Just back from a short family vacation in Pawley’s Island, South Carolina. While there, besides enjoying local produce and eating my fill of grits (in every way possible) and fried green tomatoes, I made a return visit to Brookgreen Gardens. If you are ever going to South Carolina, or just passing through, make this garden a stop on your list of places to visit. Besides wonderful gardens and ancient live oak trees, fountains and vistas, there are trails, a native animal collection, children’s garden, pollinator garden, a labyrinth, a small butterfly house, gift shop and cafe–and an incredibly amazing sculpture collection. https://www.brookgreen.org. The web site offers history, maps of the garden, events and more.

The Live Oak Allee is truly breath-taking featuring Quercus virginiana, which are over 200 years old. They are naturally hung with Spanish moss (Tillandsia usneoides), which is a symbiotic epiphyte, which takes nourishment from the air rather than the soil. The gardeners have underplanted the live oaks with over 60,000 caladium bulbs in various pastel shades, which appear as a veritable sea of many-hued leaves.

And oh I musn’t forget the sculptures, throughout the gardens, not to mention the collections indoors. In all my years of visiting museums, I must admit, I have never seen quite such an array of sculpture–some enormous and some small–made from bronze to marble, clay and wood. The collection is so vast and impressive, it is a bit overwhelming to take it all in.

Brookgreen’s Lowcountry History and Wildlife Preserve covers thousands of acres, full of the native plants and animals of the South Carolina Lowcountry. There are all sorts of tours and walks throughout the gardens, as well as a Lowcountry Trail for hiking and an overland vehicle which takes you deep into the Preserve. In addition, the great rice plantations from the 1800s can be viewed from a boat excursion. There is a Chartres Labyrinth down along the river–a serene and lovely spot–for meditating and walking the .4 miles of labyrint paths.

This is a garden to put on your must-see list.

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isYoung Birdlook® Smart Bird Feeder with Camera

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Premium 16 Perennial Wildflower Seeds Mix - Special Garden Flower Seeds Blend designed for planting indoor & outdoors across North America. With over 16 varieties and 100,000 wildflower seeds, this mix is the best solution to attract pollinators - bees, butterflies & birds are essential for garden plants health. Our Special Perennial Wildflower Seeds Mix Includes White Yarrow, Columbine, New England Aster, Siberian Wallflower, Shasta Daisy, Lance-Leaf Coreopsis, Sweet William, Purple Coneflower, Blanketflower, Gayfeather, Blue Flax, Lupine, Dwarf Evening, Primrose, Mexican Hat, Prairie Coneflower, Black Eyed Susan. Easy & Fun Growing Experience with our online guides - Don’t plant disappointment - Add more colors to your wildflower garden! We send only super hearty heirloom flower seeds with the highest germination rate and fast sprout. Our detailed growing guide helps you grow seeds the garden of your dream like a PRO. Colorful Wildflower Garden from Seeds - Grow wildflowers everywhere - Indoor in window garden or Outdoors Flower garden Garden make a beautiful design for your garden borders, pathways, field or meadow and attract pollinators. Made in the USA by Small Family-Owned Business - Quality You Can Trust - Our wildflower bulk seeds variety pack are tested at the highest germination rates before being sealed to last for up to 3 years before you need to plant. Each packet of our flower seeds variety pack is resealable to make it easy to store and has its own label with a QR code for the growing instructions.

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