Mark VanDyke Photography
Charleston Plantation Explodes with Spring Color
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens
Charleston County, South Carolina
Accessed via Ashley River Road SC-61
Date Taken: March 22, 2012
Such a magical place--Magnolia Plantation & Gardens is absolutely spectacular in the Spring bloom season! A big thanks to photographer and friend, Dave Allen, for letting me tag along with him down to Charleston this past month, and for showing me around Charleston for the second time. Magnolia Plantation & Gardens is the oldest tourist site in the lowcountry of South Carolina and the oldest public garden in the United States. Designed and created in 1840 by John Grimke Drayton, grandson of the estate owner, the gardens were opened to the public in 1870 and have since remained in direct family ownership. Interesting fact for those of you who get a kick out of north/south history: Drayton set out to "create an earthly paradise in which (his wife) my dear Julia may forever forget Philadelphia (her home state) and her desire to return there."
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens is internationally renowed for its beauty, recently garnering the distinction of an International Camellia Garden of Excellence from the International Camellia Society. The garden is one of thirty in the world to carry this distinction and one of five in the United States. In 2010, The South Carolina Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the gardens with the Heritage Tourism Reward and just last month (March 2012) the gardens were listed as one of the fourteen most beautiful gardens in America by BudgetTravel. If you've never been, make plans to visit Charleston during late March / early April to see the spectacular Azalea bloom at Magnolia Gardens & Plantation! I've yet to scratch the surface in terms of seeing the property and all it has to offer. The shot above is the classic "azalea lane" near the plantation home and the garden entrance.
Charleston Plantation Explodes with Spring Color
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens
Charleston County, South Carolina
Accessed via Ashley River Road SC-61
Date Taken: March 22, 2012
Such a magical place--Magnolia Plantation & Gardens is absolutely spectacular in the Spring bloom season! A big thanks to photographer and friend, Dave Allen, for letting me tag along with him down to Charleston this past month, and for showing me around Charleston for the second time. Magnolia Plantation & Gardens is the oldest tourist site in the lowcountry of South Carolina and the oldest public garden in the United States. Designed and created in 1840 by John Grimke Drayton, grandson of the estate owner, the gardens were opened to the public in 1870 and have since remained in direct family ownership. Interesting fact for those of you who get a kick out of north/south history: Drayton set out to "create an earthly paradise in which (his wife) my dear Julia may forever forget Philadelphia (her home state) and her desire to return there."
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens is internationally renowed for its beauty, recently garnering the distinction of an International Camellia Garden of Excellence from the International Camellia Society. The garden is one of thirty in the world to carry this distinction and one of five in the United States. In 2010, The South Carolina Palmetto Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the gardens with the Heritage Tourism Reward and just last month (March 2012) the gardens were listed as one of the fourteen most beautiful gardens in America by BudgetTravel. If you've never been, make plans to visit Charleston during late March / early April to see the spectacular Azalea bloom at Magnolia Gardens & Plantation! I've yet to scratch the surface in terms of seeing the property and all it has to offer. The shot above is the classic "azalea lane" near the plantation home and the garden entrance.