Two Charleston landscapes, The Angel Oak and the camellia collection at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, are among 21 sites across the nation selected to receive a “Landslide 2007, Heroes of Horticulture†award from The Cultural Landscape Foundation.
The Washington, D.C.-based foundation annually presents the Landslide award to significant landscapes at risk of being lost.
The City of Charleston was selected for Mayor Joseph P. Riley’s efforts to preserve the Angel Oak, a giant Southern oak purchased by the city in 1988. The centuries-old Angel Oak has been threatened by encroaching development on Johns Island, where it currently sites in the Angel Oak Park.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens was honored for its efforts to restore its 325-year-old camellia garden, which consists of more than 1,000 varieties that date back to the mid-1800s in one of the world’s largest camellia collections. As the public embraces newer hybridized varieties of camellias, the genetic material of the ancient varieties is vanishing. Magnolia is working to reclaim these rare varieties of camellias.
The list of the 21 Heroes of Horticulture sites is currently featured on TCLF’s website (www.tclf.org). They are showcased in an exhibition at the George Eastman House International Museum of Photography and Film that will be on display until March 2 in Rochester, N.Y., and in the January 2008 edition of “Garden Design†magazine.
Along with the Eastman House exhibit of original photography, sites across the country will host the Heroes of Horticulture signboard exhibit at or near locations associated with the different Heroes. The signboards will provide the history of each horticultural specimen, the threat, information on how to support the feature, and associated historic and current photographs of each resource.
The Heroes of Horticulture designation for the gardens at Magnolia Plantation comes less than two months before the gardens will experience an explosion of color during the 2008 Winter Garden Festival.
Beginning on Saturday, Jan. 9, through Saturday, Feb. 16, the gardens at Magnolia will be a destination for flower lovers who are looking for a break from the dull, dreary days of winter.
More than 6,000 sasanquas plants are already in full bloom, harkening the beginning of the winter garden season. Later, the gardens at Magnolia will be in bloom with its camellia collection, one of the most important heirloom collections in the nation. Several hundred ancient and historic varieties adorn the garden’s winding paths. Snapdragons, pansies and other winter flowers will splash color in hidden areas of the garden.
Noted garden speakers from around the country will talk about various winter garden aspects during each week of the festival. Camellia talks and walks with camellia experts are free daily with garden admission.