North Carolina is one of those rare states that includes multi-climate growing zones. From one end of the state to the other there are three separate zones that allow different kinds of plants to flourish.
The temperate climate of the state has long been known as one of the most definitive reasons North Carolina is a popular destination for people in search of a comfortable region to lay down new roots. It’s diverse climate allows it to be home to nearly 6,000 species of different plants.
The North Carolina mountains, which includes the city of Asheville, are located in Zone 6. Cities and towns located in the center of the state, like Charlotte, are designated as Zone 7. The coastal area is Zone 8, and is home to the city of Wilmington.
Not surprisingly, the Botanical gardens of the state that become popular tourist destinations when spring arrives, offer a wide variety of shrubbery and floral plant life that is reflective of their zone.
But that doesn’t mean you won’t find a surprise or two: many botanical gardens have indoor and outdoor growing areas, which allows them to cultivate and exhibit plant life from other regions and even from other distant parts of the planet, as well as out of season.
Here’s a look at some of our favorite botanical gardens from across the Tarheel state.
Asheville — The Biltmore Estate
The grounds of this 8,000 acre estate were designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and include a walled garden (four acres with a 236-foot long grape arbor, fruit trees, bulbs annuals and perennials), an Italian Garden complete with lawns pools and statuary, a spring garden, an azalea garden, a shrub garden, a winter garden, a conservatory complete with brick and glass palm house, hot house, cool house, exhibition room and propagation house. There’s also a wildflower meadow and woodland trails. www.biltmore.com
Chapel Hill — North Carolina Botanical Garden
Boasting nearly 700 acres of gardens, NCBG also includes 210 acres of nature preserves. It is operated by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The garden’s chief goal is to catalog, promote and research plant species that are native to North Carolina.
Currently the garden includes 14 display gardens with close to 6000 plants that represent 2500 species of the 4700 known to be native to the Carolinas. www.ncbg.edu
Charlotte — Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
Located on 380 acres of woodlands, lakefront property and rolling meadows in the Charlotte Metro region town of Belmont, the garden was founded by Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile executive from the region.
The facility includes a visitor pavilion, while the grounds boast ponds ornamented with over 60,000 spring flowering bulbs, woodland nature trails and wildflower meadows. Themed gardens include a four seasons garden, a cottage garden, a canal garden, an east garden and a perennial garden, among others. www.dsbg.com
Durham — Sarah P. Duke Garden
Originally founded in 1934, Duke Gardens is made up of 55 acres of wooded and landscaped areas at the Duke University. The site includes five miles of walkable alleys and pathways throughout the various gardens, which are divided into four areas: the Historic Core, the H. L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, the William Lewis Culberson Asiatic Arboretum, the Page-Rollins White garden and the Doris Duke Center gardens. https://gardens.duke.edu
Fayetteville — Cape Fear Botanical Garden
Located on 80 acres where Cross Creek meets the Cape Fear River, this botanical garden is open year-round and features an urban forest with nature trails, a natural amphitheater, steep ravines and an interesting cross collection of unusual plant life. The surrounding terrain includes pine forests and rich river banks. www.capefearbg.com
Greensboro — The Bog Garden
Featuring an elevated boardwalk that criss-crosses through seven acres of natural wetlands, the bog garden also includes stone pathways across a forested hillside and the Serenity Waterfall. Pay close attention to the mini varieties of plants birds and other wildlife you’ll find in the area. www.greensborobeautiful.org
High Point — Mariana H. Qubein Botanical Gardens
Located on the campus of high point university, the gardens were founded in 2006 and then cop is most of the school’s grounds. What’s began with a small team that created just a single rose garden now both more than 20 unique gardens and continues to develop and grow with each year.
Included in the collection of gardens dedicated to specific styles and presentation. You’ll find topiary fusion; a sculpture garden which includes art, greenery, floral and herbage; a lakeside presentation, which features several selections of deciduous hollies and irises; a climbing rose garden and more. https://highpoint.edu/gardens
Raleigh — The JC Ralston Arboretum
The 10-acre garden and Arboretum is nationally acclaimed because of its diverse collection of landscape plants that have been adapted for use in the southeastern United States. An unusual rooftop terrace garden is home to particularly Hardy plant survivors that are exceptionally each tolerance and require less water.
The Asian valley garden focuses on shade providing plants and features trees evergreen shrubs and subtropical plants of Asian origin that thrive in the eastern United States.
In total, there are over 14 gardens, providing an excellent place to learn about what might thrive in your area if you wish to create something exotic and unusual with plant life from other regions. This is one of the best go-to spots where they’re tested and allowed to grow and show their capabilities. https://jcra.ncsu.edu
Wilmington — New Hanover County Extension Service Arboretum
Originally opened in 1989, The gardens and Arboretum cover seven acres. 25 years later the garden continues to grow currently containing more than 30 gardens including those specifically designated for aquatics, herbs, roses and a stylized Japanese. According to online references it is said to contain more than 4,000 varieties of native and naturalized plants.
Winston-Salem — Reynolda Gardens at Wake Forest
Located in reynolda village next to the campus of Wake Forest University, these gardens were originally part of a large estate and farm created by tobacco magnate R.J. Reynolds.
Originally designed by landscape architect Thomas w. Sears, the property was donated as a gift to Wake Forest college in the late 1940s. Today the gardens have more than 125 acres of woodlands, fields, wetlands and a four-acre formal garden with greenhouse. One of the best historic gardens in the Carolinas it still contains greenhouse gardens that were designed in 1917, 1920 and 1931. https://reynolda.org/gardens
