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(NAPSI)-Since the first days of the Carolina Colony, fine gardening has
been a tradition in this mecca of horticulture.
In fact, the distinctive butterfly gardens at Middleton Place in South
Carolina can boast of being the first formal gardens in the
English Colonies, forged from marshy woodlands along the banks of the Ashley River around 1740. Next door is
eclectic Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, owned by the same family for more
than 325 years and a birthplace of ornamentally grown azaleas and camellias.
Nowadays, visitors can take in those historic sites along with
leading-edge horticulture and everything in between with just a short drive
around the Palmetto
State.
Highlights include Riverbanks Zoo & Garden in Columbia, where formal and informal
plantings join an impressive stand of old rose
varieties and a cooling shade garden.
There’s also the 250-acre South Carolina
Botanical Garden at Clemson University, itself a noted institution
of horticultural and agricultural research. Notable public gardens also
include Kalmia Gardens
at Coker College, where a 60-foot drop in
elevation provides for a surprising diversity in plants and wildlife. Hopelands
Gardens in picturesque
Aiken, meanwhile, is a 14-acre former estate where, behind a serpentine brick
wall, there is a canopy of ancient oaks, deodara
cedars and magnolias.
Two commercial operations also bear mention. Park Seed in Greenwood is one of the nation’s
largest and oldest mail-order operations with a nine-acre trial garden.
Orchid fans and plant lovers of all kinds also wouldn’t want to miss
Carter and Holmes Orchids in Newberry, where 18 greenhouses offer one of the
largest lineups of the prized plants in the nation.
Last but not least is 9,000-acre Brookgreen Gardens
on the coast near Myrtle Beach.
Visitors will find the largest collection of outdoor sculpture in the country
amid a Lowcountry setting of lush plantings, live
oaks and even a pontoon boat tour of long-abandoned ancient rice fields.
For more information on all this and more, go to www.DiscoverSouthCarolina.com.
A winding path through Hopelands Gardens
reveals a variety of beautiful plants, from daffodils and the explosion of
azaleas to dogwoods and other flowering shrubs and trees.
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