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…
Compiled from the archives at Bellingrath Gardens and Home John Dickinson was a longtime guide at Bellingrath Gardens and Home during the 1950s and 1960s. The Bellingrath archives contain an interview with General Manager Fred Holder dated July 2, 1957,…
By Tom McGehee, Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home When Walter Bellingrath purchased the Fowl River fishing camp that would eventually become Bellingrath Gardens and Home, the camp's two wooden cabins had been abandoned for some time. His father-in-law, Sewell…
By Sally Pearsall Ericson, Director of Marketing and Public Relations We've certainly had a chilly start to 2018. Chuck Owens, Nursery Manager at Bellingrath Gardens and Home, offers his advice to help Gulf Coast gardeners cope with the low temperatures.…
By Tom McGehee, Museum Director of the Bellingrath Home When the Bellingrath Home was completed in 1936, it was equipped with something very few homes in Mobile had: Central heat. A large cast iron furnace in the basement bears a…