Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located on the Ashley River near Charleston, South Carolina, has been owned by the Drayton family since the 1670s and has been open to the public since 1872. It is the last surviving nineteenth-century romantic garden of its size in America, and it is where the largest and most ancient azalea and camellia collections in America were developed. It is the garden where azaleas were first planted out of doors in a landscape setting. The plantation also features a Swamp Garden boardwalk that allows visitors to enjoy birding, a Nature Train that takes visitors on a picturesque ride throughout the plantation, and a restored Slave Street that provides an excellent history tour of African American life at Magnolia. The house tour shows the nature of post-CivilWar life at Magnolia.Derek Fell is one of America's finest garden photographers. He has published articles about Magnolia Plantation in Connoisseur, Americana,Woman's Day, Pace, Southern Accents, and other national and international magazines. He has also authored books about the gardens of artists Monet, Renoir, Cézanne, and Van Gogh, for which he has been honored with Best Book and Best Photography awards from the Garden Writers Association.