Expansion
The South Carolina Botanical Garden first started as an azalea rescue project in 1958 by Clemson University professor Dr. T. L. Senn. Senn, a professor of horticulture, was determined to save some azaleas by the football stadium whose very safety was in danger by expanding football parking into the area where they grew. The azaleas were safely rehomed to another area of land on the university's campus, an area that once was a dumping ground for the university. [1] Senn and those who helped him rehome the azaleas were then granted the land - a whole 73 acres - to use to create a horticulture garden. Thus, the Garden was born and first named the "Ornamental Gardens".
The Garden has since gone through other various name changes, such as the "Horticulture Gardens" or the "Clemson University Botanical Gardens." The Garden was given its most recent, and current, name in 1992 when it was declared to be South Carolina's official state garden. Now, the Garden has grown just over four times its size since its creation, and it expands a vast 295 acres of land on the edge of Clemson University's campus.
The Horticulture Gardens offered a "Garden for the Blind" which was around for over a decade after the Gardens itself was first created. Another garden offered within the Horticulture Gardens was the Living Historical Garden, which featured plants that had played important roles in South Carolina's history. Of course, the Azalea Garden was a prominent feature, and it still is today. [2]
As the decades passed and the Gardens shed their name and directors, it began to shape its shape and mold to the new times. Now, the South Carolina Botanical Garden is larger than ever before, and it offers a variety of specialized gardens. Some of these specialized gardens include the Hosta Garden, the Desert Garden, the Camellia Garden, a 70-acre aboretum, and the Butterfly Garden. [3] The Butterfly Garden, in particular, features a small garden of vegetables on one side where staff and volunteers at the Garden cultivate the vegetables, and it features a large, metal butterfly sculpture and a small log cabin for kids. The Butterfly Garden is also beside the Hayden Conference Center, which is a place for some events and a variety of classes centered at the Gardens. The South Carolina Botanical Garden also features the Bob Campbell Geology Museum, placed beside the Desert Garden, and up the hill from the museum is a large, cozy-looking home that harbors within it the vistor's center for the Garden.