A glimpse through the wrought iron gate on this shady sidewalk reveals quite a frog party going south of Broad Street in Charleston. A half-dozen bronze frog statues lounge, drink wine and swim in a perfect brick-lined pool under shady trees and surrounded by perfectly clipped boxwoods. It's the sort of party you never knew you wanted to go to, and the sort of garden you never knew you longed to enter, until you see it.
The frogs might be one of a kind, but that shady private garden in front of a house on Meeting Street is just one of dozens of perfectly charming hidden gardens scattered throughout the historic neighborhoods on the Charleston peninsula. You can't join them, but spotting them from the sidewalk is a time-honored tradition in the Holy City.
The enormous gardens of the Charleston plantations are justifiably famous. But just as beautiful, and perhaps even more enchanting, are the tiny gardens that make the old neighborhoods in the vicinity of Church and Meeting streets some of the most beautiful in the world. Sometimes the most beautiful gardens on a street are the window boxes-the tiniest gardens of all!
Much of the fun of these hidden gardens is discovering them. The private houses on Meeting, Church and Legare streets south of Broad, and on the cross street of Tradd are good places to begin your search. Charleston is a walking city, and this hidden garden search is one best conducted on foot and without a map. Just wander. Let yourself walk down those little green alleys. Let your heart and curiosity and the sight of something intriguing down the road lead you. You won't be disappointed in Charleston. If you walk all the way down Meeting, Church or Legare, you'll find yourself in historic White Point Garden, a 5.7-acre public park overlooking the harbor.
