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How Brookgreen Gardens uses horticulture to bring art to life while working toward conservation.

📍 Myrtle Beach, SC

Myrtle Beach may be many things, but if there is anything that it most certainly is not, it is short of things to do. Apart from what I have been told was a brief trip when I was still in six month diapers, this December was Drew’s and my first time in this beach town. I believe I can say with confidence that it is the most developed oceanfront city that I have ever explored. Welcomed by long stretches of highway, lined without pause with mini golf, restaurants, candy shops, clothing stores, country clubs, and max museums the size of small theme parks, a stay in Myrtle Beach feels akin to a vacation in Disney World. 

The 60 miles of sandy beaches that the town claims as its own attracts nearly 19 million visitors a year, and they certainly have the infrastructure to prove it. So long as you show up with an ample supply of sunblock and an appetite, you will never be bored in Myrtle Beach. My problem, though, is that I am hard to please. I’ve played enough rounds of mini-golf to last me a lifetime, and one can only eat so many ice cream cones in a two week period. So, as I sat in my oasis of Myrtle Beach State Park (a quiet, and well maintained place to park an RV for a few weeks, by the way) I gave myself a mission to find the one spot in Myrtle Beach which was not considered a tourist attraction. 

Shortly after, lady luck had me at the front gates of Brookgreen Gardens, an open air sculpture garden that is sure to be the closest thing I will ever experience to wandering around a life size fairy garden. I lost track of time as I weaved my way through this labyrinth-like park, appreciating a unique blend of natural and man-made beauty. Only leaving the gardens after begrudgingly acknowledging that we had stayed past closing time, I later spoke with a garden representative and discovered some amazing ways that the garden uses its small zoo space to make progress toward wildlife conservation.

Continue reading to uncover why you should take a trip to discover the artistry of Myrtle Beach’s botanical gardens.

Brookgreen Gardens is rich in history

Once four thriving rice plantations during the 18th century, Brookgreen Gardens has since transformed its 9,000 acre plot of land into three separate areas: a botanical garden, a humble zoo, and a scenic Lowcountry nature preserve. It’s a wonderland for those who appreciate the natural beauty of our planet, though it was born from far darker origins than what we see today.

Given the history of The United States, it is not at all surprising that the original rice plantations were cared for by enslaved African Americans. What is astounding, however, is the way the garden has chosen to memorialize the lives of these workers, as faceless as many of them may be. While taking a stroll through the award winning Lowcountry Nature trail, you walk the path forged by slaves as they completed their daily trek between the slave village and the plantation over 150 years ago. One rice field has since been restored since this time, decorated with stainless steel statues to represent both the enslaved and the oppressors of the time. Created by the artist, Babette Bloch, the image of these figures beside the field, transports guests back to a crueler time in this country’s history. 

The walk down this trail can be enjoyed with or without the Lowcountry Audio Tour which tells a fictional story meant to educate listeners about environmental preservation and Brookgreen Plantation slave life. Their unique method of historical commemoration has not gone unrecognized, Brookgreen Gardens being officially recognized as a National Historical Landmark and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

It is densely packed with natural beauty

As the name suggests, many people visit Brookgreen for its enormous garden collection. Being located in South Carolina, their temperate and short winters allow for blooms throughout the entire year, making my December exploration of the land just as spectacular as any other.

Featuring a collection of perennial, annuals, shrubs, and trees, nearly 2500 species are listed in their plant collection database. Their winter collection alone is packed with displays of daffodils, bloodroot, orchids, and yellow jasmines which are expertly laid out along miles of winding pathways. Live Oak Allee, a favorite amongst visitors such as myself, is lined with 250 year old Live Oak trees. Planted when the gardens still operated as a plantation, the tree’s impressively sized branches hold drapes of Spanish Moss, giving any visitor a feeling that they have suddenly been transported to the world of Pandora.

The size of the gardens seems inconceivable as you follow along the garden bed edges. To my count, six distinct gardens are prominently displayed within its boundaries, each uniquely crafted to create a balance of structure, color, dimension, and of course, to accentuate the beauty of the sculpted art pieces that are prominently displayed within.

It inspires guests to appreciate art

Brookgreen Gardens claims to have the largest and most comprehensive collection of American figurative sculptures in The United States. Within the garden, nature trails and zoo, 2,000 art pieces by 430 artists are seamlessly integrated within the fabric of Brookgreen’s environment. Mythical creatures are reflected atop lily pad peppered ponds; pixies dance within garden beds; war heroes seek shade under the cover of palm trees; birds fly above cranberry bogs. Every avenue displays its art in unique and creative ways. 

Brookgreen chooses to blend their sculptures into the garden, allowing the landscape to accentuate the art, and for the art to similarly accentuate the landscape. Taking either the sculptures or the garden without its partner would steal the essence of what Brookgreen is all about. It is through the combination of these two art forms that this open air sculpture garden inspires its guests to appreciate man-made art. 

The layout of many traditional museums bombards visitors with a succession of similar art pieces in a relatively short amount of time. While extremely efficient, this puts even the most passionate art enthusiasts on the fast track to visual fatigue, leaving them with little retention about what they saw after their visit has concluded. In this regard, the distinctive layout of Brookgreen Gardens is not only beautiful, it is scientific in its ability to give sightseers enough visual variation so that they do not suffer the same fate. It is evident that the landscape of the property was honored as an art form in and of itself.

Your visit enables conservation

After exhausting all that this gardened gallery has to offer, it may be hard to imagine that Brookgreen is also home to its very own zoo. Through either injury or rearing within captivity, every animal within its walls would not be able to survive within the wild, and are therefore given new life at Brookgreen’s zoo. Accredited by the Association for Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) for exceeding their standards of care and welfare, the space serves as home for foxes, river otters, birds of prey, and alligators, to name just a few.

In 2020, the Conservation Centers for a Species Survival and the USFWS Recovery Challenge afforded Brookgreen a grant that will aid in their construction of a Red Wolf breeding and habitat space. As the most endangered breed of canines, the Red Wolf was rescued from the brink of extinction after the US Fish & Wildlife Service captured and bred the remaining 14 wild Red Wolf individuals. 100 Red Wolves now live in North Carolina due to these efforts, making the Red Wolf the first species to be reintroduced back into its native habitat after being declared extinct in the wild. It is now Brookgreen’s goal to continue these efforts of captive breeding in order to increase the Red Wolf’s wild population size.

Adapting during times when group gatherings were limited, their “Zoo to You” program can also travel up to 150 miles, bringing a collection of their animals to give any small group an enriching and engaging experience.

Discover it For Yourself

The motto at Brookgreen Gardens reads “ever changing, simply amazing.” With the varying blooms and consistently evolving manicured gardens, it is true that every time you return to Brookgreen, there is something new to discover. Guided tours along the Lowcountry preservation area, special butterfly exhibits within the zoo, and rotating educational programs about Gullah heritage operate seasonally as well. Arguably their most impressive event is their annual “Nights of a Thousand Candles” which runs from November through January and provides an immersive walk through the gardens amid nearly 3,000 hand lit candles and countless golden, twinkling lights. With the sheer amount to explore within the gardens, and their consistent development of the space, it seems that it is always a good time to visit Brookgreen Gardens.

Thank you for joining us at Discovery Detour, where the destination is always unknown.