South Carolina’s Festival of Flowers

The Festival of Flowers in South Carolina is a celebration of nature’s beauty, when the charming town of Greenwood transforms into an immersive experience in floral art. The main weekend is June 5-8, 2025, and is prime time to gaze upon some 55 artfully designed topiaries on display across the uptown area of town.

You can also enjoy special exhibits, garden tours and symposium, a juried show of arts and crafts, live music, food and drink (including a wine walk among the topiaries), and a full schedule of more activities. The floral buzz continues until the town’s barbecue and blues festival in mid-July when the topiaries are returned to the greenhouse where they rest until the next year.

Festival History

Now in its 58th year, the roots of the Festival of Flowers began when local company Park Seed would open its trial gardens and people came from near and far to see the stunning gardens on display. Park Seed was started in 1868 by then 15-year old George W. Park who sold seeds collected from his Pennsylvania garden. It became an overnight success. The company eventually moved in 1924 to the better climate of Greenwood and grew from there to become one of the largest mail order seed and plant companies in the nation.

With so many people visiting the area for these trial gardens, local tourism officials decided to become involved, activities were added, and it evolved into a festival of flowers. The festival bloomed and boomed for many years, but times eventually changed and Park Seed was sold and the trial gardens declined. In 2008, the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce took the popular festival of flowers under its banner and the growth continued, including the addition of amazing topiary sculptures.

Creating the Topiaries

When you think topiaries you probably think of the pruned and sculpted evergreens found across Disney properties. But the topiaries of the flower festival are made of annuals, perennials, and grasses inset into complex, custom-made steel structures shaped into popular figures.

Each topiary has a name, like Bubbles, the seahorse and Pete, the Peacock, and come in all sizes from the smaller Dabbling Ducks to the 14-foot tall giraffe and the near full size Jeep truck, and shapes – mushrooms, a gorilla, jellyfish, mermaid, dolphin, plus an Insta worthy spot at the Gateway to Greenwood topiary. There is even a Clemson University tiger, a University of South Carolina gamecock, and a Lander University bearcat in the mix of topiaries.

A team of full time and part time horticulture experts manages the city greenhouses and the topiaries used in the festival. The crew works to change up the floral on these every year while the base plants like sedges, lichen, sedums, and grasses remain. Creeping ficus (Ficus pumile) is used in many of the topiaries and sphagnum moss fills the interiors to anchor the plants. Unique flora is added to bring out the personality of the topiary – the mermaid’s lichen covered arms and donkey tail sedum (Sedum morganianum) and ‘Silver Falls’ Dichondra (Dichondra argentea) in the donkey’s tail are a few examples. And throughout the festival, the greenhouse crew keeps watch over the topiaries that need repair or plant material added. Each topiary has a built in irrigation system to keep it looking fresh as the day it was planted.

A complete replanting of a topiary happens about every five years. And a new sculpture can’t be created unless an existing one is retired – there is only so much space in the greenhouse to store these. The festival started with 14 sculptures in 2008 and some of these originals are still on display. The staff also maintains the propagation greenhouse where they grow by seed and cuttings nearly 90 percent of what they use in the displays, along with maintaining the city’s parks and pollinator friendly garden areas.

More About Greenwood

In addition to the Festival of Flowers, Greenwood, South Carolina, is notable for its historic buildings and its extra wide main street (they say it’s the widest main street in the world), where the former railroad tracks ran through the center of town. At one time, the town’s economy was dependent on the local textile mill. While some textile processing remains in the area, the town has expanded beyond its mill town economy and railroad heritage, and includes regional, national, and international businesses.

Many of the historic buildings of its past have been restored to house museums, an arts center, performing arts theatre, visitors center, restaurants, galleries, and shops. New amenities have been added like the Uptown Market open in season on Saturday for fresh, local produce. Adjacent to the market is an edible garden maintained by local master gardeners.

This long linear garden is filled with edible plants grown for the local food bank. Started in 2023, the master gardeners grow unusual plants that look good and are edible. Golden oregano, Chinese pink celery, African blue basel, and cardoon (artichoke thistle) are just a few of the uncommon edible plants found here. In summer, they add pots of ponderosa lemons that had been storied away in winter. Several archways are used for vining edibles. Succession planting keeps the garden growing well into late fall with squash, pumpkins, and okra. The garden is also filled with ideas for home gardeners to follow.

Not far from the Uptown area is the Dr. Benjamin E. Mays Historic Preservation Site. While you may not be familiar with Dr. Mays, he was a former president of the prestigious Morehouse College, he was considered the intellectual father of the American Civil Rights movement. He taught and mentored many of those whose names you do know associated with the movement. He gave the eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King’s funeral. And he was an advisor to three U.S. presidents. The site includes his former childhood home moved here, along with a small museum filled with memories of the movement’s struggles and accomplishments.

Greenwood has many places to experience nature with biking and hiking paths across the community. One place to visit for the flora and fauna is Lake Greenwood State Park. In springtime especially, the park is filled with wisteria, wild jessamine, tulip poplars, Eastern redbuds and dogwoods, native viburnums, and wild honeysuckle. Many of the park’s structures overlooking the lake were built by the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) during the 1930s depression. The visitors center overlooking the lake has an exhibit on this history that is especially informative. Check with the center to see which trails have been reopened after damage by Hurricane Helene last September.

For gardeners who like to visit garden centers and plant nurseries when they travel, a stop at Wyatt Farms could fill a shopping list. Do note that Park Seed Company is not open to the public even though a state highway sign points to its trial gardens that are no longer open to view.

Greenwood is part of the Old 96 District in South Carolina, a historic region stretching across the western part of the state. It’s named for the 96-mile stretch along an old trading path that once connected Charleston to the frontier. This region is home to small towns with deep historical roots and offers a variety of attractions from historic sites to beautiful lakes and nature preserves that deliver an authentic slice of South Carolina’s past and present.

Other Towns to Visit

One of these small towns not far from Greenwood is Abbeville, South Carolina. This historic town was settled by a group of French Huguenots in 1758 and was named for the same town in France. It’s early legacy is embedded in the Civil War as it’s where the state’s decision to secede from the U.S. took place, along with the decision to dissolve the Confederacy five years later in a home near the town’s square.

Today, the charming central square is rimmed by original circa 1880s buildings filled with shops and restaurants in the historic downtown. The opera house offers sell out shows and is the state’s official theatre. The Belmont Inn features modern hotel amenities in the historic structure. The 125 foot tall steeple of Trinity Episcopal Church is a landmark at the end of Trinity Street and dates to the 1860s. A hedge of heritage boxwoods surround the historic church.

Just outside of town is Cedar Ridge Farm Apothecary. Set on six acres at the edge of town, the couple who bought the property in 2017 have transformed it into a tranquil oasis with gardens, chickens, and most importantly its apothecary shop. Inside the small shed, bottles of elixirs, salves and natural remedy products line the shelves. Shoppers come to find herbal solutions to everyday issues like allergies (stinging nettle), asthma (mullin), inflammation (castor oil), and a host of other ailments.

Where to Stay

Not far from Greenwood is Riegel Hall that offers bed and breakfast lodging and amenities in this stately 1950s home set on three acres in the small community of Ware Shoals. Riegel Hall offers charm and history wrapped up in a comfortable and memorable place to stay while in the area.

A grand foyer greats you upon entering the house decorated with elegant historic furnishings. Each of the three bedrooms feature an en-suite bath, luxury bedding, and is decorated for maximum comfort and unwinding. Enjoy the patio room downstairs with views out the windows to nature beyond. Relax under the stars in the evening on the back patio.

Where to Dine

In Greenwood, there are dozens of local restaurants for dining. Break on the Lake has an extensive menu for lunch and dinner with views of Lake Greenwood. The Mill House in Uptown offers brick oven pizzas, hot sandwiches, and craft beers. Montagues takes it up a notch with elegantly prepared dishes ranging from seafood to steak to chicken plus a classic and specialty cocktail menu.

One of the area’s most flavor filled restaurants is Indigenous Underground in Abbeville. On par with dining you would expect in a much larger city, the restaurant offers eclectic Southern cuisine developed by visionary chef Erica McCier. Using mostly local South Carolina products – one of the few restaurants in the area that does this – she transforms the basics of the soul food she grew up on into creative and memorable dishes.

Spring rolls filled with seasoned collard greens and black eyed peas (called soul rolls), black eyed pea gumbo, bacon pimento cheese hamburger, and the popular gator and grits using deep fried alligator tail meat in a cream crawfish sauce are just a few of the creative dishes served here that will leave you dreaming of more.

More Places to Visit

Throughout the month of May and June, the Ag + Art Tour extends across 22 counties in South Carolina, including counties in the Old 96 District. The ag part includes farmers who open their doors to visitors to tour and experience everything from berries and fresh flower growing to alpaca and cattle farms. The art part features galleries and artisans. Each weekend the tour rolls through a new set of counties to explore.

On your way back to Raleigh, stop in Musgrove Mill State Historic Site in Clinton, the site of a famous Revolutionary War battle. Beyond this history, there are wildflowers in bloom and Osage orange trees that gardeners come to see. A pollinator garden attracts monarch butterflies.

For more information on the Old 96 District in South Carolina, check out visitold96sc.com.

Featured image: Mermaid topiary / Discover Greenwood

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Beverly Hurley is the editor of Triangle Gardener magazine in North Carolina. When she is not gardening, she loves to travel.