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By Tom McGehee, Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home Visitors to the Bellingrath Home are always impressed by Mrs. Bellingrath’s wide assortment of fine china on display in the Butler’s Pantry. While a few of the sets were antiques when…
By Tom McGehee, Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home Bessie Bellingrath collected many fine examples of Victorian iron works to enhance the Gardens and Home. Visitors will notice quite a few cast iron planters in the Rose Garden and on…
By Tom McGehee, Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home Mobilians on Saturday, August 16, 1969, awoke to a front page story about a hurricane named Camille. Long before Doppler Radar and spaghetti models, a simply drawn map carried the notation…
By Tom McGehee, Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home After Walter Bellingrath’s death in 1955, his home was opened for public tours, while the adjoining Lodge was converted into a gift shop. The Gardens had previously sold souvenir items at…
By Dr. Bill Barrick, Executive Director Blooming in the Conservatory now is a mature specimen of Ponytail Palm, Beaucarnea recurvata. As best as we can tell, this is the first time we have observed flower spikes on our specimen. There…
By Tom McGehee, Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home American prosperity during the 1920s brought a building boom, and all those new houses boasted every new amenity, especially in the bathroom. As the decade began, these rooms sported gleaming white…
By Dr. Bill Barrick, Executive Director Azaleas have been synonymous with Bellingrath Gardens and Home since its earliest beginnings in 1919, when Walter Bellingrath purchased what was then a rustic fishing camp on Fowl River. His wife, Bessie, who…
By Dr. Bill Barrick, Executive Director After we shared my blog post about cold damage in palms, within one week I received questions about Mule Palms. To be truthful, I had never heard of this palm. I ran into David…
By Sally Pearsall Ericson, Director of Marketing and Public Relations Linda Guy, longtime Rosarian at Bellingrath Gardens and Home, recently gave a presentation during the Winter Wednesdays series. Here are her suggestions for best practices in your rose garden. For…
By Dr. Bill Barrick, Executive Director During the dog days of summer, we may think we live in a sub-tropical climate, but in reality we are still quite temperate in Mobile. Our horticultural hardiness zone is 8b, meaning the average…