Bayou Bend Gardens - Clio Garden

This ornamental garden was laid out in 1927-28, while the house was under construction. Miss Hogg first planted it with roses and perennial flowers, keeping careful records of the various plants that failed and thrived.

The plants seen in the rectangular beds are white Indicia azaleas, which--like most azaleas--bloom only in the spring. Blue pansies decorate the garden in January through April, and the wisteria blossoms in March and April.

Clio Garden, 1928
Unknown designer; statue added 1939

To provide color and drama during the summer and fall, Bayou Bend's garden staff recently reintroduced roses to the circular beds. The boxwood hedges emphasize the geometry of the beds. Miss Hogg added the small dome-shaped yaupon bushes in 1966.

	In Greek Mythology, the muse Clio was one of the nine sister-goddesses who presided over the arts and sciences. As muse of history, she embodies Miss Hogg's passion for the past. The statue is one of three graceful female figures that adorn Bayou Bend's gardens. Euterpe, muse of music, sits opposite Clio while Diana, goddess of hunt, is the focal point of the gardens to the north of the house.
Clio, 1939 Antonio Frilli Studios, Florence, Italy, after a work in the Vatican Museum, Rome Carrara marble Previous \| Top \| Next

This website was a created as a class project by students at the University of Houston College of Education. It is not the approved website for the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens or the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. Refer to the MFAH website for information about Bayou Bend at: http://www.mfah.org.