



The Garden At Orton 
Within the past thirty-five years the unique 
gardens at Orton Plantation have been devel- ~ 
oped increasingly. The ancient Live Oaks still 
enframe the gleaming portico of the mansion 
which, from the bluff still looks outward over 
Tice fields to the river. Such is the setting for 
the year ‘round glory of the garden. 
The approach reveals the evergreen charm of 
the Low Country, its pines and wide-spread 
oaks, its black waters and thickets of bays and 
hollies, its smother of grape and smilax, jessa- 
mine and trumpet creeper, and, frequently, the 
silvery gray of Spanish moss. After crossing 
the causeway one glimpses the dark lake ringed 
with dogwood and Indian azaleas, the golden 
field of daffodils, the white chapel in its cam- 
phor grove and finally the garden itself with 
its vistas. 
Camellias in their hundreds sparkle with color . 
from late autumn to early spring when the Japa- 
nese azaleas bring them brilliant carpets.. The 
specialist will come from afar to see one of the 
finest collections in the country but the casual 
visitor will follow the lure of new pictures, new 
flowered or berried shrubs. Then comes the 
flood of Indian azalea and dogwood, wisteria, 
rose, and redbud to be followed by the true 
Southerners, mimosa, bay, crape myrtle, and 
gardenia. Each season is marked by its peculiar 
fragrance: loquat, tea olive, osmanthus, and 
“Japan allspice” precede the long winter of the 
heavy scented daphne and roses and jessamine 
carry on to the gardenias and sweet bay of 
high summer. 
Each separate garden about the broad sweep 
of verdant lawns has its own charm; the quarter 
mile of camellia bordered path, the formality of 
the house terrace, the neat garden scroll of inter- 
woven azaleas and dark yew, the reflections of 
quince and wisteria, rose and holly in the long 
lagoon, the festoons of moss in the old grave- 
yard, the cathedral arch of oaks above the 
green circle, all appeal and each in its season 
holds its sway. In rich greens or blaze of bloom 
Orton embodies the romance of the South. 
Garden design under the supervision of Robert Swan 
Sturtevant, M.L.A. 



