News
A Great Time to Hike
It may be a little hard to imagine layering up for a winter hike with the unseasonably warm weather we’ve seen over the past few weeks, but a chilly trek with friends is one of my favorite activities during the season of staying inside. When a sunny day shines down...
Can We Save Our Hemlocks?
When you gaze out at our mountains in the winter, the magnificent dark green groves of eastern and Carolina hemlocks used to stand out against the winter browns of deciduous trees. However, you may notice a decrease in green as these hemlocks are fighting a somewhat...
Ornithologists are Counting on your Help!
Ornithologists, scientists who study birds, have their hands full. Birds are an important component of the environment, because they limit insect populations and spread seeds for many of our native flowering plants. They are also key indicator species, meaning that...
Love Birds and More This February
Throughout February, The North Carolina Arboretum is celebrating everything from the love of birds to lovebirds. From the Great Backyard Bird Count and adult education classes about our feathered friends to a special Valentine’s brunch and wedding planning, we have...
The Making of a Dugout Canoe
Before European contact, the only way the indigenous peoples of North America could travel was either on foot or in canoes. The waterways of North America became the highways of today. Canoes were made from bark, animal skins or wood. By far the sturdiest...
Winter Gardening
Winter and gardening are two words that do not naturally go together. Yet, in the southeast, a number of interesting plants and gardening tasks can be enjoyed in winter. Over this past weekend, I spent time in my garden enjoying unnaturally warm temperatures and...
The Warm World of Tropical Bonsai – in Asheville
If you want to trade out the cold and gray of winter for a warm, tropical locale full of exotic plants, then take a short trip to see the new displays of tropical bonsai in The North Carolina Arboretum’s Baker Exhibition Greenhouse. There you can enjoy the warm,...
New Year, New You: Three Arboretum Activities to Make the Most of 2017
The start of a new year often comes with a list of resolutions, promises and “to do’s.” New Year’s resolutions are most common in western culture but are also practiced in the eastern hemisphere. At the start of the 21st century, approximately 40 percent of American...
Happy New Decade!
This time of year is action-packed with all the inspiring elements of the holidays, the closing of an old calendar and hanging of a new one, and thinking about what the approaching New Year will bring. All of this is certainly the case at The North Carolina Arboretum,...
Five Holiday Favorites in Western North Carolina
This past month in Western North Carolina, we’ve welcomed cooler winter temperatures along with an influx of people visiting (or returning home) for the holidays. Christmas has always been a popular time here in Asheville and WNC. George Vanderbilt welcomed his first...