Landscaping of Aven's residential area is an important theme in the novel. Lawns covered in grass with ornamental plants like camellias and azaleas were unheard of to most Aven residents who had grown up on farms where the area around the house was kept swept clear of all plant life. Buck Bannon's mother continues to sweep her yard even after she moves to Aven. This scene in the novel with the standpipe occurs around 1900 when St. Augustine grass was becoming a common lawn grass in Florida. It was introduced in Louisiana around 1880. The author including "St. Augustine grass" adds a colorful detail which enriches the novel and shows the author's concern for THE TRUTH. "Literature makes real what history forgot." ~ Carlos Fuentes (from the March 25, 1902 Montgomery Advertiser)