By Karen Olson House | March 2006

• North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville
• Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham
• Gardens at Tryon Palace, New Bern
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North Carolina Arboretum, Asheville

Small trees are a big attraction at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, which recently opened a beautiful, new bonsai exhibit. The Arboretum’s diverse collection of more than 100 display-quality bonsai trees and more than a hundred plants-in-training features native Appalachian plants such as red maple and eastern white pine.

Walking on a lighted boardwalk path and through a courtyard with attractive stonework, visitors to the Bonsai Exhibition Garden learn about the art of bonsai through interpretive signs. There is also an open-air pavilion for demonstrations, classes and exhibits.

The 432-acre arboretum, nestled in a natural setting amid the Appalachian mountains, is a busy center for education, research, conservation and economic development. It offers 10 miles of forested hiking and biking trails, guided weekly tours of the garden, trail and greenhouse, as well as classes, craft demonstrations and behind-the-scenes tours of new facilities.

Visitors can explore 65 acres of cultivated gardens with Appalachian Mountain themes, including:

Plants of Promise Garden

This garden showcases superior plants for the North Carolina region and offers ideas for growing a garden at the woodland edge.

Stream Garden

This design, featuring native plant species and cultivated varieties, centers on a mountain stream.

Quilt Garden

It translates traditional quilt patterns into seasonal floral exhibits. This year’s featured pattern is “Flower Basket.”

Heritage Garden

Currently in expansion and slated for a late spring reopening, it features plants valuable to the heritage of western North Carolina.

Visitor Information

• Café: The arboretum’s “Savory Thyme Café” serves sandwiches, soups, salads, baked goods, locally roasted and fresh-brewed coffee, tea, juices and sodas. The atrium has great views of the Bent Creek Watershed. Visitors can picnic outdoors.
• Wheelchair Access: Buildings, gardens and some trails are wheelchair accessible. Wheelchairs are available free of charge on-site, on a first-come, first-served basis.
• Hours of Operation: Arboretum grounds are open seven days a week. Property hours are 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., April–October; and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., November–March. The Visitor Education Center is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m.
• Admission: Parking is $6 per personal motor vehicle, $25 for commercial vans and $45 for buses. No parking fee for N.C. Arboretum Society members. All day Tuesday, parking is free.
• Location: Just outside Asheville, the Arboretum is located next to the Blue Ridge Parkway entrance ramp at Milepost 393.
• (828) 665-2492 or www.ncarboretum.org