If you haven’t visited the South Carolina Botanical Garden lately, you may think of it merely as home to the red caboose, a wide-ranging collection of hostas and camellias, and the Clemson Heritage Garden. Those alone make for a magnificent experience for visitors. But if you venture beyond that part of the garden, you’ll discover a treasure trove of landscapes where you can lose yourself in time and place.

In a short space between the duck pond and the Fran Hanson Visitor’s Center, you can travel the entire state of South Carolina, from the barrier islands to longleaf pine savannas, from maritime forests to granite outcrops, from piedmont woodlands to rich cove forests. You can travel back in time to a Native American shell ring to discover why sugar maples and trillium can grow on the edge of a salt marsh, then on to a piedmont prairie to see how different our habitat appeared when it was home to Native Americans. And you can walk through a garden of carnivorous plants native to South Carolina and the Southeast.

That journey, says garden director Patrick McMillan, “makes us unique among all gardens.” In the climate of the Upstate, he says, “we can grow anything grown in any region of the state.” And the Natural Heritage Garden Trail illustrates that point.
It also illustrates a strong connection between people and the land, a living laboratory that teaches the lesson that the world never forgets the choices we make. “We’re trying to connect people with the environment,” says McMillan. “We depend on nature, but what’s out there is shaped by our choices.”

One of the newest features of the garden is the Southwestern Collection near the geology museum which, according to McMillan, is the largest collection of desert plants on the east coast. The more-than-130 species of cacti as well as large agave plants, lilies and more may be native to Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Mexico, but they are also potentially great bedding plants in South Carolina, says McMillan. Some of these plants, he says, “will become staples in our yards. They flower all year, but don’t need to be watered.”

This is only a sampling of what can be found within the 295 acres of the South Carolina Botanical Gardens with its 10,000-plus species of plants, situated on the edge of the Clemson campus. Over the last several months, our photographers captured images of its beauty and diversity. Enjoy the images below and  learn more about the garden.

But don’t pass up the chance to wander these paths yourself when you’re back in town to visit campus. Bring a picnic or just your curiosity. You won’t be disappointed.