Imagine being an early Carolina colonist for whom gardening is a necessity. Now imagine your joy when, in 1752, John Tobler included the brief “Gardener’s Kalendar” [sic] by Martha Daniell Logan in his South Carolina Almanack. For the first time, there were written guidelines for what thrived in the Lowcountry soil.
Homegrown botanist Martha was the daughter of Landgrave Robert Daniell, a deputy governor of Carolina, and grew up on his plantation (which ultimately gave Daniel Island its name). In 1719, she married George Logan Jr. and moved to Wando Plantation, where she was responsible for overseeing the gardens—particularly the kitchen garden. Becoming devoted to discovering and cultivating new plants, she corresponded regularly with horticulturists such as John and William Bartram of Pennsylvania and Peter Collinson in England.
In 1761, John Bartram visited the house in Charleston where she moved after George’s death, writing to Collinson, “her garden is her delight and she has a fine one.”
