SC has one of the best cities to see gorgeous spring flowers in 2024, Southern Living says

It’s coming. Can you feel it?

Spring.

March 19 ushers in the season many South Carolinians love the most, a time of dogwoods and azaleas in bloom, long hours of boating, porch sitting and sweet tea drinking.

Not a trope.

And Southern Living has a list of the very best places to see the blooms of spring. One of the 10 is in South Carolina — Charleston.

“Springtime in the South always seems to take too long to arrive, and then the summer pushes it away far sooner than we’d hoped. It’s a fleeting chapter, but one that arrives with warmer temperatures, a feeling of levity, and an entire roster of beautiful flowers,” the magazine said.

Charleston was ranked 6th. No. 1 was Asheville, North Carolina.

“Asheville may reign supreme as the queen of the fall, but it also refuses to be outdone by other Southern cities in the spring, “ Southern Living said.

Flowers are so plentiful, Explore Asheville even has developed the Wildflower Bloom Schedule. And the city does have an advantage — Biltmore, tulips, daffodils, azaleas galore and a Bloom Report as well.

Of Charleston, Southern Living says there’s never a bad time to visit and then goes on to talk about the soppy mess in the thick of the summer.

“With a bit of luck, you may get to experience the short-lived “wisteria hysteria,” when the non-native plant hits peak bloom in mid-March,” the magazine said.

Then comes azaleas, star jasmine, Southern magnolia.

“Find them in Hampton Park or the Historic District, or get an inside look at the gardens featured in The Charleston Festival (formerly known as the Festival of Houses and Gardens),” Southern Living said.

The other cities on the list are:

#2 Savannah — “Already one of the most romantic places in the South, Savannah turns it up several notches in early March.”

#3 Mobile, Alabama — Known as the Azalea City, see Bellingrath Gardens and Home and Mobile Botanical Gardens.

#4 Blue Ridge Parkway, North Carolina and Virginia — “The scenic byway connecting Virginia and North Carolina is home to a wide range of flowers, including (but not limited to): mountain laurel, flowering dogwood, buttercups, bluets, columbine, bloodroot, birdfoot violet, wild geranium, squirrel corn, and dwarf iris.”

#5 Wilmington, North Carolina — Specifically, Airlie Gardens, where 60,000 bulbs are planted beside 75,000 azaleas.

#7 Texas Hill Country — Bluebonnet season! Burnet, the “Bluebonnet Capital of Texas” hosts the annual Bluebonnet Festival in April. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center in Austin Dripping Springs “prepare to be blown away by the blue buds.”

#8 Shenandoah National Park, Virginia — Figure on May for a trip here to see buttercups, bluets, violets, wild geraniums, trilliums, hepatica, and pink lady’s slippers. “To cover as much ground as possible, hop on the scenic Skyline Drive to explore the 105-mile roadway’s views and overlooks,” the magazine says.

#9 Washington, D.C. — It’s estimated that 3,800 cherry trees grow around the Tidal Basin, in East Potomac Park, and on the grounds of the Washington Monument. To know when to go for fabulous cherry blossoms, go to the Cherry Blossom Watch. The National Cherry Blossom Festival runs March 20 through April 14.

#10 Dallas — Southern Living called Dallas “the concrete jungle of the South” but has the “largest annual floral festival in the Southwest,” Dallas Blooms — half a million spring-blooming bulbs, including tulips, hyacinths, cherry trees, and daffodils.