Last spring, in a season when we were learning new rhythms of life, many of us found comfort in the natural world. For Jennifer Brannon, creative director at Green Bee Floral Designs in Winston-Salem, that meant visiting her backyard for fresh flowers. Using blooms from her own property, a friend’s yard, and a local farm, she created arrangements inspired by our favorite North Carolina gardens.
With names like Abba and Orange Princess, these stately tulips — and the delicate sweet peas that accompany them — mirror the colors of a spring sunset. photograph by Stacey Van Berkel
Biltmore. photograph by The Biltmore Company
The Biltmore Blooms event kicks off in April with a showstopper in the Walled Garden: thousands of tulips. The flowers — thought to be a nod to the Vanderbilts’ Dutch heritage — have been a springtime tradition since at least 1922. Each November, Biltmore’s horticulture team plants around 96,000 bulbs estate-wide that transform into resplendent blooms throughout April. The tulips range from deep purple to fiery orange to buttery yellow, creating a magnificent rainbow — one close enough for guests to see each layered detail.
(800) 411-3812
biltmore.com/things-to-do/events/spring
Elegant lilacs and simple dogwood flowers mimic the pastel blooms that line the paths of Duke Gardens. photograph by Stacey Van Berkel
Duke Gardens. photograph by MIKKEL PAIGE
At the heart of Duke University, the Sarah P. Duke Gardens comprise four distinct areas on 55 acres. In the Historic Gardens and the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, you can discover a butterfly refuge and a haven for rare North Carolina plants. Each spring, a cherry blossom “snowfall” covers Duke Gardens’ paths with delicate pink petals — nature’s ethereal welcome to longer, brighter days. After exploring the gardens’ extensive grounds, have lunch at the on-site Terrace Café in the Bartter Family Terrace House, or sit back on one of the many benches and enjoy the freshness of the season, flourishing before your very eyes.
(919) 684-3698
gardens.duke.edu
Coral bells and hoary azaleas reflect the blooms surrounding the Elizabethan Gardens’ statue of Queen Elizabeth I. photograph by Stacey Van Berkel
Elizabethan Gardens. photograph by Emily Chaplin and Chris Council
Featuring the world’s largest bronze statue of Queen Elizabeth I and a sweeping view of Roanoke Sound, Manteo’s Elizabethan Gardens boast 16th-century-style architecture and botanical varieties that would have grown during the time of the Lost Colony’s settlement. Stroll through the Queen’s Rose Garden, with its brick beds filled with climbing, thorny flowers; one variety, the grandiflora rose, arrived from Windsor Castle in 1976, a gift from Queen Elizabeth II. At the end of the President’s Walk, you’ll find the statue of Queen Elizabeth I holding a bouquet of roses in her arms and surrounded by azaleas, welcoming her beloved spring blooms and beckoning visitors from all around.
(252) 473-3234
elizabethangardens.org
Peonies — a favorite of Babcock’s — are a lush statement, needing only minimal greenery to dazzle any anthophile. photograph by Stacey Van Berkel
Reynolda Gardens. photograph by Jay Sinclair
A living legacy of the late Mary Reynolds Babcock — daughter of tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds — this Winston-Salem gem has been restored to its original glory, down to its 44 weeping cherry trees. Babcock, who was sometimes seen sporting flower tiaras and walking through the gardens barefoot in the early morning, poured her energy into making the Reynolda estate a place where her prized blooms would thrive. Originally planned by landscape architect Louis Miller in 1913, the gardens still showcase some of Babcock’s favorite flowers: early and modern varieties of roses, azaleas, and peonies. In the spring, those luscious blooms surround Reynolda’s glass conservatory, paying homage to the woman who dedicated her life to botanical discovery.
(336) 758-5593
reynoldagardens.org
The magnolia’s glossy leaves and dramatic, fragrant blooms are quintessentially Southern. photograph by Stacey Van Berkel
These gardens include the National Native Azalea Collection, representing nearly every native species along with natural hybrids.
(828) 665-2492
ncarboretum.org
Daniel Stowe boasts an orchid conservatory and seven gardens, including Lost Hollow, which has an amphitheater, pond, and playground.
(704) 825-4490
dsbg.org
Right outside of Uptown, these gardens feature a lush camellia hedge and are the living laboratory of world-renowned garden writer Elizabeth Lawrence.
(704) 331-0664
winghavengardens.org
This garden not only provides visual splendor, but it also doubles as a testing ground for planting practices that are most suitable for the Outer Banks’ microclimates.
(252) 473-4290
outerbanks.com/outer-banks-aboretum-and-teaching-garden.html
At our state’s first capitol, 16 acres of gardens contain traditional arrangements of marigolds and celosia alongside clipped hedges and intricately designed paths.
(800) 767-1560
tryonpalace.org
Behind the WRAL news station, a 1.5-acre azalea garden brings tranquility and natural beauty to the heart of our capital city.
(919) 665-7157
wral-gardens.com
Airlie’s 67 acres feature a sculpture collection as well as a pollinator garden designed to attract butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
(910) 798-7700
airliegardens.org
This Victorian-style garden includes herbs that were commonly used for a variety of purposes — including medicine and cooking — during the 1800s.
(910) 251-3700
bellamymansion.org
— Anna Grace Thrailkill and Zach Skillings
North Carolina is known for many things, but nothing more important this week than the qualities of endurance, resilience, and hope.
By day, this adventure park in the Triad is a fall festival to die for. By night, the undead come alive for Halloween tricks. Welcome to one man’s vision of year-round merrymaking.
North Carolina’s border dances across the mountains as it traces four different states. Life here can be more remote, but good neighbors are never far away.
The Blue Ridge Parkway stands out among America’s national parks: Unfurling across six Appalachian mountain chains, it connects dozens of rural communities and binds together generations of families through shared memories.
