Wintergreen Falls – June 21, 2024

Posted on June 23, 2024 by WCBC

The waterfall looked very inviting on a hot day! Sadly, the week after we visited the Park Service mowed and plowed the meadow. All those Milkweeds have now gone! Photography by Penny Longhurst & Lucy Prim. Click on any picture to zoom & enter the slide show. Plants that are non-native to North America are indicated by an asterisk (*) placed after the species name.

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Frying Pan Gap – June 14, 2024

Posted on June 18, 2024 by WCBC

Looks like it was a beautiful day for a hike. Photography by Daudie & John Colson & Janice Irwin.  Click on any picture to zoom. Plants that are non-native to North America are indicted by an asterisk (*) placed after the species name.

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Southern Highlands Reserve, June 7, 2024

Posted on June 13, 2024 by WCBC

Several club members took a guided tour at the Southern Highlands Reserve in Lake Toxaway to view their native plants and experience the rare ecology of high-elevation Southern Appalachian forests. After weeks of rain we really lucked out with the beautiful weather. Their garden, part of 120 acres protected by the North American Land Trust, is designed to uphold and honor the spirit of the land, as well as help preserve threatened species, including Gregory Bald Azaleas. Many thanks to Erik Kimbrel, Director of Horticulture, and the docents for a wonderful visit. Photography by Penny Longhurst & Randy Richardson. Click on any picture to zoom & enter the slide show.

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Buck Spring Nature Trail – June 4, 2024

Posted on June 9, 2024 by WCBC

We started at the Pisgah Inn, hiked to Buck Spring Lodge, & then continued past the parking area along the old road route towards the tunnel overlook. We should have stopped at the cars! We hadn’t gone much more than a hundred yards when it started pouring with rain!  WCBC created the self-guiding interpretive botanical trail between the North end of the Pisgah Inn parking lot and the historic site of George Vanderbilt’s Buck Spring Lodge. Information about the plants found near the posts on the Nature Trail can be found online here or by clicking on the QR code or downloading the brochure. Photography by Penny Longhurst, Jim Poling, & Randy Richardson. Plants that are non-native to North America are indicated by an asterisk (*) placed after the species name. Click on any picture to zoom and view the slide show.

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Kellogg Center – May 31, 2024

Posted on June 5, 2024 by WCBC

Great leaders! This was the first time in several years that we haven’t been totally lost!

The Kellogg Center was originally the summer residence of Kathryn A. Kellogg, who bequeathed the property to Wake Forest University in 1969. In 1987 it became the property of UNC Asheville, which used it as an educational and community conference center. The property includes two buildings and 46 acres of land. The Perry N. Rudnick Nature and Public Art Trail, which opened in May 2002, includes three distinct ecosystems – the trillium and fern wetland, a hardwood forest with rhododendron and mountain laurel, and the wildflower meadows. Perry Rudnick was a local philanthropist whose foundation supported arts and culture, conservation, education, health and human services, and youth activities. A grant from his foundation supported the 14 commissioned outdoor sculptures found along the trails and described in the following brochure:  Rudnick Art Trail at Kellogg Center. You can find GPS tracks for a route that visits all the sculptures on GaiaGPS or AllTrails

Photography by Penny Longhurst. Plants that are non-native to North America are indicated by an asterisk (*) placed after the species name. Click on any picture to zoom and view the slide show.

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