Tomorrow is the summer solstice and official start of summer. Last month, I waxed poetic about Carolina springtimes. While I love the solstice, seeing spring leave is bittersweet.

Here’s another set of photos from earlier this spring. These are from my birthday visit to Charleston, South Carolina, specifically Middleton Place Farm and Gardens. My marvelous day at Middleton was a March surprise from a friend “as good as spring itself.” — VF

“When spring came, even the false spring, there were no problems except where to be happiest. The only thing that could spoil a day was people and if you could keep from making engagements, each day had no limits. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” 

Ernest Hemingway
A Moveable Feast