Beautiful Brookgreen Gardens, Part Three

Today, I'm sharing some more images of Brookgreen Gardens in South Carolina. 

These pictures were taken in 2010, when we were in South Carolina for a Mazda Miata event in Myrtle Beach.  Brookgreen Gardens sits on about 9,000 acres of land that was once four separate rice plantations in the 1700's.  You can see more of these gardens in my previous posts Here and Here.

We've visited these gardens twice now, and we still didn't cover nearly all of what there is to see.  All the pictures in this post were taken in the Sculpture Gardens, which are so immense that it took us about three to four hours to view, and so we've never really gotten to the other parts of the park.

These are some of the prettiest gardens I've ever toured.  In my mind, the combination of ancient live oaks draped with Spanish moss, old brick walls from the original plantations, elegant (and whimsical) statuary, flowers, and fountains are what make these gardens so uniquely beautiful.  Follow along with me and you'll see what I mean.

I love this fountain and sculpture made to look like a cascading water fall.

On this particular day, chairs and pots of flowers were being set up for a wedding which would be held here in the early evening after the park closed.

Wouldn't this be an ideal venue for an outdoor wedding?  Such a gorgeous, romantic spot.

Above is the live oak allée.  An allée is a french term for a straight walkway lined on both sides by trees or tall shrubs.  Allées are used frequently in French gardens as a landscape feature.  Our tour guide told us that this allée originally led to the entrance of one of the plantation houses.

A brick wall and bell from the plantation kitchen, which would have been in a separate building from the main house.

I stopped to rest at a table outside this building while my husband looked at some more sculptures, and these cute geckos were darting all around the exterior.  :)

These sweet sculptures were located inside a covered breezeway.

Several of the old brick walls had garden plaques with engraved poems.

There were at least three different sculpture representations of the Roman Goddess, Diana, in these gardens.

I love this bottle tree.  :)

Another view of the allée...

We were there in March, so tulips were blooming everywhere.

I love the way the statue in the distance is framed by this ivy-covered archway...

...beautiful scrollwork on this wrought-iron gate.

These sea turtles remind me of Oak Island, where we vacation at the beach every year.

A few last pictures for today...

If you're ever in the Myrtle Beach area of South Carolina, I highly recommend a visit to Brookgreen Gardens; I don't think you'll be disappointed. The gardens are located just south of Murrells Inlet and just a close drive away from beautiful, historic Georgetown, South Carolina.

I'm linking to "Oh the PLACES I've Been," hosted by The Tablescaper, and I'm looking forward to seeing where you've been lately.  :)  Thanks so much for visiting House at Forest Manor, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Also joining:  Mosaic Monday, hosted by Mary at Little Red House

Denise