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Tuesday, December 8, 2020

A Stroll Along King Street, Charleston, SC

Behind The Garden Wall


Garden Wall in Charleston South Carolina


Late fall is a favorite season for strolling here in the Deep South. The weather is cooler, often clement, and natural colors can be outstanding. Containers and beds are brimming with annuals such as pansies, snapdragons and ornamental brassicas. Camellias are in full bloom, and some azaleas are still showing off. What’s more, flowering vines can be outstanding, and there’s usually a bit of serendipity.

We enjoyed such a day just last week. I had no sooner stepped out of my car parked on South Battery when I overheard a lady in a horse-drawn carriage ask the coachwoman if she could identify a plant she saw nearby that was covered with bright red berries. The driver could not, so I politely offered my service. “That is a holly. Weeping Yaupon holly. Ilex vomitoria ‘Pendula’,” I said while pantomiming so she could get the picture.

After that brief introduction to the type of character they might meet around Charleston, we began to stroll up King Street. It wasn’t long before we stopped to photograph flowering vines spilling over a garden wall. Frankly, that is about the extent of what one might see in gardens along the way. High walls and wrought iron gates prevent visitors from getting too close and seeing too much. As long as we stay outside the gates, homeowners usually don’t mind admirers peering through the bars. In fact, most residents usually spend a great deal of money maintaining their lovely window boxes and street plantings for others to enjoy. 

Here are a few of the garden sights we enjoyed.

Caesalpinia mexicana


Mixed window box with Carex and Snapdragons


Tecoma capensis


Mixed window box planting


Use of dwarf mondo in driveway


Private garden


Mixed window box planting


Espalier with Trachelospermum jasminoides


Mixed street planting


Camellia espaliers


Window box with pansies, Lamium and brassicas


Enchanting gateway


Lamium, petunia, pansy, sweet alyssum, brassica


Alley beckoning


Container garden with camellia background


Streetside garden


Still, one can’t help wondering what grows behind the garden wall.

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