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The Renaissance of a Great Lady
By Tom Johnson VIEW FULL COLOR PDF ARTICLE
Magnolia Plantation embarks on an
enhancement and restoration project to preserve America’s Largest Romantic
Garden for future generations
Magnolia Plantation in Charleston
South Carolina .is one of the last large-scale romantic designed gardens left
in the United States. The Romantic Movement originated in Europe during the
industrial revolution. We man left the farms to work in the factories; He
experienced an intense disassociation with God and nature for the first time.
In an attempt to retrieve what was lost, the gardens he started creating around
his cottages were an attempt to recreate Eden-A place where man and nature
cooperate in harmony. This was in contrast to the formal gardens of the time,
Where the goal was for man to “Control nature” Until this movement, most
artist-to which garden designers belonged, were in essence controlled by
leaders of state and church who demanded their commissions to show dominance
over humbler folks. The Romantic Movement was a break from this tradition.
Though the gardens at Magnolia
were started in the late 17th century, It was the early 19th
century that the gardens were expanded to the scale they are today. John Grimke
Drayton inherited Magnolia Plantation in the mid 1800’s. He fell in love with
Julie Ewing, The daughter of a Philadelphia attorney, returning with her to Charleston.
He strove to complete his ministerial studies while managing the large
plantation. He contracted Tuberculoses, and to cure himself, he began working
in the gardens he loved. Julia continued to miss her home in Philadelphia, and
The Reverend John Drayton continued to develop the gardens at Magnolia in the
Romantic Style to “Create an earthly paradise in which my dear Julia may
forever forget Philadelphia and her desire to return there”
Today his legacy remains at
America’s oldest garden. I have been
hire as director of gardens and horticulture to take the gardens back to the
Reverend Drayton’s vision. Magnolia is a grand old lady. My job is to shine
here shoes, dress her in some new robes and get her ready for the thousands of
suitors that come calling each year The romantic garden is a different style of
garden. It always must look unmaintained.
We have to be careful with the work we do, not to change the overall
style the Reverend Drayton intended for the gardens.
Camellias will play a leading
role in the restoration of the gardens. We have over 25,000 camellias planted
in the romantic gardens at Magnolia. We have one of the largest collections of
Ancient and historic (1900-1960) varieties in the nation. We are now traveling
the world looking for ancient camellia varieties.
Once we found how rare these
older varieties are, and how fast they are being lost, Magnolia invited 15
public and private gardens, as well as cities and individuals, to come to
Charleston to form “The Great Gardens of America Preservation Alliance” The
goal of this group is “ To identify, Preserve and defend” ancient cultivars
of azaleas and camellias.
Miles Beach, Director of
Magnolia’s camellia collection was elected the first president. Bart Brechter,
from Bayou Bend Gardens in Houston was elected vice president. LSU’s Burden
Center, Magnolia Gardens and The Norfolk Botanical Gardens are the main Propagation
centers for all rare varieties found. I was elected chairman of the propagation
committee, along with other committee members such as Hank Bruno, Director of Callaway Gardens, Florence Crowder, Marcus Jones of
the NBG, Bobby Green and Maarten van der Giessen. Dr. Hegwood, of LSU’s Burden
Center recently agreed to be on the committee.
With the camellia side of the
program developing well, I have turned my attention to azaleas. Out of 86
original Belgian Indica azalea varieties, only 12 are readily available today.
The azalea Society of America has formed a national committee dedicated to
helping identify and locate these rare varieties.
This fall will see work beginning
in the gardens here at Magnolia and the Great garden Alliance on a fast pace
scale. Many plants added over the years that do not fit in the historic
Romantic garden will have to be removed. They will be replaced with older
varieties of Azaleas and camellias. These varieties must be located and
propagated . “ A romantic garden is a difficult garden to renovate.. “We cannot
go in and prune everything back and start over. Decades of growth would be lost
and the integrity of the garden would be destroyed. To remove the void of plant
material near the ground, Magnolia’s gardening crew will be planting another
layer of azaleas and camellias. Carefully removing diseased and damaged plant
material along the paths to allow light in, this new planting should “thicken “
up the plantings, with-out changing the areas appearance, but still allow
isolation from the outside world. The restoration will begin along the walks
leaving the main house and expand outward, just as a painters brush strokes the
canvas.
I estimate the restoration will
take at least 15 years and several million dollars. Growers must be secured to
produce the plant material need. The camellia and azalea varieties used must be
cultivars available in the 1800’S. Not
many of those around these days.
Magnolia is a national treasure,
one of the last of its kind. We cannot allow it to disappear. If it is lost, a
rare style of gardening will be lost’.
A second guesthouse called “The
writer’s cottage” has been completed at Magnolia. These will be used to house
horticultural experts called in for consultation from time to time. “ You
cannot renovate a garden of this caliber on a 9-5 schedule. You must be able to
become a part of the garden, pull it around you like a warm blanket and even
let it become a part of your dream
A Romantic is an extravagant liar
and the Romantic garden is the tail he weaves.
Editor’s Note:
The images in this article were supplied by Gene Phillips. These are a few of the many beautiful things
you will see at Magnolia Gardens.
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