I just returned from a weekend trip to North Carolina last night. I was there for massage therapy continuing education, but was able to enjoy the North Carolina Arboretum on Sunday evening following my class. Luckily the gardens are open until 9PM April -October. The arboretum is a 434 acre public garden located on land within the Pisgah National Forest under a special permit. It is adjacent to the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway.
The arboretum was established in 1986, close to 100 years after Frederick Law Olmstead envisioned it . there are several miles of hiking trails and pathways through the gardens. Unfortunately for me the Bonsai garden was closed by the time I got there, but I could peek in through the gates at some of it. It is quite spectacular. There is an education center, and greenhouses and an outdoor events garden with an amphitheater.
I especially enjoyed the quilt garden which is a floral representation of a quilt design. There is an overlook of the garden so that visitors can enjoy the full view.
There is also a Heritage garden which includes a chimney and stone foundations and a wooden gazebo area and spring. The plants there include medicinal herbs and plants used in crafts and for dyes that are traditional in the area. In addition , there is a stream garden planted primarily with native plants, a holly garden, rhododendron collection, and a sustainable landscape demonstration garden which is full of native grasses and lovely flowering perennials that serve as a transition area into the forest.
We only had about an hour to spend there, and I wish I could have used the trail system as well as just seen the gardens. Most of the plants were identifiable and similar to the plants I see here, but there are some that grow better in the mountains and with which I was unfamiliar. I forgot to take camera and plant books with me, so I plan to go back sometime soon. It was a lovely setting with the mountain ridges visible from part of the gardens. They provide brochures with a guide to the gardens and trails as well as a brochure which features their permanent art exhibit of garden sculptures.
The Biltmore Estate also has a huge garden area and is quite nice to visit, but I wasn't able to make it this trip. I have really enjoyed visiting there in the past, touring both the house and gardens. In addition to these two places, there is also a Botanical Gardens of Asheville which is a ten acre nature preserve filled with native flora of the Southern Appalachians and is next to UNC Ashville. If you haven't been to Asheville and you like gardens and mountains, please put it on your list of places to go.
As I am writing this, the first band of rain from Tropical Storm Isaac is coming through our area. I am glad I went out for my walk and did my garden picking early this morning. As of now, the storm is heading West of Alabama toward New Orleans , but our South coast is still under a warning . Tonight and tomorrow we'll have the possibility of strong storms and tornadoes. We haven't had any rain here since last week, so we are welcoming the rain, but I hope we don't have any strong wind gusts.
When I went out to the garden this morning I noticed that my chives (Allium schoenoprasum) had started to bloom while I was gone. They have a softly rounded white pom pom of small flowers. My books say they should bloom in the spring and have lavender to pink flowers. I must have an odd variety. I know I purchased them as chives, and that is where my chives have always been, and the leaves still smell like chives.
Chive are grown from bulbs , are in the onion family, and the thin grass like leaves are used to flavor cottage cheese , potatoes, gravies, and egg dishes . The flavor is a mild, onion type flavor. They stay green through the winter in mild climates , but die back in cold winters. They are clump forming and do need dividing every few years. They can easily be grown in pots on a windowsill as well. The grassy leaves and pretty flowers look good in flower as well as herb gardens.They are fairly low growing, usually up to a foot.
Whenever I use chives in my cooking, I think of my father who always loved to have them on baked potatoes , mixed in with the sour cream.
Susan
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