Looking for ways to connect with nature in your everyday life? Maybe you’d like to spend more time walking outdoors, allowing your senses to take in all of nature’s beauty as you stroll. Perhaps you’re interested in learning how to identify native plants, and even use them for their medicinal properties.
Or maybe you’d like to learn about the wildlife and climates of faraway places.
No matter your interests, Center for Life Enrichment has an excellent lineup of home, garden, and nature programs this season to help you forge a deeper connection with the natural world around you.
Botanical EcoTours
Join Horticulturist Adam Bigelow for interpretive walks with a focus on the native wildflowers and plants of the Southern Appalachian bioregion.
All walks are from 9:00-12.
- May 22 – Botanical EcoTour: Spring Wildflowers at the Headwaters of the Chattooga
- June 20 – Botanical EcoTour: Wildflowers at Panthertown Valley
- July 12 – Botanical EcoTour: Wildflowers and Plants of Brushy Face
- August 21 – Botanical EcoTour: Wildflowers of Dixon Woods
- September 11 – Botanical EcoTour: Late Summer Wildflower Meadow
- October 3 – Botanical EcoTour: The First Hints of Fall
Foraging and Wildcrafting
Enjoy an assortment of programs ranging from foraged foods to medical herbs and how to sustainably incorporate them into your meals and medicine cabinets.
- June 6 – Intro to Wild Mushrooms and Cooking With Them, 1:00-4:00
- July 6 – Medicinal Garden Tour: Cultivating Medicinal Plants in the Home Garden, 10:00-12:00
- August 8 – Plants as Medicine: Wildcrafting and Basic Herbal Medicine Making 101, 2:00-4:00
- September 5 – Forest to Table Lunch, 11:00-1:00
Garden Gatherings
Visit some of most beautiful and exclusive gardens around the plateau. Enjoy cocktails and conversation that will be sure to leave you feeling refreshed and inspired.
- June 28 – Garden Safari Tour and Cocktail Party at Fernwood, 4:00-6:00 ***PLEASE NOTE: This tour is FULL. Please call (828) 526-8811 to be added to the waitlist.***
- July 11 – Garden Cocktail Party and Joe Webb Cabin Tour, 4:00-6:00
- July 19 – Garden Tour : Unique Woodland Garden in Highlands Falls, 10:00-12:00
Climate Change and Marine Life
Join presenter James McClintock for his fascinating lectures on Antarctic ice and the impacts of climate change.
- August 14 – From Polar Bears to Puffins, 2:00-4:00
- August 15 – Diving Below Antarctic Ice, 10:00-12:00
From Their Gardens to Yours
Whether you have a green thumb or are just starting to venture into the world of gardening, these experts have all the tips and tricks to help you “grow” your skills.
- May 16 – Starting Your Plants Off Right, 2:00-4:00
- May 17 – Home Landscape Design: Setting Up for Garden Success (Part 1 of 3), 10:00-12:00
- May 31 – Home Landscape Design: Bring Your Design to Life (Part 2 of 3), 2:00-4:00
- June 7 – Home Landscape Design: Stump the Experts (Part 3 of 3), 10:00-12:00
- June 15 – Native Plants to Benefit Your Vegetable Garden, 10:00-12:00
- August 1 – Tales From the Garden, 2:00-4:00
- August 2 – Great Gardens of the World, 10:00-12:00
- August 15 – Common Invasive Landscape Plants and Native Alternatives, 2:00-4:00
Click HERE to view the entire season of Home, Garden and Nature Programs.