Magnolia Gardens, a sanctuary of beauty

 "Azaleas abound:  Lowcountry bathed in pink and purple"

  Headline in the Post and Courier, Charleston, March 23, 2013

"Yes, found at last — the earthly paradise!

Here by slow currents of the silvery stream

It smiles, a shining wonder, a fair dream,

A matchless miracle to mortal eyes."

Paul Hamilton Hayne, 1870

"Some of the leading garden authorities from other countries who have had the opportunity to see Magnolia-on-the-Ashley when the camellias and azaleas are flowering, have called it the world’s most perfect garden."

Hubert R. Owens

The other day, just two days before a very stressful event that I had been dreading was to occur, I took a walk in the magnificent Magnolia Gardens that I have visited and photographed so often over the years.   It turned out to be a magical afternoon, the light was perfect, the azaleas astonishingly beautiful in full bloom.  I wandered slowly along the paths taking it all in as if in a dream.   The anxieties of the world melted away for an hour or so, and I found myself in another world, literally and figuratively, it turns out.  No other place has quite the power to transport me by it’s beauty.   Some have called it the most beautiful garden in the world, and, of course, I would have to agree.  When I enter a place like this, I truly believe there is beauty and truth and goodness in this world because such a sanctuary as this is the gift of knowing and experiencing all of that.

Pictures from that day’s visit: (It’s best viewed as a slideshow)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camas/sets/72157633094107742/