I would greatly appreciate any "bloom status" information from Fodorites currently in the Savannah and/or Charleston areas. I will be driving to/from Baton Rouge to DC sometime in the 3/8/09 thru 3/20/09 time period and will plan a Georgia/South Carolina route if timing to see peak blooms is right either coming or going. I do realize that Savannah will be very crowded and rooms hard to get by the end of next week b/c of St. Patrick's Day festivities. Thanks in advance for any insight.

Hi again folks,

I am bumping this thread back to the top in hopes someone can help me out with a current bloom status on azaleas in Charleston and Savannah.

Topping again. They schedule the garden tour for what is expected to be peak time and that's the last week in March -
http://www.savannahtourofhomes.org/tourinfo.asp

Thanks for the info, Starrs. Even though earlier and not as impressive as most years, the azaleas in Baton Rouge are fully blooming now. We've had a strange, but mostly mild winter -- other than the 5 inches of snow we got in mid- December!

I did some research and found that in the past 5 years, peak bloom time in Savannah has been approximately one week to 10 days later than here. Just checking again to see if any locals or current visitors to Savannah and/or Charleston have any information to share.

Thanks for any assistance.

We've had a long winter and the early azaleas are just coming out as of today. (H H Island)

Ours just went in to full bloom.

Would love to have a 2010 azalea blooimg status for Savannah and Charleston. It's been a strange winter all over the country and I'm wondering if it will effect the SC azaleas blooming time. And how long do they stay pretty? We'll be there 3/22-4/1.

It's too early. Guessing when will be "prime" is what the organizers of the spring festivals do every year.

My camellia bush is still gorgeous. This seems later than usual.

Thanks, starrs, for the inside scoop. That is when we will be there! Can't wait.

HTTY

Ok, I'm confused.

starrs....help me out here. Did you mean our being there from 3/22-4/1 was too early to see the azaleas bloom or did you mean it's too early now to guess when the azaleas will be 'prime'?

And HTTY, what inside scoop are you referring too?

too early now to guess

Savannah got snow last week - which is HIGHLY unusual. It's still winter here.

The garden tour dates are based on historical averages and I can't remember a year where there weren't azaleas in bloom during that week. Y'all should be fine.

It's been a few years but it seems the azaleas in Magnolia Place (near Charleston) were in full bloom mid April the last time we were there.
I checked the site but could not find the "What's in Bloom section".
Based on the weather I've been following, the season could be a bit
later this year.
You could try these contacts for up-to-date info:
[email protected]

or Tom Johnson, Garden Director
[email protected]

Apologies .. Magnolia Plantation .. not Place
http://www.magnoliaplantation.com/index.html

Was thinking of Middleton Place as well.
http://www.middletonplace.org/

My azaleas at my home in Mt Pleasant start mid March. The roses start mid April.

Thank you all for added info and helpful links. We're driving from Nebraska and had planned on securing lodging as we go. Can anyone tell me if finding lodging during the week of the Home and Garden Tour in Savannah will be difficult if we wait until we get there? Our plan is to stay in Savannah 3/24-3/27 and then move to Charleston for a few days, but part of the fun of a road trip is taking your time and seeing things along the way. If we can book our lodging when we get there, we can take our time and see things along the way. And that might mean not getting to Savannah until 3/25 or 3/26.

There are plenty of places to stay. You may not be able to get a good last minute rate in the historic district, but you can drive a few miles from "midtown" or even a few more from the "gateway" hotels off I95 and/or the hotels near the airport. Savannah is relatively small and any of those will work as long as you are driving. You may even be able to get a great last minute rate on Hotwire...so play it by ear. The garden tour is very nice but it doesn't sell the city out. Now, St Patrick's Day weekend would be another story

Thank you starrs! Your response was exactly what I was hoping for. I've been a loyal Hotwire user for almost 10 yrs and plan to use it for this trip. Are there any of the areas offered on Hotwire that you would avoid (safety, inconvenient to Savannah, etc)? I'd like to avoid lodging where parking is an issue (costly parking garage & valet pkg). My ederly parents will be joining us so keeping walking to a minimum is a consideration. For this trip, hotels such as Hilton Garden Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Sheraton will do just fine. I do quite a bit of research before using Hotwire to narrow done which hotel I might end up getting. Here's the list of the areas offered for Savannah:
Historic District, Midtown, Airport, Hardeeville, Tybee Island, Richmond Hill, Bluffton, Hilton Head

Any travel related suggestions you have for the area would als be welcomed. Thanks!

I got the new Staybridge Suites via Hotwire for about $60 last week. It's my new favorite hotel in Savannah ;-)
My old fav used to the the Hampton on Bay (the Hampton Inn on Abercorn is at the edge of the Historic District). The Staybridge suite is on Bay, just one block down and in a GREAT location for walking around. They have a great free breakfast and the night I was there they were having Fiesta Night with chili, nachos and beer/wine. Fireplace in the lobby. Gorgeous rooms. What a deal!

They offered $7 parking which is great for Savannah.
I use betterbidding.com for the hotel lists and there are only two 3* hotels in Savannah on Hotwire (in the Historic district). I knew when I saw the kitchenette logo on the Hotwire page that I was going to get the Staybridge Suites.
One of my favorite lunch places is on the corner and lots of restaurants are in walking distance.

I've posted quite a bit on here about Savannah so you can look at previous Savannah thread. I'm about to head out for the weekend so I'll post more next week.

Personally, I wouldn't bid Priceline for Savannah because the Hilton DeSoto "wins" a lot of the time and it's not one of my favorites. I also wouldn't bid for Midtown and usually you can get the hotels directly for a good price in Midtown or other. Just my opinion though.

Re parking - if you are staying out of the Historic District, you'll get free parking. You can get daily parking passes for the historic district for $7. That's why I was especially pleased with the Staybridge pass. The parking at the Hampton Inn used to be free with your stay (in their garage).

http://www.savannahga.gov/cityweb/pa...7?OpenDocument

B&Bs will introduce you to the character-rich, more cologuial -- elegant to casual, depending on the B&B inn -- side of Savannah. Check with Amethyst Inn (www.aiasg.com; family friendly), Presidents' Quarters Inn (www.presidentsquarters.com; less-is-more elgance), or www.SavannahInns.com (3 easygoing, casual inns) for accommodations. Typically azaleas are blooming for the Savannah Tour of Homes and Gardens (late March) and Easter. They are holding back now so the azaleas seem to be holding back for their wonderland of blooms, as scheduled. Azalea Inn and Gardens (www.azaleainn.com; "Where fun blooms!") has beautiful heritage gardens.