The Historic Beaufort Foundation is celebrating its 50th year of touring homes important to Beaufort County's history. Included on this year's tour will be the Tombee House, the Verdier House, the Barnwell-Gough house and the Cuthbert House.
We love our backyard and we also love our dogs, but those two things don’t always mix. Due to the high level of urea in our dogs' urine, they tend to kill the grass wherever they urinate, leaving damaged spots across the yard.
A mixed border of perennials, shrubs, annuals and bulbs works best in a variable climate like coastal South Carolina. Shrubs provide height and structure, while perennials, annuals and bulbs provide colors and flowers.
The 4,400-square foot home's main artery features an impressive kitchen, centralized dining table and a cozy living room. Ample outdoor living space and a one-bedroom carriage house complete the coastal retreat.
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I recently took a behind-the-scenes tour with the park’s horticulturist, Sarah Robinson, to see what it takes to make Hampton Park so special. Aside from convenient amenities like bathrooms, Wi-Fi and parking, it's also a beautiful place to volunteer your time.
When fall rolls around, people start thinking about planting bulbs for a lovely show in the spring. Now is the time to decide what bulbs you want to plant, like pretty alliums or a splendid muscari patch, to have that early show of color because bulbs require a period of chilling to initiate flowers.
The sandy dunes provide difficult conditions for plant growth — harsh sun and a lack of nutrients. But native dune plants thrive in this climate due to specific adaptations.
I heartily recommend Emily Whaley's book “Mrs. Whaley and her Charleston Garden,” as a charming like-minded story of gardening and life in a by-gone era. Once explored, her methods prove quite useful in maintaining a beautiful and diverse garden in Charleston.
Gardeners may want to be on the lookout for snakes this fall, particularly the copperheads, but don't panic, experts say.
The Lowcountry of South Carolina is not necessarily known for its easy-to-grow fruit trees, but there are some that thrive here, and one of them is the loquat. There are very few reported pests that affect the loquat, making it ideal for the casual gardener, yet fire blight is one pest that can take down a loquat in a few years.
AI is already making strides in horticulture, but let's imagine what else is possible. While the tools are effective, they need to develop the skills to interpret what the plan will look like, something AI will probably do for us at some point. Until then, we need foundational skills.
Whether to use biopesticides or conventional fungicides is a personal decision. It is important to understand how effective biopesticides are, and how they should be used, in order to make the best choices for sprays to manage certain plant diseases.
Few plants give as much pleasure while asking so little as do daylilies. They're a low-maintenance and vibrant flower, the key is to just find the perfect one to match your expectations and home garden.
Going native in the garden is one of the hottest horticultural trends of 2024. Whether you want to change up your current landscape or start from scratch, native plants bolster any outdoor garden. This article discusses how native plants provide habitat to struggling insect populations, suggests some popular native plants in the Charleston area and gives tips and tricks for native plant gardening.
What is the Great Southeast Pollinator Census and how can it help bugs and humans get along?
There is one group of fruit trees, specifically native fruit trees, that have the potential of being low-maintenance for the garden. The native crabapple species are incredibly beneficial for the Lowcountry ecosystem.
The owners of Bay Branch Farm expect the flowers to be available until the end of October.
Trident Technical College is waiving tuition for fall horticultural classes for South Carolina residents. One of the best classes in the program is sustainable agriculture, a class that meets at a different farm once a week for a behind-the-scenes tour. Check out farms like Enlightened Soil, which has been growing a single-celled algae, Chlorella vulgaris, in vats since 2020 and using it to organically benefit plant growth and improve soil health.
Create shade, add some plants and choose the right furniture to turn outdoor spaces into an oasis.
Last year, I visited my daughter in Bywater, a colorful neighborhood outside New Orleans, and I saw many familiar plants. Of course, tropical plants were very common throughout New Orleans, possibly more so than in Charleston despite the fact that they are in the same zone as the coastal part of the South Carolina Lowcountry. The slightly warmer growing conditions in New Orleans explain why tropical plants looked so healthy there.
South Carolina is home to an astounding number of plant species of varying types and sizes. One such group falls under the category of xeric plants, or plants adapted to dry conditions, such as the prickly pear cactus which has surprisingly taken to South Carolina's ecological climate quite well.
Hydrangeas are easy to grow and can provide gorgeous blooms all summer long. With a little knowledge about the different kinds of hydrangeas, you can have one of them flowering from late spring to fall.
For anyone interested in buying houseplants, here are some suggestions for indoor plants you can start with, as well as some tips and tricks to help maintain them.
Wild Goose Flower Farm launched earlier this year, it focuses on flowers that don’t ship well and are best acquired in the field. It's a u-pick experience that is great for those who enjoy the crop as much as the harvest process.
"A building is a building, but when you combine the building and the energy you have entertaining people and the culture we have in the South — that's the key." A new bed-and-breakfast hotel in Bluffton combines Lowcountry charm with specialized experiences for guests.
Growing fruit in the home garden is a wonderful experience, but it can be challenging in the heat and humidity of the Lowcountry. When it comes to homegrown fruits, there are few plants that are easier to maintain than the fig tree.
Lowcountry gardeners share their recommendations for greenhouse gardening this year.
Since its opening in 1993, Bees Ferry Composting Operation has diverted tons of Charleston's yard and food waste from the landfill and converted it into compost to make the beautiful Lowcountry gardens grow. Here's the secret to how they do it.
Montgomery discovered that the hummingbirds visiting her garden were attracted to her brightly flowering plants just as much as they enjoyed her hummingbird feeder. These plants will add a pop of color to your garden as well as give these hummingbirds the nectar they need.
June is “high season” for flowers and weddings in the Lowcountry, so I’ve adapted the “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue” verse to the June garden.
The two-hour walk through West Ashley Park yielded 113 birds of more than two dozen species, including an osprey, white-eyed vireo and an anhinga.
The wild plants and weeds that grow up all around us are chock-full of nutritional and medicinal benefits — and they require zero care. "They're the possums of the plant world."
Mountain mints, or plants in the Pycnanthemum genus, refer to a group of herbaceous perennials, all of which are native to North America. Mountain mints are taxonomically quite closely related to true mint, with several of the species emitting a spearmint fragrance when crushed.
Rainwater harvesting is not complicated. It can be as simple as placing a container where the rain falls from the roof of your house, garage or shed.
Plantasia, Charleston Horticultural Society's annual plant sale, drew expert horticulturalists and novice gardeners to shop for fresh foliage and colorful blooms.
Ag and Art takes place across South Carolina on weekends in May and June, opening up farming venues to the public to see places they might not otherwise visit and showing off artists outside the usual festival circles.
Pepper anthracnose is a type of fungi that affects peppers and causes them to rot. Learn more about the the fungus and how to fight it.
Both the the Chinese privet and European privet can be found throughout the state, often where they are not supposed to be. The Chinese privet is an aggressive shrub that spreads quickly and chokes all other plants to create a monoculture.
There are some tried-and-true perennials that will help carry your garden through the summer months. Do not forget about some of these when purchasing new plants.
Roadside Blooms plant and flower shop owner Toni Reale opened a solar-powered building off Rivers Avenue last year chock full of house plant varieties, not to mention a single stem bouquet bar where customers can create affordable arrangements.
The garden sits at 1655 Cherokee Road in Florence and is open to the public. However, dogs are not allowed due to past owners not picking up after the animals.
Butterfly caterpillars rarely harm our garden. It’s the caterpillars of moths that ruin our day. And moths, in general, aren’t that cute. Butterflies and moths are cousins.
Interior designers collaborate with Historic Charleston Foundation to reimagine the Aiken-Rhett House during the Charleston Festival.
Southern yew is a common landscape plant in coastal South Carolina. This tough plant tolerates salt, part shade and periods of drought and is deer-resistant, probably because the seeds and leaves are poisonous to many animals, including dogs, cats and humans.
Spring is here, and with it comes one of the busiest times of the year in the garden. Plenty of things to plant, prune and to rejuvenate also means plenty of gardening questions. Who better to ask than a Lowcountry Master Gardener?
After receiving donations from the McGee and Colbert families, Wragg Square was completed to honor Patti McGee, who died in 2022, and her husband Peter McGee.
The Trident Technical College Horticulture Program has a new, modernized greenhouse that will help better students' learning capacity. It features many updates like polycarbonate plastic walls, Wi-Fi-enabled monitors, advanced cooling mechanisms and more.
Clematis plants produce masses of colorful flowers and are relatively easy to prune. They are climbing vines that can easily transform a garden space.
Society garlic is a workhorse; it tolerates a range of soil types and soil moisture levels. The leaves and flowers of society garlic can be eaten as a substitute for garlic.
A new free-of-charge grove is being built in the Ardmore community with edible, harvest-it-yourself produce.
One shrub is not only a perfect choice for growing here, but it also has excellent ornamental value as well: the blueberry.
Maggie Winterfeldt Clark and her family live in a Victorian-era home on the South Battery they’ve helped restore and modernize.
Quality, well-drained soil is the other common requirement to keep your veggies smiling. If the soil in your yard is not top-notch, raised planters will improve your gardening experience.
In my groupings, I choose plants with different leaf shapes, flower colors and heights. The same design principle used in pots — i.e., pillar, thriller and filler — applies to small spaces.