Susan and Chuck Gautreaux
Gardening
has been a passion of Susan and Chuck Gautreaux's for
nearly thirty years. Natives of New Orleans, Sue and
Chuck are familiar with beautiful gardens, so as
homeowners it was natural that their own backyards
became the canvas for their design and gardening
expertise.
Susan, whose
background in finance and legal administration gave
her an appreciation for efficiency, approached
gardening with the same organization and planning.
"Lots of flowers without breaking my back or taking
every available minute of my spare time" was her goal
as a busy mother of two active boys, now
grown.
Chuck, a
buyer for major pharmaceutical and food chains, is
equally committed to gardening for results. "If I can
have a beautiful backyard and still have time to enjoy
it, that's the best of both worlds," he says. A
math/science major in university, Chuck is fascinated
by the intricacies of hybridizing daylilies, and his
personal garden sports several experiments as he
perfects his ideal daylily.
How does
your garden grow?
A rose disaster started Susan and Chuck on the
road to old garden roses. "In the ‘80s, I wanted
a rose garden, so I ordered expensive hybrid teas,"
Susan relates. The rose garden was beautiful, she
notes, "just like in the catalog!"
"And we were
constantly working to keep them that way," Chuck adds.
"Between pruning, watering, feeding, and fertilizing,
it was a never-ending task to keep them healthy and
blooming." Still, the beauty of the garden made it a
labor of love.
The garden
thrived -- until Susan and Chuck took their vacation.
"In one week, the garden fell apart!" Susan and
Chuck's beautiful rose garden was devastated by a
single week without the tender – and
time-consuming – care they had lavished on the
cherished garden. "We had to start over," Chuck
recalls. The roses needed severe pruning and,
afterward, the garden was slow to recover.
A Better
Answer!
Sue picks up the story. "That's when we found
hybrid daylilies. Low maintenance, gorgeous flowers,
and they multiply! What could be better?" The forlorn
rose garden became a bed of multi-hued daylilies. But
although they focused on easy-care flowers, the lure
of roses was strong.
When, in
2000, Sue found an ad for a property featuring
‘old garden roses,' she was intrigued. Owning a
nursery had long been a dream, and the three-acre
property was the perfect size for a small, family-run
garden center. Sue and Chuck drove out to have a look
at it.
The property
was very overgrown, but the structure of the
landscaping was evident. The trees caught Chuck's eye:
he is famous in the family for doing anything to avoid
losing a tree. And the roses – fifty old roses in
groupings on the property – were blooming,
despite the lack of care. "That was it," Chuck nods.
"That great property, with all those trees and the
beautiful roses still blooming. We started to research
antique roses."
And the
Antique Rose Gardens were born.
Now, Chuck
rises early to enjoy the prayer garden in progress
beneath a row of cottonwoods he was advised to remove.
Before he heads out to his regular fulltime job, he
can be found watering roses or having an early cup of
coffee with Susan in the porch swing as they enjoy the
gardens of their dreams.
