If you're planning on driving to south Louisiana my suggestion would be a visit to St. Francisville. It's about 35 miles north of Baton Rouge. Lots of plantation homes and quaint shops. A number of B&Bs too.

St. Francisville info

lodging

The Carriage House restaurant

Hello, Carolann,
Sounds like a wonderful trip. I posted a link to some
gardens near Baton Rouge. This is just a few. There's
also Longue Vue House and gardens in New Orleans and
the New Orleans Botanical gardens as well. If you
google Louisiana gardens you'll get a bunch. Have a
safe and wonderful time.

Brenda

Here is a link that might be useful: http://members.cox.net/mryfon/gardens2.htm

Thanks for all the help. It's so nice of you to help us.
We've both been looking at the places you pointed out. We're just like two young girls who want to do everything all at once and keep changing our minds about where to go. LOL
Last spring I went with some people to Myrtles Plantation and spent the night. We never went downtown and I was wondering if they have an historic downtown with shops.
Oh and Myrtles is haunted. We took pictures of the outside of the house and in the windows you can see people looking out at us. They are dressed in old attire. Very creepy.

The Burden Center and the BREC Botanical Gardens are across the river in Baton Rouge. Hodges Gardens in Many is closer to Texas. The downtown in St Francisville is small and quaint. You are about 25 miles from Woodville, Mississippi, another scenic town.

I never realized Mississippi was so close to St. Francisville.
You all have given us a lot of exciting choices. I can't wait till we go on our trip.

I live in Joshua, Texas which is south of Ft. Worth so if any of you are ever in Joshua I would be glad to show you our...um...let me think. We don't really have a town. I know! I will show you my gardens and make you some sweet tea.
Carol Ann

Hodges Gardens in Sabine Parish in north Louisiana can be a nice place to visit. That's probably closer to Nagadoches than anything in south Louisiana.

Also, Natchitoches is a quaint town with beautiful yards, neat "Front St" shops, and lots of history. "Steel Magnolias" was filmed there!

You could visit Ponchatoula, America's Antique City. It's at the crossroads of I-12 and I-55.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ponchatoula, La.

New Iberia has Shadows on the Teche, a wonderful house that countless arrivistes (here in Mississippi) have copied in recent decades, when they built their own McMansions. And I'm sure you could drive around Houston's River Oaks and see a dozen copies there, too. The real thing is stunning, with big azaleas, big Live Oaks...and that wonderful orange handmade brick. Le Rosier Country Inn looks like a Pretty nice B&B in New Iberia.

Another must-see is Rosedown, which (I pray)still has its original Antebellum gardens. Until a Russian 'businessman' bought the house, a decade or so back (and sold off the furnishings), the original interiors were intact. Rosedown is in St. Francisville. I only hope someone did not decide the gardens were "overgrown" and decide to "clean them up". The photos I'm seeing on Google Image Search are, quite frankly, scaring me. The place used to be a beautiful jungle of Ancient camellias and other mature specimens, neatly contained within the geometry of boxwood-lined paths. Someone PLEASE tell me I'm just looking at bad photos!

The courtyard gardens are largely in New Orleans. That is a horrendously dangerous city, now. Please be careful! Do not venture into the cemeteries without an armed guard. I'm not kidding. That said, springtime in the Garden District, and along St. Charles Avenue, is absolutely breathtaking. Many of the French Quarter and Garden district Hotels/B&Bs have the sort of courtyards you're hoping to experience.

My personal favorite place in Louisiana is Lafayette (a little North of New Iberia). In many ways, it's a smaller Houston, but with a French Accent. There's a wealth of historic architecture to see, throughout Acadiana (Cajun land). Strictly in terms of gardens, I don't know where to send you there. But I board my orchids at ABC Orchids & Tropicals, which has loads of one-off orchids hybridized by Mr. Chauvin, the owner.

The food in Lafayette is not to be believed. And don't miss Poupart's Patissserie/Boulangerie. Best pastries this side of Montreal. The husband trained as a pastry chef in France. One of his French classmates became his wife. Together, they turn out just the sort of delights you'd expect. The fig pockets and Doberge cakes are my faves (along with Mme. Poupart's preserves and herbed breads), but it's hard to choose. And even the mom & pop groceries and hamburger stands in Acadiana are neat. I'd stay at Maison des Amis, a pretty sophisticated B&B in Adjacent Breaux Bridge. The gardens look like they'd be great to loll about in for a while.

In a couple of weeks, Lafayette will be hosting Festival International (pronounced in French), which is probably the most urbane festival in the whole South (except maybe Spoleto in Charleston). Francophone musicians from all over the world converge, for an event with three outdoor stages (in several parts of downtown). You can listen, online, to see whether it's your cup of tea. It's a huge event, and draws mostly upper-middle-class music lovers. So, book Maison des Amis way ahead of time: it may be hard to get a room, because of Festival International.

OOPS! Festival International has SIX stages (these run simultaneously, so you can pick your flavor; maybe Swamp Pop, World Music, Zydeco, Cajun...), not three stages, as I stated in the previous post. And you can only hear one sample on the official website. But during the festival, one can listen live, online, on the public station. To get in the mood, you could make your own Cajun station on Pandora (start with Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band). Pandora Radio is easy and FREE (in case you're not already familiar).

Another miraculous home I forgot to mention is San Francisco Plantation. The gardens have been "cleaned-up" (destroyed), but the live oaks are still there, and the house has been restored to a fare-the-well. It's not far from New Orleans, but the area is relatively safe. The house is the ultimate Steamboat Gothic residence: completely over-the-top, and just what I personally like (American Colonial makes my skin crawl and my brain itch). Sure would be better if some little busybody had not decided to cut down all the wonderful growies, though!

Another idea is to visit Avery Island's Jungle Gardens. I believe the island is still in the possession of the family, and so the gardens have not suffered the "cleaning up" that has degraded so many of Louisiana's priceless properties. Anyway, the house is a gem, and the gardens are enormous. I have to wonder whether the gardens were Tennessee Williams' inspiration for Sebastian Venable's garden in Suddenly Last Summer.

Or, you could stay in a home built by my own family: Madewood, in Napoleonville (such an appropriate Town Name, considering how bossy and overbearing we Pugh descendants are, even to this day). Frankly, the house is very American, and very textbook Neoclassical. Very 'fine', but not much fun. The Pughs were very aware of their descent (through the kings of Wales) from the Emperors of Rome and Kings of Judea, and the house shows it. Personally, I like San Francisco Plantation much better (maybe 'bad' taste is why our branch of the family was disowned in the 1890s). Still, Madewood is perfection, and the guest rooms are quite VIP-worthy.

Not far away from Avery Island, on 'Jefferson Island' is Rip Van Winkle Gardens (forgive the Name: It isn't a tourist trap. The original Nineteenth Century owner named it that.) The house is a fantastical villa in the Picturesque Style, and the gardens are in the same flavor.

Both 'Rip Van Winkle' and 'Jungle Gardens' are near New Iberia, so could be easily combined with viewing Shadows on the Teche (and nearby Lafayette).

Take a short trip to historic Natchez, Mississippi. You won't regret it.

Thanks so much for all the help. We've decided to go to Baton Rouge and some nearby towns. We want to find a hotel (hopefully reasonably priced) on a good side of town.
Can anyone please recommend one?

Carol Ann