When the holiday calendar fills up, it helps to know a place where you can walk for an hour, slow down and spend nothing. In the middle of Baton Rouge, that place is BREC's Independence Botanical Gardens.

From runway to roses

The land has a long story. It was once part of Goodwood Plantation, and East Baton Rouge Parish bought it in 1931 to build the Downtown Airport, which ran for 44 years before closing in 1975. Part of the site became Independence Community Park in 1976, and BREC and the Botanic Garden Foundation started the gardens in 1991.

They have been growing ever since. Volunteers still help design and care for the beds, and new phases are added as funding allows.

What to see

The gardens are a collection of themed spaces you can wander in any order:

The Rose Garden, cared for by members of the Baton Rouge Rose Society

The Louisiana Iris Garden, with all five native iris species and the Iris Pavilion at its center

The Day Lily Garden, an American Hemerocallis Society Display Garden with more than 800 varieties

The Butterfly Garden, planted with host and nectar plants

The Parterre Color Display Garden, a formal French-style layout from 2017

The Crape Myrtle Grove, showing more than 40 varieties of the city's official tree

Along Independence Boulevard, the Promenade's double triple column of live oaks is the only planting of its kind in Louisiana, according to BREC.

Good to know

The gardens are open daily from 7 a.m. to sundown, and admission is free. The Baton Rouge Garden Center inside the gardens hosts monthly meetings of the bromeliad, bonsai, and cactus and succulent societies, plus the Baton Rouge Garden Club. For $10 a year, you can join the Friends of the Garden and help the next phase take root.

Bring a coffee, a camera or the grandkids. It's an easy reset in the middle of town.

Photo courtesy of BREC.