider the miraculous metabolic systems upon which the Camellia gathered and configured and transported the nutrients that culminated in that single flower (that’s where my thoughts drift, anyway), the bees checking off boxes on their daily task list (and do bees actually have knees?), the attenuated sounds permeating the calm saturated air (every…single…sound), the flight patterns of individual aerosolized water droplets (water existing in such a dynamic state that it seems to be animated by a single glance), a dead leaf on the ground (wait, which tree did that come from…I don’t remember that tree growing on this side of Mirror Lake), the luxuriant scent of an Osmanthus blooming somewhere (it’s not important where it grows…that’s not the point). Call it the epitome of distraction or the apex of focus—in an instant, the Camellia brings everything around us to within reach of our senses…and within range of our sentience.

And while we are standing there in a translucent state, because our conscious has apparently left our bodies, we marvel at all the Camellias around us…some larger than life relics of the original Camellia Arboretum, and some diminutive plants staring up at us with nursery tags still attached. Can you imagine what these will look like in a few decades!? Glad you asked. Yes, you can! Camellias invite us to predict the future—projecting each years’ growth and flower display. And we can imagine ourselves or our loved ones thriving and blossoming and growing right alongside the plants. We think through time, and the resultant feeling is just as real as standing in the shade of a tree planted way back when. Camellias are timeless. And while we are standing there in a translucent state, we are timeless too, thinking 20, 40, 70 years into to the future.

Time to take this article in for a landing. You may have heard—on February 28th, 47 people gathered in the Camellia Arboretum and picked up shovels—members of the Camellia community alongside the members of Bellingrath Gardens. In front of them were about 100 Camellias in a 12,000 sq’ slice of the Camellia Arboretum. The plants were strategically arranged in a 14’ x 8’ grid. We had previously darkened the soil by adding 150 cubic yards of compost and a coat of matte black paint was still drying on recently glued irrigation risers. The atmosphere was electric as people from 5 to 85 years old had gathered together in anticipation of what was about to happen. And in a matter of minutes it was over. All this talk of Camellias and time…it seemed to happen in an instant, but just like that, the first significant Camellia Arboretum planting in at least 50 years was over in 40 minutes. Planted and mulched…signed, sealed, delivered.

47 people came together 47 years after Hurricane Frederic shuddered the Camellia Arboretum. Some people came because their grandparents loved Camellias. Some people participated because they had the opportunity to plant their favorite plant into their favorite garden. Some people joined us because they were here with their grandparents—and at 5 or 6 years old, one has limited input into their daily schedule. If you weren’t there, I wish you were. There is so much I want to illustrate for you…details so minute you’d have to have been there to know what I mean. But there is one experience upon which I simply must expound: the sound. The sound of 47 shovels simultaneously lancing the ground…neither softer or louder than the voices of those operating them. A shovel making contact with a brick or root, overlapping and barely discernible fragments of reminiscent stories shared of gardening past, a botched plant name read aloud, the light thud of a shovelful of dirt landing next to a 3 gallon pot-sized hole, the same plant name botched for a second time but now cast with an air of confidence, strong opinions from a small murder of crows, something about an Alabama sports team doing sports, a shovel stabbed into the ground to stay upright quickly followed by the sound of a shovel handle hitting the soft ground, laughter, a helicopter going overhead on its way somewhere, someone slapping the side of the pot in an effort to introduce a Camellia to Bellingrath soil for the first time, a bag of pine bark mulch being torn open. To be immersed in the bustle was so satisfying, so deeply nourishing, so timeless…I will never forget those 40 minutes. Camellias will continue bringing people together at Bellingrath Gardens—the legacy of Walter and Bessie retold with the opening of every flower.

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Since last October, BGH leadership and our design team have been hard at work on the schematic design of Phase 1 of the Centennial Master Plan. This phase encompasses areas of the gardens located between the Fowl River and Mirror Lake, from the North Bayou southward all the way to the northern edge of the Great Lawn. Of course, this means that it includes all garden spaces around the Bellingrath Home and the Delchamps Gallery of Boehm Porcelain building. Although all of the gardens are historic, we have chosen to call this particular area the “Historic Core,” since it forms the heart and soul of the garden and contains its most elaborately designed spaces. The design team for this project is Tres Fromme (3.fromme Design, Sanford, Florida) and Steven Lee Johnson (Sitework Studios, Asheville, North Carolina).

Not everything in the Historic Core is original, however. The South Terrace, for instance, was created in the early 1960s after the fishing lodge was torn down after Mr. Bellingrath’s death in 1955. Therefore, neither Walter nor Bessie Bellingrath ever saw the current South Terrace. The boathouse (or River Pavilion), also is not original, with the current structure representing the third such iteration being constructed on the Fowl River!

Highlights of the planning for Phase 1, as of completion of schematic design, are as follows:

1. We will be restoring all existing features, as needed, to their original specifications, designs, and functionality. For instance, a crack on the south face of the Grotto is worrisome, such that it will be investigated and repaired. Another issue that will be resolved relates to eliminating water being piped through the basement of the Home from the Courtyard Garden to the East Terrace.

2. We will create an ADA-accessible loop leading downhill from the South Terrace, along the Riverfront, looping westward to Mirror Lake, and then, via a new walkway, leading along the entire shore of Mirror Lake before returning via a modernized, accessible walkway uphill to the Historic Core.

3. Improved and expanded restroom facilities are a part of this plan, including modernization of those in the Boehm Gallery and construction of new facilities adjacent to this building and also in a new garden.

4. What new garden?! Well, at the northern end of this area, we propose to construct the “Centennial Terrace,” a space that will celebrate 100 years of BGH’s existence and also offer beautiful views to both the Fowl River and the North Bayou, while providing a new space for rental opportunities and other celebrations. Please see at the top of this article the exciting artist’s sketch of a portion of the Centennial Terrace.

5. Improved flow, both for visitors and for service and delivery vehicles, will be had through this space through the thoughtful restructuring of walkways.

6. We will address needed, permanent repairs to the Mirror Lake dam, its weir, and the overflow pond on the northeast side of the lake.

With all of these details, you might feel that the design work is 100% done, but no, there’s more. Soon, after completing schematic design, we will go into “design development,” where all of the nitty-gritty details will be determined. This process will leave us with only the construction documents to be drawn afterward!

When we announced at the turn of the year that we had met the challenge from The Daniel Foundation of Alabama, this is what these funds were raised to do. Through the Daniel Foundation, and because of all of you who stepped in to help us reach the $100,000 match, we are well on our way in the design process to envision what the Historic Core, the heart and soul of Bellingrath Gardens & Home, will be for its next 100 years!

Thank you.
Todd

Over the past few months, three of our flower beds have been adopted. Joshua Turner and Samantha Stone adopted the center bed in the Secret Garden, and The Sybil and White Smith Foundation dedicated twin beds at the base of the Grotto.

The Secret Garden bed is in memory of Barbara Ann “Mimi” Dortch. The Grotto beds are in memory of Sybil Huey Smith and Margaret G. Huey.

Joshua and Samantha recently visited the Gardens, and Samantha shared these thoughts on seeing the bed in memory of her grandmother:

“Thank you for allowing our beloved Barbara Ann (“Mimi”) to share her Blooming Bed with guests and caretakers at Bellingrath Gardens. Much like a bloom’s edges peeling back, a plant blossoming is a sort of grieving. Once secure and bound, a bud then opens to bloom, braving the elements to show the pinnacle of their beauty and remind us of their perpetual change. Mimi’s love of flora and fauna will live on with us, together.”

As Samantha says, the Blooming Beds show the beauty and constant change that are part of the Gardens experience. Each of the beds will have as many as five different plantings over the course of the year, but for the two-year adoption period, they’ll remain a celebration of those they remember and of nature’s beauty.

Other tribute gift opportunities include swings and benches, containers, and commemorative bricks. More information is available on our website at Tribute & Commemorative Gifts – Bellingrath Gardens.

For questions about tribute and commemorative gifts, contact Director of Development Cory Sparks at [email protected] or (251) 873-1378.

Last October, Bellingrath Gardens & Home unveiled its Centennial Master Plan to the public with much excitement and energy. Since then, we have been working intensely on design for Phase 1 (The Historic Core), but we also have been exploring possibilities with both the future Children’s and Family Garden and even the Camellia Arboretum. To say that we have seen interest in this plan is an understatement!

However, while the concepts of restoring features and spaces (like we did recently with the Summer House) and building new spaces are work enough, there also remains the fact that BGH’s systems, infrastructure, and operational facilities need attention. As such, Dr. Cory Sparks, BGH’s Director of Development and I, with help from Tom McGehee, BGH’s Bellingrath Home Museum Director, have been working diligently on a campaign we call “Laying the Groundwork for the Centennial Master Plan.” This campaign will see seven projects completed. Of course, there are many more projects, but we had to start with a prioritized list.

1. Engineering and design of new electrical infrastructure from our point of connection with Alabama Power inward and throughout the entire BGH campus

2. Underground surveying work of the Phase 1 Historic Core area so that unmapped, legacy infrastructure can be identified and located

3. Installation of new LED light fixtures and connection via buried electrical infrastructure to light our overflow parking lot

4. Architectural redesign of the “Security Building” to accommodate six new offices

5. Documentation and needs assessments of eight existing BGH buildings

6. Installation of wireless solenoid valves for irrigation improvements to the Great Lawn

7. Conceptual design of a new Maintenance Facility and Complex

Collectively, major funding has been secured – totaling over $160,000 or 62% of the goal as we await word from other grantors. We thank The J.L. Bedsole Foundation ($100,000), Hargrove Engineers ($25,000), The A.S. Mitchell Foundation ($17,500), The Dr. Monte L. Moorer Foundation Charitable Trust ($10,000), The Laidlaw Foundation ($5,000), and The Julien E. Marx Foundation Trust ($3,000) for this crucial and forward-looking support of Bellingrath Gardens & Home!

Hargrove Engineers (Mobile, AL) has already commenced work on the electrical infrastructure design. In related projects, E.F. Thompson Geotechnologies (Mobile, AL) has been hired to complete underground surveying, and McCollum Electric (Mobile, AL) will install the lighting in the overflow parking lot.

And, this support comes on top of $50,000 contributed by The Hearin-Chandler Foundation to the Summer House project, $21,000 awarded from the Stanley Smith Horticultural Trust (Larkspur, CA) in a nationally competitive grant cycle for greenhouse cooling systems improvements, $7,500 from The Williams Companies Foundation (Tulsa, OK) for improvements to the Bayou Boardwalk, and our December 2025 completion of the $100,000 challenge grant from The Daniel Foundation of Alabama for design work of Phase 1 of the Master Plan. We also raised $25,000 for improvements to our “headhouse” building (which supports greenhouse operations) through crowdfunding via small donors!

Y’all, all I can say is that it is happening! We really are seeing historic levels of success with our fundraising at BGH, and I truly do believe that the best is yet to come. We are also experiencing a record-setting year for our Membership program, with us being 49% over target as of March 1st! The love that people feel for Bellingrath and the notion that Bellingrath is an integral part of Mobile and the greater Gulf Coast region are palpable realities. We will continue to advocate for support from donors and members like you, and so many others who are looking at our momentum with excitement and anticipation.

Thank you.
Todd