The Garden in the Mayfair Witches Novels
Events 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.
Sources of the Garden
Most of the plantings here come from The Witching Hour.
The 1964 historical survey of 1239 First Street also has details on the garden at that time. The survey also contributed to the plantings listed here.
The house at 1239 First Street was the house used as the Mayfair Witches house in The Witching Hour, which was Anne Rice's home at the time she wrote the novels. The house, also called "Rosegate" and the "Brevard-Rice House", is also an historic Garden District home. We can actually find little bits of the house's actual history interwoven into the Mayfair Witches novels. If we look closely...
A Witch's Garden
One of these has the little flowers Michael Curry showed to Rowan Mayfair, explaining that as a child growing up in New Orleans, the flowers were often called "bacon 'n eggs" because of their appearance. Can you find it here?
The correct scientific names for each flower, plant, shrub, and tree is something I'm reviewing as many species of plants can look similar while being completely different. Or, like azaleas and rhododendrons, they can be so closely related and similar in appearance that it's hard to tell the difference merely from photographs.
I wanted to create something unique for this gallery. So, I created a series of images with various interpretations of the Mayfair Emerald included. I've wanted to focus more on the Mayfair Emerald than the appearances of the Mayfair Witches themselves because there is quite a bit about the powers believed to be associated with both the plant world and with gemstones. That's something I've not gone into a great deal on this site but I hope to correct that. This is a good place to start.
Flowering Plants
Fruit Producing Plants
Shrubs and Plants
Trees
Witches and the Natural World
Generally speaking, the use of different plantings has long been associated with the practice of witchcraft. Gemstones (crystals in particular) have also been known to have magical or sacred properties. Now, the Parlor is aware of these things, but the Parlor is also aware of how many times she's shrieked out loud at ill mannered web hosts and uncooperative hardware. And the Parlor is careful about what gets cursed (out) around here.
Does the garden of the Mayfair house contain plantings that had meaning beyond decoration? Could the Mayfairs, like what we might call "proper" witches, have had other uses for the garden besides what a garden at a house in the Garden District would be for?
While we're at it, could the Mayfair emerald itself have been able to act as a symbolic "key" because of other properties contained in a genuine Brazilian emerald? This page of the Parlor does not discuss the Mayfair emerald necklace. You can find out a bit more about it on The Doorway, the Thirteen and the Mayfair Emerald.
Other Flowers and Plants of the Mayfair Witches
Calla lilies are what Stella Mayfair specified for her funeral. She wanted them placed around her casket while laid out in the double parlor, as she specified being buried from the house.
As a refresher, it was not unusual in Stella's time for families to hold viewings and wakes in the family home with the deceased laid out in their casket in the front room of the house. Parlor, drawing room, living room... The very concept of a "funeral home" evolved from this practice.
Stella had this done for a very different reason, however...
A bit of Stella in 3D here: The Ghost of Stella Mayfair
Chicory is what is in cafe au lait...and that alone has an interesting history.
Roses...everyone knows roses. Lasher even left them for Rowan in her hotel room.
Wisteria is one of those flowers you just associate with the region. You almost expect to find this little purple flower in long clusters just draped over iron railings, spilling from balconies everywhere you look.