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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