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Southeastern US Day 30: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

16 April 2023

Today is our last full day together on the Southeast. We were expecting clouds and rain but instead got a beautiful sunny day. We decided to visit one more plantation — the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located on the Ashley River just outside of Charleston.

A large white antebellum plantation house with a two-story columned veranda and a steep gray gabled roof, framed by mature live oak trees draped with Spanish moss, set on a green lawn with a gravel path, benches, and flowering shrubs under a bright blue sky.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina

The grounds all seem nice and quiet, right?

A calm garden pond covered in patches of bright green algae and duckweed, framed by a large cypress tree trunk draped in Spanish moss on the right and lush trees along the far bank. A small white arched footbridge crosses the water in the distance under a blue sky with scattered clouds.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A tranquil garden pond fringed with lush greenery, purple irises, and floating aquatic plants, with a weathered stone cherub statue standing among the foliage beneath trees draped heavily in Spanish moss. The trees and vegetation are reflected in the still, dark water in the foreground.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina

… and then I heard a little sound in the water near me and spotted this guy. (For those inclined to worry about my safety, I do have a long lens, so I wasn’t as close as you might think from this photo.)

An American alligator floating almost fully submerged in a swamp thickly covered with green duckweed and tangled aquatic plants, with its dark head, eye, and part of its ridged back visible above the water.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina

The grounds are quite nicely preserved from their replanting as an informal romantic garden centuries ago.

A white wooden arched footbridge with a lattice-style X-patterned railing spans a calm pond, its reflection mirrored in the still water. Behind it, lush green trees draped with hanging Spanish moss fill the frame.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A white ornamental Victorian gazebo sits amid lush green foliage on the bank of a still pond, framed by large trees draped in Spanish moss and cypress trunks reflected in the calm water.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A weathered stone statue of a cherub playing a lyre, mounted on an ornate carved pedestal, surrounded by lush green foliage with strands of Spanish moss hanging down behind it.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A calm, dark-green pond framed by lush trees draped heavily with Spanish moss, their gnarled branches arching over the still water at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens. Sunlight filters through the dense green foliage, and the reflections and hanging moss shimmer on the water’s surface.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A calm swamp pond edged with the massive trunks of bald cypress trees and their protruding knees, draped with Spanish moss, with lush green grasses and duckweed-covered water reflecting the trees in the still surface.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
An anhinga perched on a rock in a pond spreads its wings wide to dry, its dark silhouette beside two turtles basking on the same sunlit rock, with green foliage and reflections filling the calm water.
Talk to the Wing · Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
An anesthetically dark anhinga stands on a low log at the edge of calm, greenish water, wings spread wide to dry as sunlight catches its long neck and slender pointed bill. Bright green leaves of a branch hang into the frame at right, with soft reflections of trees on the water behind.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina

Later in the afternoon, we walked along the Audubon Swamp Garden, a roughly mile-long tour through wetlands rife with heron, egrets, and more alligators:

A wide swampy pond blanketed in reddish-brown duckweed and algae under a bright blue sky with towering white clouds, ringed by dense green trees draped with Spanish moss at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A slender greenish-yellow snake with faint stripes descends head-down along the weathered, cracked bark of a tree trunk, its coloring blending closely with the gray and tan wood.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
Several white egrets perched among the feathery green branches of a bald cypress tree against a pale blue sky, with a darker cormorant or anhinga visible near a nest lower right.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A young alligator’s head and back protrude just above the surface of murky, shallow marsh water, its snout pointed toward the camera. Nearby a small patch of muddy ground supports sprouting green plants and dark debris.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A turtle basks on a weathered wooden plank that tilts out of a pond blanketed in green duckweed and algae, at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
Great blue herons perched on large stick nests in the branches of a tall cypress tree against a clear blue sky, with a pair near a nest at the center and another heron beside a nest at lower right.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina
A white great egret perched near the top of a leafy green cypress tree, with a stick nest visible in the lower branches, set against a clear pale blue sky.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, South Carolina

(Mouse over or tap on the markers to see the photos there. Use the button to adjust the map’s position and zoom.)

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