Magnolia Plantation and Gardens by Derek Fell

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens by Derek Fell

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located on the Ashley River near Charleston, South Carolina, is one of the world's last surviving nineteenth-century romantic gardens. It is where the largest and most ancient azalea and camellia collections were developed and where azaleas were first planted out of doors in a landscape setting.

The plantation also provides a unique experience for visitors. Its swamp garden boardwalk allows visitors to enjoy birding all year round; the nature train takes visitors on a long ride throughout the plantation; a street of slave cabins has been meticulously restored to provide an excellent history tour of African-American life; and the house tour shows the nature of post-Civil War life.

DEREK FELL is the author of Renoir's Garden, The Magic of Monet's Garden, Cezanne's Garden, and Van Gogh's Gardens, a series of books about the great Impressionist painters that has earned widespread acclaim. Derek presented the popular QVC television garden show Step-by-Step Gardening for six years and produces the Avant Gardener, a monthly on-line gardening newsletter. He and his wife, Carolyn, live in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, at historic Cedaridge Farm. He tends to gardens inspired by Impressionist painters there.