The garden at the Mayfair House figures in the series for several reasons. Obviously, the most important reason is that it is the location of Lasher's grave along with that of Emaleth, his daughter by Rowan Mayfair.
Other events occur in the garden and on the grounds that are prominent in the
story:
1. Mary Beth Mayfair had the garden laid out for her fifteenth birthday
in the very design that was restored a century later by Michael Curry.
2. Stella Mayfair's parties often spilled out onto the grounds.
For one party, she filled the swimming pool (her addition to the grounds) with champagne.
3. Antha Mayfair was pushed to her death on the flagstone patio by Carlotta
Mayfair.
4. Deirdre Mayfair is the namesake of "Deirdre's Oak" and it was she who
carved "Lasher" into its trunk.
5.
Sightings of Deirdre Mayfair on the porch had her positioned to view
the garden, and the activity in the
garden gave atmosphere to the setting at the beginning of The Witching Hour.
6.
Michael Curry always saw Lasher standing in the garden at First Street
when he was a child. When he
returned to New Orleans, he went straight to the house and saw that
thirty years later,
Lasher was still in the garden.
7.
Michael had a vision when he decided to take a dip in the newly
restored
pool. He saw a ghostly replay of
Stella's last party and the shade of Arthur Langtry was warning him by
urging
him to "come away from there, man!"
Later, Michael nearly drowned in the pool after his fight with the
newly reincarnated
Lasher, who meant to drown him
completely this time.
8. Rowan and Michael's wedding reception at the house was also spread
into the garden.
9.
Julien Mayfair appeared to Quinn Blackwood when he came to visit Mona,
and it was in the garden that Julien
warned Quinn that he and Mona could never marry. The interview with
Julien took
place in the very location in the
garden where Lasher and Emaleth were interred. Their scent was still
there, and
Quinn noted it, though he did not
know the source of it until Julien told him.
10.
It was in the garden that Lestat joined Rowan, Michael, Dolly Jean
Mayfair, Quinn and Mona to hear
Rowan's recounting of the events that led up to her despair and Mona's
death - the events
in the three Mayfair books. It was
here also that she told Lestat that she was more than aware of the
existence
of Merrick Mayfair and described
their meeting one another. Rowan also told Lestat that she had seen
Louis and had even
followed him. Lestat in turn told
her that Louis was no doubt aware of her though she did not think he was
at the time.
I
decided to put some photos here of what species of plants and shrubs
can be found in the
Mayfair garden. One of my passions
has always been gardens so this is a good excuse to devote a page on
this
site to them. Over time, I will
provide the Latin names of each plant as well as their common names
as we know them.
What
is amazing is that this is a garden flourishing in New Orleans and
though I live in
Oregon, many of the same species of
plants thrive here as well. Then again, it is often the amount of light
and
watering (whether natural from rain
or done with a sprinkler system) that determines if a plant will live or
not.
The light is a critical part of
photosynthesis and whether it's New Orleans or it's Oregon, light is
light.
For all you gardening enthusiasts, a gallery of plants with some random night blooming jasmine that can be found in the
First Street garden...
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