April is dubbed the start of jasmine season in the Holy City, and it’s impossible to miss. Strolling South of Broad, you’ll spot thousands of white blooms winding their way through fences, climbing up historic buildings, and draping iron gates — and it’s just beginning.
“Spring time is just loaded with blooms beginning,” says Kellen Goodell, the director of horticulture for the Charleston Parks Conservancy, a non-profit that works to enhance and maintain the city’s public parks and green spaces. “Many of our roses begin blooming in April and hold through May, with many others repeat blooming again throughout the year.”
But spoiler alert: You don’t have to plan an elaborate flower-peeping stroll to see all the flowers blooming in Charleston in May. Skip Magnolia Plantation and Gardens or Middleton Place and simply make time to stop to smell the roses (literally) in our public parks and gardens.
Here are the blooms you can see for free in Charleston in May, plus the best parks to visit to ensure you spot your favorite spring flower in full bloom.
What Flowers and Plants Bloom in Charleston in May?
Thanks to a small staff and a dedicated team of volunteers, the Charleston Parks Conservancy plants blooms throughout the seasons in around two dozen public parks across the city. Come May, these are some of the most emphatic and popular flowers you’ll see blooming in Charleson, according to Goodell:
- Roses. From April and beyond, roses begin blooming, including Blush Noisette Roses, Peggy Martin Roses, Belinda’s Dream, Groundcover Drift Roses, and many others, especially at the Rose Pavilion within Hampton Park.
- Magnolias. By mid to late May, Southern magnolias begin to open. Their large white blooms feel almost sculptural against the dark green leaves, and they’re one of the most iconic visuals of a Southern spring turning into summer.
- Hydrangeas. Both big-leaf hydrangea macrophylla hydrangea with their spectrum of color from powder blue to lavender to pink and hydrangea paniculata with their large white cones of flowers begin blooming around Memorial Day and carry into summer.
- Hibiscus. Along with Hydrangeas, Hibiscus are popular early summer flowers that will begin blooming and capture lots of attention at the end of May and into June.
- Native plants. A few beautiful and native perennials we have blooming in our parks right now, include Baptisia, Penstemon, Echinacea, Coreopsis, Yarrow, Amsonia, a number of Rudbeckia species, Ratibida, Iris, and more.
Other common ornamental landscape and garden plants that begin blooming in April and continue into May and summer include: Agapanthus, Acanthus, Nepeta, Salvias, Jasmines, native and non-native Wisteria, coneflowers, and black-eyed Susan Rudbeckia species.
Where to See Your Favorite Flowers in May in for Free
While it’s not easy to choose a favorite flower that blooms every spring in Charleston, Goodell admits he has one: the Peggy Martin Roses. “They have become a staple and emphatic bloom in our parks in April and May and many people have taken note and begun planting and training them on their trees, fences, arbors, and more,” Goodell says.
Here, Goodell breaks down his top picks of where to see your favorite flowers around town:
- Corrine Jones Playground and Park for great native and pollinator-friendly plants
- Colonial Lake and the Rose Pavilion in Hampton Park for roses and more
- Hampton Park for Magnolia grandifloras
- Wragg Square for Agapanthus, Acanthus, Echinacea, Hellebores still hanging on, Hydrangeas, Salvias, Roses, Milkweeds and more
- Tiedemann for lots of gorgeous native plants
