Garden Destination Members
 

South Carolina Botanical Gardens
102 Garden Trail, Clemson, SC 29634-0174
(864) 656-3405
www.clemson.edu/scbg 
The South Carolina Botanical Garden, off Silas Pearman Boulevard at Highway 76, is a diverse 295-acre garden of natural and manicured landscapes within the SC Piedmont ecosystem. Together, with a nationally recognized nature-based sculpture collection, distinguished youth education and outreach programs, and a Geology museum, the SCBG is a premier site for experiencing nature and culture. The garden is home to an official American Hosta Society Display Garden, a 40-acre arboretum, miles of nature trails and streams, a butterfly garden, wildflower meadow, and is home to over 400 varieties of camellias.
Hours of Operation: Gardens: Open Dawn until Dusk 365 days a year, Free Admission
Gift Shop and Visitors Center: Monday-Saturday, 10 am – 4 pm and Sunday, 1 pm – 5 pm (Closed Clemson University Holiday’s)
Directions: Located on the Clemson University Campus; from I-85 exit 19-B (Highway 76/28) travel 9 miles west to Clemson. Turn left on Perimeter Road and the Garden’s main entrance is approximately .5 miles on the left.
 

Central Heritage Gardens
416 Church Street, Central, SC 29630
(864) 639-2794
www.centralheritage.org 
Travel back into a quieter simpler time and visit a small town in upstate South Carolina. Tour a small-town merchant’s house museum and stroll through the garden that features unique heritage roses and sculptures. Absorb the atmosphere of time past in this small garden outside the Central History Museum. Walk through the rose garden with a sculpture as a centerpiece. Then stroll down the path toward the carriage house and the sculpture of two children reading a book. Bring your own book and relax on the benches in the garden, enjoy the serenity of the wrap-around porch. You may event picture yourself as living in the early 1900s in a small railroad and cotton mill community.
Hours of Operation: Sunday, 2 – 4 pm, except holidays, tours available by appointment
Directions: From Interstate 85, take Highway 76 north to Clemson. Turn right on Highway 123 toward Greenville, travel 4.3 miles to Central Exit. Turn left on Eighteen Mile Creek Road (turns into Church Street), go two miles toward Central. Museum on left.
 

Hopelands Gardens

135 Dupree Place, Aiken, SC 29801
(803) 642-7631

www.aikenprt.net      

Wrapped behind a serpentine brick wall and under a canopy of ancient oaks, deodara cedars, and magnolias, is Hopelands Gardens.  Bequeathed to the City of Aiken by Mrs. C. Oliver Iselin, this 14 acre estate was opened in 1969 as a public garden.  Radiating throughout the gardens is a network of paths shaded under 100 year old live oaks.  The Aiken Thoroughbred Hall of Fame and Museum is located inside Hopelands Gardens.  The Hall of Fame celebrates Aiken’s contributions to equestrian sports.  Aiken trained horses who have gone on to become National Champions are enshrined in the Hall of Fame.  Visitors may also view trophies and photos from the careers of some of America’s best known equestrian riders, polo players, and steeplechase riders.  The Roland H. Windham Performing Arts Stage is the place to be on Monday evenings during the months of May – August at performances by local and regional artists that are sure to satisfy any musical taste.

Hours of Operation: Monday – Sunday, 9 am – Sunset.  Closed Major Holidays.

Directions: From Interstate 20, take Highway 1 exit and turn left (Highway 1 becomes York Street), approximately 8 miles, turn right onto South Boundary and at the first stop light take a left onto Whiskey Road.  Hopelands Gardens is approximately 1.5 miles on the right. 

Rose Hill Estate

221 Greenville Street, NW, Aiken, SC 29801

(803) 648-1181

www.rosehillestate.com

Rose Hill is a downtown 5-acre secluded “winter colony” garden estate, which is unique in many ways.  Rose Hill is the first property in Aiken listed on the National Register of Historic Places; the original American home for the West Highland Terries; home for the first 20 years of the Aiken Center for the Arts; the first arboreteum in Aiken; the location for the creation of the SC Garden Club.  Visitors are enveloped in an ethereal beauty amongst hundreds of flowers and shrubs that tower over by a glorification of trees standing as a timeless cathedral of tranquility.  For the first time since 1900 visitors are welcome to experience Rose Hill through guided tours, accommodations, private events, meetings, luncheons, weddings, or Rose Hill events. 

Hours of Operation: Always

Directions: From I-20 East, exit 18, turn south, right, onto SC 19.  Drive approximately 8 miles until SC 19 becomes Laurens Street in downtown Aiken, turn right onto Edgefield Avenue, then left onto Greenville Street.  Main entrance with iron gates on right. 

Lill's Herb Garden
2136 Jones Bridge Road
Blackville, South Carolina
(803) 284-2422
A private garden in rural Barnwell County featuring herbs and lots of flowers. New and old allow visitors to delight the eye and rest the senses. Lill will be glad to explain the use of "herbs" as you stroll through the garden. Cut flowers and herbs are available in season. Tea parties in the garden are a delight as visitors share the garden with birds and butterflies. Picnic lunch or party for you and that someone special available upon request. Finally, come and rest awhile at the Wisteria Cottage and help Alvin milk the cow the old fashioned way!

Hours of Operation: Call ahead for an appointment

Directions: Drive approximately 3 miles north of Blackville on SC 3. Turn onto Healing Springs Road, go for 1 mile and turn left onto Jones Bridge Road.

Edisto Memorial Garden

Riverside Drive, Orangeburg, SC 29118

(803) 533-6020

http://www.orangeburg.sc.us/gardens/    

The Edisto Memorial Garden, an official garden of the American Rose Society, combines great natural beauty and fun activities making it a must see for visitors.  Discover 150 acres of azaleas, camellias, roses and other flowers spaced among giant oaks and century-old cypress trees, cherry and dogwood trees. 

The City of Orangeburg contracts with All-America Rose Selections, Inc. to display past and current award-winning roses.  Always on display are some 4000 pants including 75 labeled varieties of roses.  The Home Wetlands Park, a 2600-foot handicap accessible boardwalk, permits visitors an up-close look at wetlands area plant and wildlife.  Other garden features include a mountain brook, a waterwheel, Centennial Park, a butterfly garden, a garden for the sight impaired, a disc golf course, a spray park, fountains, and works of sculpture. 

The gardens are home of two Top 20 Events in the Southeast.  The Orangeburg Festival of Roses, a celebration of the first rose blooms of the season, draws thousands of visitors the last full weekend of April.  The Children’s Christmas & Kid’s Walk is one of the most anticipated events in the area.  Operating from the Monday before Thanksgiving to New Years Day, over 60 animated Christmas displays and lighted cherry trees make this event special for children of all ages. 

Hours of Operation: Open 7 Days a Week from Dawn to Dusk, Free Admission

Directions: Easy access via Interstate 26 and 95.  US 301 and 601 pass the Garden on their route from Florida and New York. 

Springfield Community Gardens

Railroad Avenue, Springfield, SC 29146

(803) 258-3152

To pass through the gate of the Butterfly Garden is to walk into enchantment.  A community built this garden to honor a beloved friend who was ill.  A variety of perennials, annual, vines, shrubs and trees fill a small space with vibrant color.  Window boxes and planter pots dress up the enclosing walls of old buildings.  A bubbling fountain and bright garden art provide more delight to the visitor who may sit and see passing by both small-town life and butterflies! 

A second community garden is located on Festival Trail Road and is know as the Springfield Prayer Garden.  Green foliage and all white flowers fill this small retreat whose boundaries are wood, wrought iron, and a historic brick wall.  A sheltering arbor and garden statuary contribute to the tranquility.  The visitor can close his eyes and enjoy the scent of old-fashioned breath of spring, tea olive, clematis, and other seasonal surprises.  Come experience the peach of this country town’s haven. 

Hours of Operation: Open For Visiting Daily Dawn to Dusk

Directions: On SC Highway #4 between Orangeburg and Aiken and SC Highway #3 between Columbia and Blackville, 10 miles from SCNHC Region 3 Discovery Center. 

Summerville Azalea Park

500 South Main Street, Summerville, SC 29483

(843) 871-6000

www.summerville.sc.us

This gem of a park in Summerville’s historic district contains eight acres filled with hundreds of azaleas, pines and dogwoods.  Paved walkways meander among ornamental plantings, gazebos, and reflection ponds, with benches providing an invitation to enjoy the natural beauty and serenity that have been created.  The newest features to Azalea Park are thirteen pieces of permanent bronze sculpture purchased and donated to the Town of Summerville.  Most pieces are accessible to touch.  The park is site to an annual sculpture event, annual arts and crafts extravaganza, and the Flowertown Festival.  When spring arrives, and the wisteria and dogwood are in bloom, it’s an absolute showplace, but it’s a great “escape” at any time of year! 

Hours of Operation: Daylight to 10 pm

Directions: Take Interstate 26 to Highway 17A (exit 199A).  The park is on 17A approximately 4 miles from the interstate. 

Middleton Place

4300 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414

Phone: (800) 782-3608

www.middletonplace.org

Middleton Place is an 18^th century rice plantation and National Historic Landmark comprising 65 acres of America’s oldest landscaped gardens, the Middleton Place House Museum and the Plantation Stableyards.  The gardens reflect the elegant symmetry of 17^th century European design.  Sculptured terraces, parterres, and reflection pools inhabited by swans are highlights of their intricate design.  Rare camellias bloom in the winter, while vibrant azaleas blanket the hillside above Rice Mill Pond in the spring.  Guided tours of the Middleton Place House Museum interpret the Middletons’ vital role in American history and the Plantation Stableyards recreate the activities of a self-sustaining Low Country plantation.  While visiting,  be sure to experience an African American Focus Tour, Carriage Tour, Nature Walk, and Lowcountry fare a the restaurant.  Find distinctive local and regional items at the Museum Shop and Garden Market & Nursery. 

Hours of Operation: Daily, 9 am – 5 pm

Directions: 14 miles from downtown Charleston on Highway 61

Magnolia Plantation and Its Gardens

3550 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414

(800) 367-3517

www.magnoliaplantation.com  

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, stately Magnolia Plantation has for over three centuries been the original home of the Drayton family.  The family has played many crucial roles in American history and today the plantation is home to the eleventh generation of Drayton’s.  Magnolia’s fame has been around since the late 1860s, and many experts considered it “the most beautiful garden in the world” for over a century. 

The plantation offers nearly 500 acres of gardens and grounds to explore.  Experience plantation life by visiting a restored worker’s cabin, the pre-Revolutionary rice barge, a “street” of antebellum houses and a large Native-American ceremonial mound.  Horticultural highlights include a Biblical Garden, an Herb Garden, a camellia garden, and the Tropical Barbados Garden. 

The guided tours are an excellent way to experience the plantation.  The plantation house, nature tram tour, the nature boat and the slavery interpretation transport you to another time as guides interpret plantation life, natural history, and wildlife. 

Hours of Operation: October – March, 8 am – 5 pm; March – October, 8 am – 5:30 pm

Directions: Located on Highway 61 North, approximately 10 miles from Historic Charleston

Drayton Hall

3380 Ashley River Road, Charleston, SC 29414

(843) 769-2600

www.draytonhall.org

Drayton Hall is an American treasure.  Established in 1738, the plantation still consists of the 625 acres accumulated by John Drayton in the 18^th century and tells the story of seven succeeding generations, both black and white.  Its main house is one of the oldest plantation houses in America.  In keeping with the best of architectural traditions, Drayton Hall was created with a vision of landscape and house as one.  An 18^th century advertisement for a plantation across the Ashley River declared that the site offered a pleasing view of “John Drayton’s palace and gardens.”  Thanks to Drayton Hall’s preservation philosophy , what remains of the landscape as evidence of choices of succeeding generations has been left intact and enables a more comprehensive interpretation of history.  In this approach, Drayton Hall is exemplary among historic sites in the nation. 

Hours of Operation: Daily, 9:30 am – 5:30 pm.  Closed Christmas Eve, Day, and New Year’s Day.

Directions: From I-26, take I-526 west for 5 miles to Ashley River Road/Highway 61 North, continue straight for 5 miles on Glen McConnell Boulevard.  Turn right on Bee’s Ferry Road and drive 2 miles to Highway 61.  Turn left on Highway 61 and continue for 2 miles.  Drayton Hall is on the right. 

Boone Hall Plantation

1235 Long Point Road, Mt. Pleasant, SC 29864

(843) 884-4371

www.boonehallplantation.com  

Boone Hall’s formal garden is located directly in front of the plantation home and is a partiered butterfly design.  The garden focuses on indigenous azaleas, heirloom roses and camellias.  A little of two acres, this garden accommodates walking tours.

Hours of Operation: 8:30 am – 6:30 pm

Directions: Turn onto Long Point Road off US Highway 17, 8 miles north of peninsula of Charleston. 

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