Caroline “Carrie” Dormon (1888-1971) had a very productive and wide-ranging life as author and illustrator. Many examples of this skillful combination can be found in Dormon’s 1934 book, “Wild Flowers of Louisiana.”
While Dormon was interested in native plantings across the United States, it is clear that she especially loves the plants of her native Louisiana. These include trees such as the Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) which she describes as “nothing is more beautiful,” and Magnolia grandiflora (“should be crowned queen of trees”).
Although she had other strong interests, most of her work focused in some way on plants, especially in their conservation or promotion to gardeners. She was instrumental in establishing the Kisatchie National Forest and was effective at educating the public, especially children, on the value of forest ecosystems. She accomplished these goals in part as the first woman to work in the Forestry Division in Louisiana, an achievement that reflected her determination and considerable political savvy.
She was also an adept botanical illustrator. According to her biographer, Fran Holman, in “The Gift of the Wild Things,” she could be fanatical. She insisted on painting from nature, and if the condition and lighting of her subjects were ideal, she would remain at her work, mindless of anything else. Holman writes, “the majority of Carrie’s paintings were of flowers and shrubs and trees…a skillful combination of correct botany and colored charm.”
Louisiana irises were a special interest. This complex of several species is native through much of the southeast United States but with the greatest concentration in their eponymic state’s wetlands. Hybrids between the species have one of the widest range of colors of any iris group, but were essentially unknown in horticulture before the work of Dormon and few others.
She planted many at her garden in northern Louisiana and distributed them to friends elsewhere in an effort to understand their best growing conditions. She also introduced hybrids, winning six Mary Swords DeBaillon Awards between 1948-1958, the top honor of that era from the Society for Louisiana Irises.
Reviewed by: Brian Thompson on December 2, 2024
Excerpted from the Winter 2025 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin