The New Orleans Botanical Garden was originally planned and planted during the 1930s as a Works Progress Administration [WPA] project.

Originally called simply the Rose Garden, it was created for the enjoyment and education of the general public who, unable to afford the luxury of private gardens, would otherwise have been deprived of enjoying such horticultural pleasures. The garden represents the collaboration of three designers: architect Richard Koch, landscape architect William Wiedorn, and sculptor Enrique Alferez. Each played a prominent design role in the New Orleans community during the twentieth century.