Established by Congress in 1996, South Carolina’s National Heritage Corridor crosses 14 counties, a total of 240 miles. Split into two routes – the Discovery Route and the Nature Route – each leads travelers to designated stops ranging from grand plantations, waterfalls, battle sites, farms, swamps, gardens, mill villages and gentrified downtowns.

Visitors can experience the true exuberance of spring while driving through the Garden Destinations, one of the tours available on the Nature Route. Gardens identified allow travelers to discover the rose, azalea, peaceful parkways, prayer gardens, nature trails, ponds, niche gardens and award-winning botanical collections.

n Park Seed Company

One of the nation’s largest and best-known mail-order seed and plant operations, Park Seed has been serving the American gardener since 1868. A retail garden center and acres of trial gardens offer what some of America’s top commercial plant experts have “growing on” in Greenwood.

n South Carolina Botanical Garden

In the eastern upstate of South Carolina near the border of Georgia and North Carolina at Clemson University, a 295-acre site is home to a nature-based sculpture collection, an American Hosta Society display garden, 40-acre arboretum, nature trails, butterfly garden and wildflower meadow.

n Springfield Community Butterfly and Prayer Gardens

Central, a railroad and cotton mill community of the early 1900s, offers a tour of a local merchant’s house museum, a unique heritage rose garden and sculptural centerpieces.ˇ

Built by members of the community to honor an ill friend, the Butterfly Garden rejuvenates with its perennials, annuals, vines, bubbling fountains and fluttering butterflies and the Prayer Garden, is filled with all-white flowers and emerald-green foliage, providing a sanctuary for peace and tranquility.

n Hopeland Gardens

In Aiken, the 14-acre estate of Hopeland Gardens, presents 100-year-old oak trees, deodara cedars and magnolia trees. The Aiken Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame there pays tribute to its equestrian contributions. From May through August, patrons can satisfy their hunger for music with evening concerts at the Roland H. Windham Performing Arts Stage.

n Rose Hill Estate

The five-acre “winter colony” garden estate is home of the first home in Aiken to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the original American home for West Highland Terriers and the first arboretum in Aiken.

n Edisto Memorial Gardens

Located in Orangeburg, the 150-acre garden is the display site for past and current award-winning All-American Rose Selections. Visitors can always find 4,000 plants, 75 varieties of roses, a mountain brook, a butterfly garden and garden for the sight-impaired, as well as a boardwalk through a peaceful cypress wetlands to the blackwater Edisto River.

n ElloreeCommunityGardens

Convenient to Lake Marion, the town of Elloree offers visitors three downtown gardens: Ann Black’s Garden, Amporn’s Gardens and Prayer Alley, places to relax while roaming among the downtown shops and restaurants in this revived small town near the legendary Santee-Cooper lakes.

n Summerville Azalea Park

Near Charleston, Summerville is home to Azalea Park with its reflection ponds, gazebos, azaleas and 13 permanent bronze sculptures.

n Middleton Place

The 18th-century rice plantation showcases acres of America’s oldest landscaped gardens, which reflect the symmetry of 17th-century European designs.ˇ Here visitors find year-round blooms, including rare camellias in winter and azaleas above the Rice Pond in spring.

n Magnolia Plantation

The place where ornamental azaleas were introduced in the United States and one of the first to popularize camellias, Magnolia Plantation showcases approximately 500 acres of horticultural highlights, including a Biblical Garden, herb garden, camellia garden, the Tropical Barbados Garden and the Audubon Swamp Garden. Guided tours offer views of the beauty and wildlife while exploring the history of the 300-year-old estate.

n Drayton Hall

Established in 1738, the main house is one of the oldest plantation houses in America and remains as historically accurate as the day it was received by the National Trust from the Drayton family in 1974 – without running water, electric lighting or central heating. Two scenic trails take visitors past ancient oak trees, marshland and remnants of the 18th-century rice fields.

n Boone Hall Plantation

Open to the public since 1959, Boone Hall is one of the oldest working and living plantations in America. Visitors can tour the formal garden in front of the plantation home and pick strawberries, peaches and pumpkins at the Boone Hall Farms.

For more, see www.sc-heritagecorridor.org. Maps are available by calling (803) 637-1237.

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