Take a day trip to Orton Plantation! The gardens are in all their glory right now.
Generations of locals and tourists travel to the historic property with its beautiful antebellum plantation house. Azaleas, dogwoods, camellias and various annuals bring a splash of color to the riverside oaks and pines.
One of the oldest plantations on the Lower Cape Fear and the only one with a manor house still standing, Orton has become a privately owned tourist attraction, celebrated for its elaborate gardens. In recent years, the plantation and its grounds have served as locations on a number of motion pictures.
When a cousin of the Sprunt family was seriously injured in an automobile accident In the late 1930s. Family members decided to open Orton plantation as a public garden for a long weekend to raise money for his medical bills, .
Visitors so enjoyed the gardens and grounds that the family continued to keep them open to the public. These days, the gardens are open each year, March through August and September through November.
The house and grounds are located at 9149 Orton Road S.E., Brunswick County just off N.C. 133, close to the Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site.