Boston Flora

Tag: Middleton Place

  • Thursday, April 16, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm Eastern – Middleton Place, Online

    The fourth and final program in Morven Museum & Garden’s 2026 Grand Homes and Gardens series, Freedom at Home: Telling the Full Story of America’s Founding Homes & Gardens, featuring Middleton Place in Charleston, South Carolina with speaker Brandon Stone, Director Research and Preservation will take place April 16 at 6:30 pm. Register ($10 Morven members, $20 nonmembers) for the virtual event at https://www.morven.org/events/grandhomes-middleton-place

    The primary residence of the Middleton Family, including Declaration signer Arthur Middleton, Middleton Place, located in Charleston, SC, was built in several phases of the course of the 18th and 19th centuries. The plantation’s extensive and transformative gardens, established in the 1740s, were awarded the Garden Club of America’s highest honor, the Bulkley Medal, in 1941.

    The estate saw the birth of the new country and was heavily impacted less than a century later by the Civil War when Union troops razed most of the property. More than 2,800 men, women, and children were enslaved by the Middleton family from 1738 to 1865. Today, the site works to interpret the stories of the enslaved and free Africans and African Americans who lived at Middleton Place.

    Born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina, Brandon has and always will call the Carolina Lowcountry his home. Graduating from Coastal Carolina University in 2019 with a Bachelor’s degree in History, Brandon began his career with the Drayton Hall Preservation Trust as a Historical Interpreter. While completing his Master’s Degree in Public History at the College of Charleston, he took on the role of Volunteer and Interpretive Coordinator at the Edmondston- Alston House, a house museum operated by the Middleton Place Foundation. Brandon now proudly serves as the Director of Research and Preservation for Middleton Place.

    Brandon takes great pride in working for the Middleton Place Foundation alongside a fantastic team, where each day is a privilege to be part of stewarding a National Historic Landmark.

  • Wednesday, July 14, 1:00 pm – Great American Gardens: Monticello, Biltmore, Naumkeag, and More, Online

    Join garden historian and author Dr. Toby Musgrave online on a ‘Grand Tour’ showcasing America’s great and inspiring gardens, revealing their diversity and richness, and exploring their contribution to global garden art.

    We’ll explore a variety of gardens in a variety of locations and climates around the United States, each of which is open to the public and can be visited and experienced in person. From the eastern seaboard to the west coast; the cold, high Rockies to the tropical southeast; balmy California to hot, dry deserts; the warm, wet Pacific northwest to the Prairies and the cool northeast create the full spectrum of garden design possibilities. Ranging across historical periods and styles, we will visit well known (and lesser well-known) gardens around the country to reveal in broad terms the evolution of American garden design over time. Beginning with early Colonial gardens on the East Coast and Mission gardens in California, we will move on to English Landscape-style gardens and French Baroque influenced antebellum plantation gardens. As we move chronologically ahead, we will also study the opulence of the Beaux-Arts-inspired Country Place Era and how it evolved into the innovative “homegrown” styles such as Prairie Gardens. We will conclude with a look at modern and contemporary American garden design.

    Gardens featured include: Colonial Williamsburg, San Diego Mission, Mount Vernon, Monticello, Middleton Place, Rosedown Plantation, Biltmore, Dumbarton Oaks, Filoli, Innisfree, Longwood, Naumkeag, the Huntington Library, Untermeyer, Wave Hill, Longue Vue, Casa del Herro, J Irwin House and Garden, El Novillero, Lotusland, Sunnylands, Chanticleer, Chase Garden, Getty Centre, Hollister House and Windcliff.

    Led by an expert on gardens and garden history, Dr Toby Musgrave, this Context interactive seminar will showcase and celebrate America’s great and inspiring gardens. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased knowledge and understanding of America’s great garden heritage. $36.50. Register at www.contextlearning.com

    Dumbarton Oaks (Photo by Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

  • Friday, March 28 – Sunday, March 30 – Doin’ the Charleston : Azalea Style

    Friday, March 28 – Sunday, March 30, 2014 are the dates of our next Azalea Society of America convention, Doin’ the Charleston – Azalea Style, in Charleston, South Carolina, hosted by the Reverend John Drayton Chapter of the ASA. The convention hotel is the Charleston Marriott Hotel, 170 Lockwood Blvd, Charleston SC 29403, where they have a special $179 rate until March 6 – mention Azalea Society of America when you call for reservations at 1-800-968-3569.

    Spend time under stately live oaks hung with Spanish moss, visit the intimate gardens of the old homes and the historic plantations. Gaze at the plethora of azaleas as the Low country seduces you. During your time in Charleston, you’ll visit Magnolia Plantation & Gardens (pictured below), Middleton Place, Cypress Gardens, historic downtown Charleston and see many beautiful displays of azaleas.

    Lecturers include Tom Johnson, Director of Magnolia Plantation; Ernest Koone from Lazy K Nursery in Pine Mountain,GA, and famed for its native azaleas; Mary Roper, Garden Director at Asticou Azalea Garden in Maine, and Robert “Buddy” Lee, inventor of the Encore Azalea. Registration fee is $85, which includes the opening reception with two drink tickets, breakfast on Friday and Saturday, a great bag of gifts, and the Friday evening meeting. The registration form may be found at http://www.nationalazaleaconvention2014.org/Registration.html.

    http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/flower_pics/pictures/azaleas_2.gif