President Sally Reeves recently introduced the staff to a hidden treasure in the Pitot House garden in the form of butterfly weed (Asclepias tuberosa). The common name is more frequently given as "milkweed" although butterfly weed is also given.
Read MoreVetiver is actually a grass, but its roots are aromatic. The woodsey scent of Vetiver is a familiar odor to generations of New Orleanians who remember little dried bundles of Vetiver root folded in with their stored linens. It isn’t just for the odor, Vetiver also is an insecticide, says entomologist Dr. Gregg Henderson of the LSU AgCenter, who has studied the plant.
Read MoreThe Pitot House holds many historic treasures some of which are obvious and well-known such as the Jacques Amans portrait of Sophie Pitot that hangs in the winter bedroom. The house also holds lesser known treasures such as the unassuming black and white photograph of the Steckler family hanging in the salon.
Read MoreThe New Orleans Cholera Outbreak of 1848
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