They grow along the edge a plantation garden pond. The first planted gardens here date back to the 1670’s.

In the 1820’s gardens here were photographed by Matthew Brady a pioneer photographer (known for documenting the US Civil War).

These swamps and gardens were also used by John Jay Audubon the famous naturalist.  Many of the wildlife photographs published here are from the same swamps used by Audubon. His Great Egret drawings are now an international symbol of conservation.

Most of the large plantation house was burned during the Civil War, however the gardens, rice fields, and marshes survived.