Eclipse Trip -- Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

Sorry for the delay in chronicling our Eclipse Trip.  We decided to take advantage of some extended fall-like weather to explore the trails at LLELA, including some in the woods which are much more tolerable in lower heat and lower humidity.  I will have more to say about our LLELA adventures in the future, but it is fair to say we continue to find all kinds of things that are new, at least to us.  For example, we ran across some ebony jewelwing damselflies.  They are actually pretty common, but they only seem to hang out in a few selected areas in LLELA we had not explored recently.  Anyway, we were excited to see them for the first time.

Ebony jewelwing on Blackjack Trail at LLELA

Unfortunately the heat outside has returned, so I am again inside in front of the computer.  Therefore it is back to our Charleston adventures. 

Plantations near Charleston

On Sunday morning we enjoyed exploring historic parts of the city of Charleston.   However, South Carolina was primarily built on agriculture.  It is perhaps not surprising that any search of things to see and do around Charleston includes locations outside the city and most notably several historic plantations.  But which one should we visit?

We did not want to drive too far, so that ruled out Boone Hall Plantation in Mountain Pleasant (east side of the Cooper River).  That still left three plantations along the west side of the Ashley River:  Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Middleton Place, and Drayton Hall.

Drayton Hall is the only plantation home on the Ashley River that survived the Civil War.  For the purist interested in period architecture and hand-crafted woodwork, it is probably the first choice.  However, it is in its original state, i.e. no furniture, no new paint, no restoration of the peeling wallpaper, etc.  That did not sound especially appealing to us, so we decided to pass on Drayton Hall.

I had read earlier that both Magnolia Plantation and Middleton Place have interesting tours and both have interesting but very different gardens.  The gardens at Middleton Place are very formal....think gardens at Versailles.  Most importantly they have NO SHADE.  That was not going to cut it on this very hot, sunny day, so it was off to Magnolia Plantation.

Magnolia Plantation

We did not know exactly where we were going, but set the gps and headed out.  This took us north on Ashley River Road for about 10 miles under huge live oak trees draped over the road and dripping in Spanish moss.  Once we turned into the property it was more of the same.

There were huge trees everywhere, many of which were probably already in place when the plantation was started nearly 350 years ago. 

To understand Magnolia Plantation it helps to know a little of the history of the place.  Thomas Drayton immigrated to the new English colony of Charles Towne in 1671 from Barbados.  His wife's father gave them 2000 acres along the Ashley River as a wedding gift.  The Draytons built a home there in 1676 and thus was the beginning of Magnolia Plantation.  What is incredible is now, nearly 350 years and 13 or so generations later, the plantation is still owned and run by the family!

BTW...Although I have not seen the details, I suspect it was significant that Thomas Drayton moved from Barbados to Charles Towne (later Charleston).  According to Wiki, by 1660 Barbados generated more trade than all the other English colonies combined.  Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados, was one of the three largest cities in English America. (I know, who knew?!)  The other two cities were Boston, Massachusetts and Port Royal, Jamaica.  The growth of Barbados was due to sugar cane and its exports of sugar around the world.  As the sugar industry developed into its main commercial enterprise, Barbados was divided into large plantation estates that replaced the small holdings of the early English settlers. Some of the smaller landowners who were squeezed out moved to the English Leeward Islands, especially to Jamaica, or to the newly founded Province of South Carolina.

However, the wealth and power of the Draytons was not built on sugar cane, but on rice.  More specifically it was Carolina Gold Rice.  Rice was the basis of the colonial and antebellum economy of the Carolinas and Georgia, with South Carolina producing the vast majority of it.

Magnolia Gardens -- the nation's oldest public garden

The history of Magnolia Plantation is long and involved, with multiple generations of owners.  Of particular note was Thomas Grimke Drayton's inheritance of the plantation in 1836 at the age of 20.   Thomas, as a second son, had not expected to inherit anything and planned to enter the ministry. Despite his new found massive wealth, he became an Episcopal minister and was rector of St. Andrew's Parish Church in Charleston for 40 years.

In addition to his ministerial duties, Rev. Drayton also actively managed the plantation.  What is particularly significant is the massive expansion of the gardens he initiated at Magnolia Plantation for his wife.  The garden was huge and, more importantly, was the first Romantic-style garden in the Americas.  He patterned it after gardens he had seen while visiting England.  Many of the plants he used were those that his wife had seen only in conservatories when she lived in Philadelphia.  He imported and planted camellias from Europe.  He imported rare Indian azaleas from southeast Asia, the first azaleas to be planted outdoors in the United States.  Even today he is credited with being the first to bring azaleas to the U.S.  He also built extensive paths, lakes, and bridges so the two of them could enjoy this massive set of gardens.

The Long Bridge, built by Thomas Drayton, as it looked on the day we visited.  The sign in the foreground is a Beware of Alligators sign.  For scale, note the person in the blue shirt to the left of center on the bridge.

The garden was so significant at the time that one of Rev. Drayton's friends, John James Audubon (yes, THAT Audubon) painted two of his final works at Magnolia.

The Civil War was a major turning point for Magnolia Plantation.  Although the family had escaped to their summer home in North Carolina upon the advancement of Sherman's army, the plantation was in dire straights following the war.  The main house was destroyed and rice farming, the main enterprise of the plantation, was no longer economically feasible without slave labor.  Fortunately the gardens, although not in the greatest of shape, survived.

To raise capital, Rev. Drayton sold nearly two thirds of the original plantation to a fertilizer company for phosphate mining.  He also opened the gardens to the public starting in 1870.  Magnolia Gardens are now the oldest public garden in the U.S.  The garden and its role in bringing camellias and azaleas to America was recently featured in an article in the Smithsonian Magazine.

What did we get to see?

It was very crowded while we were there...I am sure due to everyone in town for the eclipse the following day.  We took the tour of the main house, the one that was rebuilt after the Civil War and then lived in by family members until very recent times.

Front of the main house at Magnolia Plantation.

The tour was interesting and provided an overview of the history of the plantation.  Unfortunately photos were not allowed.  However, this site has great pictures of both the gardens and the interior of the house.

We then took the 45 minute train (really tram) tour of the grounds.  It allowed us to see what used to be some of the rice fields that are now nature areas for wildlife.

The aggressive peacock that came up to the tram looking for handouts

This is looking across one of the former rice fields, now a wildlife pond.  There is an alligator on the platform and a great blue heron beyond that in front of the low tree.

We also saw some of the former slave quarters, at least from a distance.  We did not take the separate slave quarters tour which, according to some of the others that we met later for dinner, was apparently quite good.   Slaves at Magnolia were almost exclusively from west Africa because they had expertise in growing rice.  In looking online later I discovered that Magnolia Plantation has been part of a program over the last decade or so to help trace African American genealogy in the Carolinas and Georgia through plantation records and other means.

Former slave quarters

After eating a couple of their over-priced hotdogs, we took the walking tour of the gardens.

I am sure the gardens would be breathtaking in the spring when the hundreds of thousands of azaleas (the largest collection in the country) are in bloom.  I don't know much about plants, but their website indicates the azaleas include multiple varieties that were thought to be extinct.  Magnolia Gardens also has the largest collection of camellias in the country,  more than 20,000 camellia plants of 2000 different varieties.  Seeing them during their peak from mid-January to mid-March would undoubtedly be spectacular.

Even though we were visiting during an "out of season" time, the gardens were still very nice.  They just went on and on, with little areas tucked in out of way places and developed in different ways.  Unfortunately the heat and humidity were beyond oppressive, so we did not linger as long as we might have otherwise.

Bridge over the lake (between 3 and 4 on the map).

A small alligator cruising along near the red bridge.

A variety of full sun plants

Some shade loving plants along the path with the Ashley River below.  This was apparently at low tide (note the mud and rocks).  It looked like the river level had been much higher very recently.

More flowers

A volunteer among the cypress knees? Probably a red spider lily

Before we visited I had been a bit concerned that Magnolia might be too much of a tourist trap or at least not worth the expense, but it was very worthwhile despite a somewhat down time for the garden and the overwhelming heat and humidity.  The three things we did (house tour, train tour, and garden walk) were all interesting in their own way.  Despite the heat, I am glad we explored the gardens.  The size and diversity of the gardens is impossible to grasp without seeing them in person.  However, it is also clear why folks that could afford it did not stay in the low country during the summer before air conditioning.

Update.  Here is a promotion youtube video I found which shows portions of the gardens and the grounds:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O4ZHrdSas3w&feature=share