Bamboo Groves

Jungle Gardens is a 250-acre, privately-owned refuge and garden that was established by E.A. McIlhenny, artic explorer, naturalist, and conservationist.
Initially designed as a private garden, McIlhenny opened the property to the public in 1935. His collection included species from all over the world and became the basis of McIlhenny’s nursery, an important source for gardeners in the southeast during the decades leading up to World War II. The bamboo groves in Jungle Gardens are a particularly important feature of the collection as they include some of the earliest surviving introductions of that species to the United States. Threatened by recurring tropical storms as well as a lack of necessary financial means, the diversity of species within the groves has decreased significantly over the years even as the groves themselves thrive.