Landscaping your Western North Carolina home not only creates a pleasing presentation for you and your guests, it can also enhance the value of your home. According to a survey by Turf Magazine, landscaping enhances the perceived value of home between 5.5% and 11.4%....
At the height of summer, a healthy garden vibrates, hums, whistles, buzzes and flashes with color. Morning light reveals dewy spider webs stretched between tall grass, hummingbirds careening through the air and chattering testily at one another, caterpillars nearly...
Creating a garden is a work over time. It requires interest, drive, concentration, commitment, creativity and even a little luck. The Arboretumās National Native Azalea Collection certainly embodies all of these traits. It is a dreamy place to wander off the beaten...
If you are like us, you have probably been spending a lot more time around your houseplants in recent days, and you might have also noticed that those potted friends in your windowsill could use a little T.LC.. Spring is a great time to give your houseplants a refresh...
The great English gardener Gertrude Jekyll wrote, āA garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches us to trust.ā My maternal grandparents were great gardeners because they had to be. Their...
January and February are relatively quiet months in the garden. But after the hustle and bustle of the holidays, perhaps this is a giftāa moment to exhale, look around, take stock of what is going on around us and maybe even allow ourselves to dream a little. I...
This season, Iāll be decorating a Real Christmas Tree along with 25-30 million other people in the United States. The title, Real Christmas Tree, is an official one, adopted by the National Christmas Tree Association and the North Carolina Christmas Tree Association....
It is not the largest tree in the forest, but that doesnāt mean the sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum) doesnāt stand out in a crowd of hardwoods and pines. This time of the year, these medium-sized trees are easy to spot along The North Carolina Arboretumās approach road,...
Fifty years ago this month, Apollo 11ās trip into space produced Neil Armstrongās July 20, 1969, walk on the moon, along with historic awe-inspiring photographs of the moon, earth and the surrounding cosmos. In 1980, astrophysicist Carl Sagan brought the story of our...
As Memorial Day approaches, we can think of many activities, traditions and events that will take place over the three-day weekend. A retreat to the lake, a family cookout, the opening of the community pool, these are just some of the memories that come to my mind...