The Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is an historic house with gardens located closed to Charleston. It is one of the oldest plantations in the south.
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.)
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.
Another visitor to Magnolia in this period was John James Audubon for whom Magnolia’s Aubudon Swamp Garden is named.
Source: wikipedia and guided tour in the plantation.
official website: http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/index.html
There are a loooooooooot of animal in the plantation. We mostly saw birds but some alligators lives there too. No human eating accident has occured since the beginning but it is known that Charly, a 5 m long alligator lives there.
Wo ist das Meer? 