BEAUTIFUL GARDENS IN AMERICA 



portance attached to the past history of the Preston place, 

 except that it has sheltered quite well known persons in its 

 day, Henry Clay, Thackeray, and Miss Martineau among 

 others, for its owner had acquaintances among prominent 

 people in this country as well as abroad, and delighted in 

 showing them hospitality when they happened in his 

 neighborhood." After the war it shared the fate of al- 

 most all the other Southern estates that could no longer 

 be maintained as in former years, and finally became a 

 woman's college, and once more receives the needed care. 



In the low coastal country, including Charleston, spring 

 opens in February with Camellias, Daffodils, and bulbs. 

 German Iris appears at Charleston soon after March 15, 

 Phlox in June. Delphinium and Hollyhock and some 

 others do not thrive in this section. The flowers that 

 are carried over for autumn bloom are hardy Chrysan- 

 themum, with Cosmos, Salvia, Marigolds, and Zinnias, and 

 a few others able under care to resist the summer heat. 

 Frost may come by November 15, but in winter thin ice 

 forms only about three times, with the thermometer at 

 twenty-five degrees. White Camellias sometimes begin to 

 blossom at Christmas time. Such is the climate of this 

 level. In the higher regions of the State climatic condi- 

 tions are somewhat different and the summer heat is not 

 as extreme. 



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