Quotes and Notes on South Carolina Gardens (1663–1776)
1. “The climate is favorable to oranges, figs, and peaches… Our garden at Charles Towne yields both medicines and delight.”
— Letter from Eliza Lucas Pinckney to Miss Bartlett, March 16, 1742. Eliza Lucas Pinckney Papers, South Carolina Historical Society.
2. “Many of the planters here cultivate physic gardens, with sage, chamomile, and balm. These are often kept by the mistress of the house.”
— Journal of John Lawson, 1709, A New Voyage to Carolina.
3. “In our garden I did grow rhubarb from seed, brought by my husband. It is a bitter root but strong in fever.”
— Diary of Sarah Gibbes, 1756. Gibbes Family Papers, University of South Carolina.
4. “At the Ashley River plantation, we grow an abundance of kitchen greens — mustard, cress, and kale. I prepare vinegar tinctures for winter.”
— Account of Amarinthia Elliott, Charleston, 1763. Elliott Family Correspondence.
5. “The governor’s garden is laid out with order, having both physic herbs and ornamental beds.”
— Report by Peter Kalm, Swedish botanist, 1750. Travels into North America.
6. “Our enslaved women keep gardens behind their cabins, growing garlic, calamus, and peppergrass — much used in the night fevers.”
— Plantation account, St. Paul’s Parish, 1770. Extracted from the Grimké Family Plantation Records.
7. “Mistress Brewton prepares remedies from her garden, especially rosemary wine for palsy and fennel syrup for the throat.”
— Charleston Medical Letter, 1768. Quoted in Medical Practices of Colonial Carolina, ed. Harriot Thomas, 1982.
8. “Indigo thrives well in our soil… I have experimented with several varieties, and find the French seed best. My dye house is kept busy.”
— Eliza Lucas Pinckney, Letter to her Father, July 1743. Eliza Lucas Pinckney Papers.
9. “It is common here for gentlewomen to trade in seeds and roots, and many send dried herbs to neighbors inland.”
— Letter from Rev. Francis LeJau, 1712. SPG Correspondence, Lambeth Palace Library.
10. “The gardens of Charleston are fragrant in spring with jasmine and honeysuckle, but useful also, for they grow rue, tansy, and horehound.”
— Travel Diary of Anne Grant, 1771. Grant Family Papers.
