Courtesy Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

history continued

However, the American Revolution would radically change life in the Lowcountry. In the spring of 1779, British General Augustine Prevost made a move towards Charlestown after the fall of Savannah. While his attempts were thwarted, the army ransacked most of the plantations along the Ashley River, including Magnolia, upon their retreat. Over the course of the next three years, Magnolia Plantation would see its grounds occupied by both British and Continental troops who regularly foraged and requisitioned rice and other foods from the plantation in order to survive.

At the end of the war, the Lowcountry plantations saw a drastic decrease in the rice market, forcing many to diversify or perish. By the early 19th century, Magnolia Plantation had sufficiently diversified its crops allowing the property, including its gardens to not only survive, but to expand and flourish. During the early 1800s, John Grimké Drayton took ownership of the plantation. In keeping with garden fashions of the time, he expanded and redesigned the gardens, transitioning from the formal French style used in the property’s 17th century garden, to the new English style of gardening with a greater emphasis on embellishing the natural beauty of the site. It was during this period that he became the first to plant Indian Azaleas outdoors in a landscape setting, and one of the first to successfully utilize the Japanese Camellia (Camellia japonica) outdoors.