Botanical Gardens in South Carolina - Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (Charleston, South Carolina)Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (Charleston, South Carolina), Riverbanks Zoo, Cypress Gardens, Riverbanks Zoo, Cypress Gardens (Paperback)

Chapters: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (Charleston, South Carolina), Riverbanks Zoo, Cypress Gardens, South Carolina Botanical Garden, Kalmia Gardens, Mepkin Abbey Botanical Garden, Furman University Japanese Garden, W. Gordon Belser Arboretum. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 26. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens (70 acres, 28 hectares) is historic house with gardens located on the Ashley River at 3550 Ashley River Road, Charleston, South Carolina, United States. It is one of the oldest plantations in the south, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The house and gardens are open daily; an admission fee is charged. The plantation dates to 1676 when Thomas and Ann Drayton built a house and small formal garden on the site. (The plantation remains under the control of the Drayton family after 15 generations.) The historic Drayton Hall was built in 1738 by John Drayton on an adjoining property. Originally a rice plantation, Magnolia became known for its gardens after the Reverend John Grimke Drayton inherited the property in the 1840s and began to rework its gardens in an English style. According to legend, he built the gardens to lure his bride south from her native Philadelphia. He was among the first to utilize Camellia japonica in an outdoor setting (1820s), and is said to have introduced the first azaleas to America. Dripping with pink and red azalea flowers and framed by live oak trees, the gardens of Magnolia on the Ashley were quite well known in the Antebellum period, and were photographed by Mathew Brady, who would later become famous for his photographs of the American Civil War. Another visitor to Magnolia in this period was John James Audubon for whom Magnolia's Audubon Swamp Garden is named. (Magnolia plantation owner ...More: http: //booksllc.net/?id=752877