Kent Plantation Part III

My final blog of the series on Kent Plantation features their beautiful gardens. I think you'll agree the gardens were worthy of a blog all their own. I was surprised to see so much in bloom. It was a sight for sore eyes. I was happy to be away from the snow and into the heart of spring. Flowers greeted us as we walked into the gift shop to purchase our tour. Perhaps the best $10 I've ever spent!

The day was overcast and humid but it was beautiful at the plantation. Roses were in bloom every where you looked. Their sweet scent hung in the thick air.

The main garden was located in the courtyard at the front of the plantation house. Like the fancy things inside the home, this garden was for show. It was a pretty view looking down from the front porch. The plants growing in the garden were exactly what you would have found in the gardens of the original owners.

Behind the main house an herb garden was planted next to the kitchen building. The herb garden was divided into three sections - culinary, aromatic and medicinal. I thought this was a great idea and something I might want to incorporate into my own gardens. I also liked the simple design.

The vegetable garden was really something to see. Asparagus, collards, all sorts of good things growing. I wish I could have entered the garden to get a better look. I'm sure I could have poked around in their veggie garden for hours.

Did you notice the bottle tree next to the slave quarters in my last blog? There were several bottle trees on the plantation. Bottle trees are an African tradition brought here by the slaves. It was believed the bottle trees provided protection from evil spirits by trapping them inside the bottles at night. In the morning the slaves corked the bottles or destroyed them by fire. I only knew parts of this story and I have a bottle tree in my yard too.

My little bottle tree.
Thanks Gail & Debbie!

Sugar cane grown on this plantation would have been for personal use only. It was not grown here as a cash crop. On the Kent Plantation cotton was king and the main source of income.

This unique looking tree is called a live oak. The beam was placed underneath the branch to keep it off the ground and out of the way. This tree was huge! Although I'm a (somewhat) mature woman of 45, when I saw this tree all I wanted to do was climb the big bugger. It looked like the perfect place to escape, to read a book or build a tree fort. Unfortunately, I had to settle for getting my picture taken with the tree.

A small cemetery lay in the shade of this beautiful old tree and it seemed to me like a very good place to rest in peace.