Chimney Rock thrills with a-Lure-ing views
December 04, 2022 I’ve always loved the thrillingly high and scenic views from the cracked tower of stone known as Chimney Rock, 25 miles southeast of Asheville, North Carolina. I came here many times as a kid and young adult when I lived in the Carolinas. Privately owned and managed ...
Bewitching bonsai, art, and autumn gardens at North Carolina Arboretum
November 30, 2022 Located in Asheville on the doorstep of the Blue Ridge Parkway, with views of the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the North Carolina Arboretum draws hikers, mountain bikers, and trail walkers thanks to 10 miles of wooded, hilly, dog-friendly trails. But garden lovers like myself find plenty to enjoy ...
Golden trees and black bears in Great Smoky Mountains and Cades Cove
November 28, 2022 On Halloween, we sought the warm colors of autumn — pumpkin orange, harvest gold, bonfire red — along the Blue Ridge Parkway and in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, which straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee border. And we found them too, despite the lateness of the leaf-peeping season, ...
Elk watching in Cataloochee Valley
November 25, 2022 I’d hoped to hear the bugle of bull elk during our road trip through Great Smoky Mountains National Park, but those eerie, whistling autumnal calls elude me yet. Still, I can’t complain about the elk viewing in the scenic Cataloochee Valley of North Carolina, about an hour ...
Autumn gardens and biking at Biltmore House
November 17, 2022 During our visit to Asheville, North Carolina, earlier this month, we spent one day at Biltmore House — but not to see the castle-like chateau erected by the New York-based Vanderbilts as their summer place. We’ve toured the house before, and it’s interesting, but I didn’t feel ...
Fall foliage, falls, and food in and around Asheville
November 15, 2022 Looking Glass Falls near Brevard, NC I love fall and seeing the trees change color. Since autumn color in Texas rarely offers more than a faint blush or tinge of yellow, I’ll travel far to see a good show. But it’s tricky when you’re making reservations 6 ...
Woodland tapestry: Jay Sifford’s garden of foliage, art, and light
April 18, 2019 During a family visit to Charlotte, North Carolina, last weekend, I took the opportunity to visit the garden of designer Jay Sifford, an online friend who graciously offered up his morning for a visit. When thunderstorms rumbled all morning, we pushed it to early afternoon. I arrived ...
Charming public gardens at Fearrington Village
August 23, 2012 While touring Fearrington Village near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, earlier this month, I was charmed by the lovely landscaping—not just the gardens surrounding Fearrington House Inn but the pocket-sized, colorful gardens found alongside the shops and restaurants in the village center. This toad lily blackberry lily Pardancanda ...
Romantic gardens of Fearrington House, North Carolina
August 22, 2012 Lovely strolling gardens wrap all sides of the country inn at Fearrington Village, near Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which I visited earlier this month. I spent a happy hour early one morning exploring its grounds, which include an English-style white garden, an herb garden, shrub borders, and ...
Oreo cows, goats & gardens at Fearrington Village, Pittsboro, NC
August 21, 2012 My dad lives in Fearrington Village, a planned community of mostly retirees outside of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. It’s a lovely community of 2,000, built on wooded, rolling hills, anchored by an English-style village square with a few shops, an independent bookstore (sadly lacking in garden titles, ...
Dad’s North Carolina garden for Bloom Day
August 15, 2012 Last week I took a quick trip to central North Carolina to visit my dad, who lives in the charming Fearrington Village planned community. (Pics of the Fearrington House Inn garden coming soon.) Many of his neighbors—and this is a neighborhood of retirees—have opted out of extensive ...
White Gate Inn’s charming garden and goodbye Asheville Fling!
June 03, 2012 While not an official part of the recent Garden Bloggers Fling in Asheville, North Carolina, the garden of the White Gate Inn, just down the street from our hotel, was suggested as a must-see if we had any spare time. So one morning I got up early ...
Wicked Plants and good plants at North Carolina Arboretum: Asheville Garden Bloggers Fling
June 02, 2012 The North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, one of our stops during the recent Garden Bloggers Fling, offers not only formal gardens, naturalistic gardens, a Professional Landscape Garden, and a bonsai exhibit, to name a few, but miles of trails on hilly terrain and framed views of the ...
Revisiting Biltmore Gardens at Asheville Garden Bloggers Fling
May 31, 2012 The “big” garden visit on the recent Garden Bloggers Fling in Asheville, North Carolina, was, of course, the Biltmore House gardens. I took a lot of photos of the gardens almost exactly a year ago, on a less-crowded and less-sunny morning (links at the end of this ...
Asheville Garden Bloggers Fling: Christopher Mello’s garden has the blues
May 30, 2012 Blue bottles on blue trees Blue chairs Blue flying baby heads Blue walls Blue rocks And ‘Blue Pearl’ poppies, the bluer ones in this group—a new cultivar selected by Christopher Mello, who welcomed nearly 90 garden bloggers into his eclectic, colorful, recycled-art garden on the first day ...
Bee-utiful community and food gardens at Asheville Fling
May 27, 2012 Wallowing in poppy goodness, the bees and I enjoyed a visit to the Burton Street Community Peace Gardens while in Asheville recently for the Garden Bloggers Fling. Look at this girl’s full pollen basket on her legs. Like slipping into satin sheets Dusted with pollen Off to ...
