Just the other day, two healthy, skinny boys, both 13, were playing around, looking for some kind of adventure. They wandered down to the Edisto Gardens, crossed the road into the azalea garden and disappeared in 30 seconds.

Do you suppose they realized the magnificence of their playground, or did they spy a squirrel high up in the trees, making 20-foot leaps, and wish for a .22 rifle?

Every weekday, a group of 11 strong, adult guys and one lady are planting, cutting, fertilizing and sweating to offer you and anybody else in the U.S.A. a free beauty high. The technicolors of the 10,000 azaleas along our Edisto’s banks elicit an annual gasp from each, “Ohhhhhh, aren’t they gorgeous.” And the hundreds of pink Japanese cherries out along the road bring a second gasp.

Now, these broad spreads of nature’s best are fading back into green for another year. But it’s not over folks! By the first week in May, the next garden over will bloom its 4,800 roses, probably the most you will ever see in one place in your life.

There’s a quiet and dignified arrival. Nothing like Broadway, but what a great show!

Look to the left to see the Julia Childs, all bright lemon-yellow. Old Miss Bernice Whisenhunt used to cultivate a dozen or so in her front yard and we all cruised by to look. Near the lake in the back are the Wild Blue Yonders. An airplane ought to give their deep purple mass a salute once in a while. And on the right side stand the pale, peachy Peace. No question, they bring a sense of something fine to your and everybody’s soul.

Pretty girls in black and white

How many other places in South Carolina, or the U.S. or the world for that matter offer such a no-charge treat? Even if you have to miss the first ten minutes of the Tiger’s game on TV, park, then walk past the sights and scents to the boardwalk for another adventure through old cypresses, lazy black water and thick jungle foliage. But it’s not quiet. Sparrows, wrens, woodpeckers and blue jays will be darting and screeching.

Lots of scary swamps thrive down here, but how many have boardwalks? Did you know that if pollution sneaked into the air, the moss would vanish? Orangeburg has done something right ever since the gardens were founded in 1929. Lots of local folks still have pictures of pretty girls with their beaus or three-generation families all grinning amid the flowers, all in Kodak black and white.

Under the direction of Jay Hiers, city superintendent of parks, the 12 employees spend much of March emptying cups of 10-10-10 by hand around the base of every rose stalk. In the last three weeks, they have also clip cut every one 12 to 24 inches. By contrast, the azaleas require little fertilizer and little care. And they thrive for decades. The heartiest of the roses can keep blooming for 10 to 15 years. But 300 to 400 end their glorious lives annually and must be replaced.

With spring raring to go, the new stems, leaves and buds of the hybrid teas, miniatures, floribundas and grandifloras have shot out in four weeks. By May 1, the curtain will rise on the great second act, a fantastic panorama of blooms. What a great place to get married, but you might have a hundred or more uninvited guests standing around.

Black spot go away

The whole workforce has learned to be alert for the great rose killer, black spot, every day. Not a bug but a fungus, it is their vicious enemy. A form of mold, it can be transferred by wind or water. Getting a hold, it defoliates the bushes, which must take in sun from their leaves to grow. Although sneaky, it can be seen by the eye and killed off by spraying. Thus, every two weeks, March through November, the crew push their 200-gallon sprayers through and spray, covering the beds with Daconil.

Between plant nursing, the crew is edging beds, pruning bushes, mowing and transplanting, chores that go on every day, every year.

Not just for spring anymore

So long as the warm air pervades, the gardens offer a respite every season. Twenty-odd years ago, Buster (that’s the name he prefers) had an idea that has grown into a great idea. Why not light up the whole trail with Christmas lights? He pushed for and got the funds and the display and the crowds have increased every year.

At first the crews decorated the cherry trees, then all the trees along the road. The red, green, blue and gold miniature bulbs made winter a spectacle. Then they built the first light displays: two overhead archways; a Santa Claus with Dasher, Dancer and so on; a merry-go-round; a steamboat -- every 30, 40 or 50 feet another animates the 200,000-light trip while holiday music fills the air.

From the week before Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve, the city stations extra traffic cops in the area to keep the long lines of cars with families rolling at a steady but not-too-rapid speed. What fun! The kids make parents circle back to the entrance and take in a second trip. This City of Orangeburg holiday is also free, a generous gesture of the season which we all need to brag about from Alaska to Atlanta.

Note: The Parks Department has 13 more gardeners who maintain and enhance 15 ball fields, playgrounds, tennis courts and “passive” green spaces. Thank you all.

Retired editor and public relations executive Thomas Langford’s column is titled “Some Edisto stories.” Let him know if you have stories to share: 803-534-2097.

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