Sometimes it's hard to imagine what parents were thinking or even if they were for the Hog
family to name a daughter I'm a
. I think it ranks right up there with the idea of naming a dam after the local town of Gad in West Virginia. The happy ending part is that oil was discovered on the family cotton plantation and Ima Hogg used the proceeds in many wonderful projects for Texas including the Bayou Bend Collection and Gardens in south Houston. The biography at the above link is a fascinating story of one of the premier ladies in Texas history.
On the day we visited the house and collection were closed for a special function but the gardens were spectacular like this formal garden maze. Taking this picture required two shots to be stiched together into a panorama. I'm still not real good at this and I really need to try again with some of the newer lenses I acquired along the way.
At only 14 acres which includes the house, formal gardens, and natural areas the overall garden is rather small; sort of like Mynelle Garden in Jackson, Mississippi which was also created and donated to the city by a maiden lady.
One one of our future visits we'll try to get back here for pictures of the house and more of the garden.