Landry Property

Several acres of mixed hardwood and pine forest in the Mississippi Valley Loess Plains ecoregion

The Landry Property is a beautiful piece of land outside of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, owned by my wife's parents. It is nearly 10 acres of mixed hardwood and pine forest, with predominantly Magnolia-Beech forest on the higher elevations and Elm-Ironbeam-Loblolly Pine forest in the bottomlands.

We've lived here for just over two years, as of February 2024, and in that time I've been able to connect to the flora and fauna of Louisiana in a way that I was never able to in the 34 years of living in Baton Rouge before we moved to Oregon in 2017.

In those two years, I've observed nearly 1000 different species on the property, including approximately 230 native plant species, over 400 insect and arachnid species, 100 bird species, 24 species of reptiles and amphibians, 14 native mammal species, and a few dozen species of fungi.

I've also introduced (with varying degrees of success) several plant species here, including Mulberry, Elderberry, Mayhaw, Common Paw Paw, Titi, and Buttonbushes. The Watering Can series of posts from 2023 documents a good bit of those efforts here.

It's been wonderful to have this place to reconnect to my home state, to have a place to train my Naturalist eye as I become more familiar with the more-than-human world around us. Day to day, week to week, year to year, I learn more about the land and beings that inhabit the land, and am still frequently surprised by what pops up in places I've looked at hundreds of times before. As it's often called by visitors, it really is a little slice of Heaven.

Last updated February 18, 2024.

Related Journal Posts

Img 5116 2 The Pokeberry Patch

An accident turns into one of the best spots in the yard

Img 0683 Nature Journal - Landry Property 12/13/2022

It's been so gray and damp here recently... and that means more mushrooms

Img 5773 Feeling the Roots

Lessons learned from transplanting the lone Sassafras tree in our yard

A watering can next to an Aquatic Milkweed, surrounded by long green grasses and sedges The Watering Can - 5/29/2023

The first in a series of weekly updates on the plants I'm caring for in our yard

A metal watering can rests in front of a small Black Willow sapling, on the banks of a pond The Watering Can - 6/6/2023

Some new additions, and the early June rains are making my watering job a lot easier

A closeup of a new green branch with leaves on an elderberry The Watering Can - 6/12/2023

The rain has dried up a bit, and the dance of keeping many different species happy gets tricky

A small milkweed plant uprooted by an unknown animal The Watering Can - 6/19/2023

"And I start to complain that there's no rain..."

Unopened Coreopsis blooms in front of the watering can The Watering Can - 6/30/2023

The Sun, the Solstice, the Shifting Season

Three dying physotegia plants newly planted in the ground The Watering Can - 7/7/2023

Finally putting a bit more in the ground as the yard stabilizes and we get some more rain

Huge patches of brown, dead grass cover a yard in between a pond and house The Watering Can - 11/27/2023

The aftermath of trying to learn how to grow plants during the most extreme drought of my lifetime

Turkey Tail Rosette With Caterpillar Log Pile Homage to the Log Pile

Remembering the beings that thrived in a long line of logs

A small, spiky cedar tree sapling sticks out of the ground next to a metal watering can The Watering Can - 4/15/2024

Let's see who survived the winter and is giving it a go in 2024

20240603 Img 3405 The Watering Can - 6/3/2024

The warm, wet Spring has continued and the plants are loving it.

A close view of a large, fresh sunflower facing the camera The Watering Can - 7/5/2024

Summer's here and the heat has followed. So far, the rains are still around...