A Wild and Peaceful Garden

Charleston's historic Unitarian Church

Almost exactly twenty-six years ago I moved to the Lowcountry and embarked on a career in accounting. The first firm I worked for had its offices on King Street in Charleston. An adjacent path ran from King to the cemetery of the Unitarian Church located on Archdale Street. When things got stressful, as they do in the deadline-driven world of accounting, I sometimes headed outside to walk. That's how I first discovered this distinctive churchyard garden. 

Blue plumbago and pink roses

What I love about the Garden of Remembrance is its riotous vegetation. How can I feel guilty about the untidiness of my own garden when here I see the dazzling communion of weeds and cultivated plants?

Lilies mingle with weeds

In 1989 Hurricane Hugo overwhelmed Charleston. Its winds removed the roof from one of the two buildings that housed the accounting firm. The roofer got to work quickly, but not until after photographs were taken to document the extent of damage. I remember seeing the pictures during those first terrible days when the whole world seemed to have turned upside down, a time when armed members of the National Guard roamed the streets and a nearby restaurant cooked chicken outside on a grill because electricity hadn't yet been restored. How ludicrous it all seemed. Those photographs captured an unusual view: in the foreground, file cabinets stood in the roofless attic; in the background, blue sky and the tower of the Unitarian Church dominated.

Garden of Remembrance

Most often when I think of this church, I think of its cemetery garden. I think of the gift of serenity -- of being allowed a chance to calm down before returning to a less-than-peaceful world. 

Canna lily

For more information about the Garden of Remembrance, visit the  Unitarian Church of Charleston's website:

http://www.charlestonuu.org/GetInvolved/Activities/EdenKeepersChurchyard/tabid/132/Default.aspx

Simply Azaleas

Azaleas in bloom at Hampton Park in Charleston, South Carolina

Recently while looking through an old photograph album, I came across snapshots of Norfolk, Virginia's 1976 Azalea Festival Parade.  Azalea Queen Susan Ford, whose father served as US president at the time, graced one of the parade floats. 

Norfolk is but one of many cities in the American South that celebrate the azalea. Next weekend (April 5-7, 2013) Summerville, South Carolina hosts the annual Flowertown Festival. Wilmington, NC holds the North Carolina Azalea Festival (April 10-14, 2013). 

Here in the South Carolina Lowcountry azaleas are bursting into bloom. Drive around old neighborhoods and you see enormous shrubs dwarfing small houses. Magenta blossoms are prevalent in my subdivision, yet many of us homeowners can't resist planting a mixture of azalea varieties. Sometimes their colors clash. 

Azaleas in bloom at Tenryū-ji, Kyoto, Japan

A homeowner in my neighborhood uses azaleas as a hedge

George L. Taber azaleas are a favorite of mine. One came with the house. I've planted two more.

These white blossoms (growing on azaleas planted by a previous owner of my house) look to me as though they belong in a wedding bouquet

A dropped blossom at Hampton Park

By the way, at some point the Norfolk festival leadership changed its name to the International Azalea Festival. In 2009 they changed its name again - this time to the Norfolk NATO Festival. That is why when you visit the azaleafestival.org website the focus is not azaleas. 

For more information about azaleas, visit the website of the Azalea Society of America: http://azaleas.org/index.html.