Burden Museum & Gardens offers summertime activities

By Myra Miller on Wednesday, May 10, 2017

By: Rick Bogren,
rbogren@agcenter.lsu.edu
BATON ROUGE— As summer heats up in south Louisiana, Burden Museum & Gardens offers many activities to help people enjoy the changing season.
Special summertime events to remember
On Monday through Friday, June 5 to 9, from 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. each day, the LSU Rural Life Museum will conduct the Rural Life Apprentice Program. During the weeklong summer camp, Louisiana artisans will teach children traditional folk arts such as candlemaking, weaving, blacksmithing, open-hearth cooking and traditional games. Open to children entering the fourth through eighth grades. Advance registration is required. Camp fee is $100 per child.
On Saturday, June 17, from 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens at Burden will present Garden Fest. Garden Fest focuses on locally grown and produced foods and beverages. Visitors will be able to tour various gardens, take a hayride to vegetable trial plots to taste new vegetable varieties and learn about the latest in vegetables and ornamental plants. Samples of dishes prepared with Burden vegetables and samples from food companies in the LSU AgCenter Food Incubator will be available. Educational sessions will begin at 9 a.m. continue every 30 minutes until 11 a.m. Children’s activities will include water slides (bring your swimsuits) and Trixie the Clown. Admission to the event is $5 per person. Children under 4 will be admitted at no charge.
On Saturday, June 24, from 9 to 11 a.m. the Children’s Garden Series at the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens will present “Native Trees.” Trees are an important part of our environment, and children will take a nature hike and discover which trees are native to Louisiana and the United States and which have travelled many miles to live here. Children ages 6 to 12 can participate in fun, interactive activities. An adult must accompany each child. Children will receive snacks and garden take-home crafts. Attendance is limited. Admission is $15 per child. Reservations are required in advance to Angie Wall at angwall@cox.net.
On Monday through Friday, June 26 to 30, the Botanic Gardens will host a Byzantine Icon Workshop from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day. Participants will learn how to create a Virgin of Vladimir icon using gold leaf and paint. Classes are held in the Steele Burden Memorial Orangerie. No art experience is required. All materials are included in the fee. Registration is $350 per person. Call 225-763-3990 to reserve your spot. Enrollment is limited.
About Burden Museum & Gardens
Located at 4560 Essen Lane, just off Interstate 10 in Baton Rouge, Burden Museum & Gardens is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes the LSU Rural Life Museum, the LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens and Windrush Gardens.
The LSU AgCenter Botanic Gardens is an expansive collection of specialty gardens, woodlands, wetlands and arboreta. Trees and Trails offers 5 miles of serene walking paths through the Burden Woods. The Rose Garden, Children’s Garden and All-America Selections Display Garden showcase the beauty of plants and flowers and provide educational experiences for gardeners of all ages. No admission is required to tour the gardens.
The LSU Rural Life Museum focuses on the ways of life of rural Louisiana during the 18th and 19th centuries. The museum also provides educational and research resources that advance an understanding of the material and cultural heritage of the region.
Adjacent to the Rural Life Museum, the historic Windrush Gardens comprises 5 acres of semiformal gardens of the Burden family.
Admission to the Botanic Gardens and Trees and Trails is free of charge and open daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission to the Rural Life Museum is $10 for adults 12 to 61 and $9 for seniors and children 6 to 11. Admission to Windrush Gardens is $3 per person. Both are free for kids under 6. The LSU Rural Life Museum and Windrush Gardens are open daily 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. except major holidays.
Continuing activities include
Trees and Trails, a 3-mile system of pedestrian, recreational and educational trails in the Burden Woods, provides opportunities for hiking and interpretive and educational activities for youth and adults. The Mosaic Boardwalk at Black Swamp guides visitors through a hardwood swamp more than 200 years old. The trail system is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day.
The children’s garden offers a place to learn about gardening and nutrition. This model garden also provides a location for youth-related organizations and individual families to experience the outdoors, focusing on vegetable, herb and butterfly garden plantings.
Windrush Gardens comprises majestic live oaks and ancient crape myrtles to create a shady canopy over azaleas and camellias, evoking a sense of tranquility and peace. Steele Burden, who was influenced by the gardens of Europe and the surviving gardens of 19th century Louisiana plantations, designed Windrush.
The winding paths are ideal for strolling and enjoying the 25 acres of landscaped spaces.
The Rose Garden is a member of the American Garden Rose Selections program, a nationwide network of approved public gardens, and the American Rose Trials for Sustainability (ARTS) program, maintaining an inventory of 1,500 plants representing 150 varieties.
Starting each April, the Rose Garden offers an exclusive preview of the coming year’s outstanding new varieties.