Posts Tagged ‘Botanical Gardens’

Just as I was looking at our tomato starts in the kitchen this morning, I realized I had very little seeds in the herb department. I really want to plant a medicine herb garden and culinary herb garden. Then I realized it’s almost time for theAsheville Herb Festival. What a great way to celebrate spring and her wonders.

“Our 20th annual festival will take place May 1-3, 2009 at the WNC Farmers Market in Asheville, offering by far the best selection of herb plants in the southeast.

The WNC Chapter of the NC Herb Association represents the incredibly wide variety of herbalists and herb businesses in North Carolina: herb growers and vendors, natural gardening and landscaping specialists, and makers of herbal ointments, balms, soaps, teas, medicines, and other products. We hope you’ll join us and more than 25,000 other herb lovers when we celebrate the 20th annual Asheville Herb Festival May 1, 2, & 3, 2009, at the WNC Farmers Market.

This year, herb lovers from across the Southeast took advantage of some of the best herbs, plants, products, literature, and herb talk in the southeast. Many visitors were excited to learn that many of the most popular herbs, having developed around the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, are drought-tolerant.”

Come on out and share in the green plants. Get your garden hooked up with all the best from this year’s herb festival. We’ll see you there.

Wow, check out this great directory of local parks and green ways around Asheville. You’ll find many local hotspots.  From Vance Birthplace, NC Arboretum, Buncombe County’s 44 Acre Sports Park & the Folk Art Center to many Local Pools, Golf Courses, and the Western NC Nature center. Have some time to enjoy outdoors? Try exploring North Asheville’s  Beaver Lake, tour the famous Biltmore Estate, take a cruise on the Blue Ridge Parkway, Thrash Skate Parks, Enjoy Local Hiking trails and much more.

Discover amazing family fun outdoor opportunities around Asheville with this handy online resource:  Year of the Park (via Google Maps)

This is a fabulous online resource that everyone should bookmark.

Luckily for those of us in Asheville there are ample opportunities for the kids to join in some Easter Egg Fun! From community park egg hunts to Train Rides with Snoopy you can have a blast this weekend, joining the fun of Traditional Easter Egg hunts.

One year our family visited the Biltmore Estate for our Easter egg extravaganza, and I have to admit it was pretty fun. Although the organized egg hunt proved to be only somewhat entertaining, we had a blast hiding and rediscovering our own eggs hidden strategically throughout the beautiful tulip gardens that are blooming this time of year!

Asheville Citizen Times: Guide to WNC Easter egg hunts:

April 11, 2009
Community Easter egg hunt, 10 a.m.-noon, St. Paul’s Church, 32 Rosscraggon Road, Building B, Skyland. Inflatables, activities, refreshments, more. Third grade and younger. Call 277-7730.

Fletcher Easter egg hunt and parade of hats. 12:15 p.m., Fletcher Community Park. Visit www.fletcherparks.org. The fields will be covered with over 8,000 eggs full of prizes and candy for everyone participating, and the Easter Bunny will be there to officially start the Easter Egg Hunt!

Grovewood Gallery and Café Easter egg hunt, 11 a.m., 111 Grovewood Road. Ages 2-9. $10; RSVP by April 6. Activities, Easter Bunny. Call 253-7651 or visit www.grovewood.com.

Lake Junaluska Easter egg hunt, 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Stuart Auditorium/Harrell Center, Lake Junaluska Conference and Retreat Center. Many more Easter events scheduled for April 11-12.

Malvern Hills Park Easter egg hunt, 1-3 p.m., ages 2-10, hosted by Malvern Hills Presbyterian Church. Call 258-8624

Dillsboro’s Easter Hat Parade, 2 p.m., Dillsboro. Participants and pets of all ages. Prizes, Easter Bunny, more. Hat-making in advance at Dogwood Crafters. Call 800-962-1911

April 11-12, 2009
Train ride with Snoopy, the Easter Beagle, 10:30 a.m., the Great Smoky Mountains Railroad, departing Bryson City. Children 2-12, $29; adults, $49. Refreshments, egg hunt, photos with Snoopy. Call 800-872-4681 or visit .

April 12, 2009
Biltmore Easter egg hunts, 11 a.m., 1 and 3 p.m. Biltmore Estate admission required for age 6 and older.

Chimney Rock Park sunrise service. Gates open 5-6 a.m.; service at 6:30 a.m. Arrive early, dress warm and bring a flashlight.

1.    These beautiful mountains, what an incredible blessing it is to live in these old mountains,with our hiking trails, waterfalls and vistas.

2.    The abundance and diversity of trees,  plants and native wildlife.

3.    The most beautiful seasons, we really experience all four in their full glory here.

4.    The music scene, there are so many incredible musicians, you can always go hear good live music, most days you can’t walk down the street without hearing a street musician.

5.    Blue grass and the whole Appalachian culture.

6.    The abundance of artists and original art from pottery, quilts, paintings, welded works to Caberet shows and Improv Comedy.

7.    The funky funky flare of all those “keeping Asheville weird.”

8.    The pigeons at Prichard Park and the one hawk that stalks them.

9.    Southern cuisine and local flare found in downtown restaurants.

10.    The roses outside the Basilica.

11.    The Bird Sanctuary, the tree that everyone takes turn climbing, the deck looking out at Beaver Lake and the poppies in Spring.

12.    The Botanical Gardens by UNCA, sitting on a rock on the stream then taking a wooded stroll or a Frisbee throw in the field.

13.    Battery Park Apartments, the incredible views from the Roof Garden and the history and people living in the building.

14.    Taking a walk in Montford in the Spring and lazing around Montford Park, the Amphitheaters outside shows in the summer.

15.    All the colleges and young people here on their own journeys to self discovery, ready to learn, make art, volunteer, play music and keep the streets alive.

16.    The choices for organic food, the plentiful tailgate markets in season, the choices of health food stores, and of course Amazing Savings.

17.    How many awesome festivals there are here, from music festivals at Deerfields and Lake Eden, to the tons of street festivals downtown,and let’s not forget about Bele Chere.

18.    Asheville Tourist Baseball games in the summer.

19.    A movie date to the Fine Arts Theatre.

20.    $2 Movies with pizza and a beer at Asheville Pizza Company.

21.    The Nature Center otters, we love the otters and all the other rescued animals.

What are your favorite things about our beautiful city?

Woodpecker at Beaver Lake Bird Sanctuary

We are so fortunate to live so close to the Blue Ridge Parkway in Asheville, which offers infinite hiking trails to explore. But even when we don’t have time for a drive on the parkway, Asheville has many great spots right in town to convene with nature.

Just north of downtown one can find the tranquility of sitting on a rock along a stream at the Botanical Gardens, adjacent to the UNCA campus.  Explore the gardens and walk the trails which meander next to a nice flowing creek. Or bring a Frisbee and blanket, have picnic in the grassy field, it’s a great spot for the family or a peaceful moment to yourself. Read the rest of this entry »