Beautiful gardens can be found all over South Carolina. Here are some of the best to enjoy on your travels across the state:
Stroll through Some of South Carolina's Finest Gardens
Falls Park on the Reedy
Greenville
601 Main Street; open daily from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
Along with Reedy River Falls and a distinctive curved suspension footbridge, this downtown park features dozens of small "garden rooms" offering a spectacular display of seasonal color.
Asia Garden
Greenville
3300 Poinsett Highway; open daily
Located at Furman University, nationally recognized for the natural beauty of its campus, the Asia Garden overlooks a 40-acre lake and includes an authentic Japanese temple, flowering plants, a koi pond and water features designed for meditation.
Hatcher Garden and Woodland Preserve
Spartanburg
832 John B. White Sr. Blvd.; open daily from dawn to dusk
Nature trails take you through 10 acres of urban woodlands with soothing streams, quiet ponds and specialty gardens featuring conifers, wildflowers, medicinal plants and hostas.
Midlands
Riverbanks Botanical Garden
Columbia
1300 Botanical Parkway; open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Across a pedestrian bridge from Riverbanks Zoo, the botanical garden offers seven themed gardens showcasing more than 4,200 species of native and exotic plants, along with a children's garden with giant tree houses, a dinosaur dig and splash zone.
Edisto Memorial Gardens
Orangeburg
200 Riverside Drive SW; open daily from dawn to dusk
Home of the Orangeburg Festival of Roses, this 175-acre garden on the banks of the Edisto River features some 4,800 varieties of roses, along with five acres of azaleas planted in the 1920s, a half-mile boardwalk through a tupelo-cypress wetland and several themed gardens.
Glencairn Garden
Rock Hill
725 Crest Street; open daily from dawn to dusk
This English-style garden features shaded walking paths, bridges and boardwalks offering access to 11 acres of beautifully landscaped lawns, sculpted terraces, flower beds, 3,500 azaleas, ponds, reflecting pool and tiered fountains.
Hopelands Gardens
Aiken
135 Dupree Place; open daily from 10 a.m. to sunset
Once part of a private estate, the 14-acre garden was designed as a peaceful haven to enjoy nature with reflecting pools, fountains, a labyrinth, gazebo, wetlands, live oak allée and a network of paths shaded by 100-year-old live oaks, deador cedars and magnolia trees.
Wells Japanese Garden
Newberry
1608 Lindsay Street; open daily
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, this charming downtown park features traditional Japanese ornamental structures and architectural elements around two ponds embellished by Egyptian lotuses, Japanese irises and water lilies.
Kalmia Gardens of Coker College
Hartsville
1624 W. Carolina Ave.; open daily from dawn to dusk
Once part of a 19th century plantation on the bluffs of Black Creek, the 35-acre botanical garden features a wide array of rhododendrons, camellias, tea-olives, azaleas, exotic ornamentals and the namesake mountain laurel with a trail leading down to a cypress blackwater swamp.
Coast
Boone Hall Plantation and Gardens
Mount Pleasant
1235 Long Point Road; open daily with hours varying during the seasons
An early 18th century cotton plantation built on the banks of Wampacheone Creek, Boone Hall features a stunning avenue of oaks and herringbone paths winding through formal gardens filled with hundreds of varieties of camellias and azaleas, thousands of colorful annuals and antique roses more than 100 years old.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
Charleston
3550 Ashley River Road; open daily with hours varying during the seasons
This 400-acre pre-Revolutionary War estate overlooking the Ashley River offers 60 acres of romantic gardens, a maze of azaleas, an Audubon blackwater cypress and tupelo swamp accessible by a boardwalk and one of the finest collections of camellias in the world.
Middleton Place
Charleston
4300 Ashley River Road; open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
A National Historic Landmark on 110 acres along the Ashley River, this former plantation features 65 acres of America's oldest landscaped gardens created in the grand 17th century European style with oak allées, terraces, butterfly-shaped lakes, rare camellias and a 1,000-year-old oak.
Azalea Park and Sculpture Garden
Summerville
500 Main Street; open daily
The site of the annual Flowertown Festival and Sculpture in the South, this 12-acre garden features a series of paths winding around ponds, statues, creeks, flower beds and a spectacular array of azaleas and camellias.
Vereen Memorial Historical Gardens
Little River
2250 Highway 179; open Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway on 115 acres of forest and marshland, this coastal retreat features approximately three miles of nature trails and boardwalks that take you through formal gardens and along the waterfront.
