The star attractions are stately old homes surrounded by beautiful gardens. Brilliantly colored azaleas twinkle beneath a canopy of luminous pink and white dogwood blossoms. View Plantings that are the result of an on-going effort of over 50 years. Two dogwoods have attained such great size that they have been declared State co-champions. The tour is 5+ miles in length. A free shuttle will run continuously between event locations during the weekend.

The town was laid out in 1837 on high ground, not prone to flooding, and is surrounded by some of this country's richest alluvial farm land deposited by countless floods of the Mississippi River. Wealthy land-owners planted cotton and other crops and built fine, stately homes. Most of these homes are turn-of the century Victorian, but several date back to the 1860's. Many are still inhabited by the descendants of the landowners. Charleston has a distinctly Southern flavor going back to the time when farming was labor-intensive, and a large labor force was needed to tend and pick the cotton crop.

However, in the yard of a small house on Hunter Street began Charleston's Dogwood-Azalea story. For there lived Molly French, an avid gardener, who always had time to pick a bouquet of flowers for someone's special occasion and freely share gardening advice. In 1952, a garden club was founded and named in her honor. Each year since, the club has had a Spring plant sale and encouraged planting dogwoods and varieties of azaleas best suited to the climate. It was at first thought that lavender-colored azaleas were hardiest. Some of these remain and have attained roof-level height. Now most azalea plantings are shades of reds, pinks, and white. Today a woman with a green thumb resides in Charleston and lovingly cares for a magnificent azalea hedge know as "Mary's Thicket".

Although Charleston is host to many visitors during the two week blooming time, many more come for the Dogwood-Azalea Festival held on the 3rd weekend of April.