Bent Creek Bistro Re-Opens for Spring!

Located at the “top” of the campus in the Education Center, Bent Creek Bistro reopens for the spring this Friday, March 18. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday.

Stop by for hand-prepared food, like our visitor-favorite sandwiches, salads and our hand-made quiche, as well as a great variety of wines and local beers, locally roasted coffee, hot teas and more. 

With indoor and outdoor seating, you can pick the perfect place to enjoy your meal, no matter the weather. So, before you stroll the gardens, or after a nice long hike, grab some hearty handmade fare or a delicious snack.

Supporting Play

Thank you to everyone who donated to The Path Forward campaign in 2021. Most recently, your generous gifts have built a beautiful “materials” bench in the Playing Woods. As we look forward to Field Trips, OAK, and Discovery Camps, we’re also looking forward to seeing students use this beautiful bench for crafts, drawing and examining wildlife in their outdoor classroom. YOUR generosity makes this possible!

What’s Outside? Look up For Blooms!

Early spring is a special time for several favorite native plant species. Many of our spring wildflowers will leaf out and bloom before the forest floor becomes shaded by the tree canopy. Be on the lookout for favorites like cut-leaved toothwort, violets and trout lilies, which are some of the earliest risers in the season.

Many of our tree species have flowers blooming in March as well, though many are not as showy. Be on the lookout for red maple flowers blooming high in the branches. If you keep an eye out you’ll see them everywhere! These flowers provide an important source of nectar for many of our native bee species as well as a nice splash of color in the landscape that ensures us that spring is on the way!

Naturalists of all ages will have opportunities to explore red maples and many of the other plants in our region this spring. Adults can register for the Botany Basics course, a rigorous course that is a part of the Arboretum’s Blue Ridge Naturalist and Blue Ridge Eco Gardener programs. Naturalist and botanist Alexandra Holland teaches this college-level intensive presented in a Zoom-based lecture format. Young botanists should visit ecoEXPLORE.net to learn how to win nature-related prizes, earn badges by making photo observations, and complete challenges with their family.
 

Winter Lights Thanks You!

Winter Lights 2021 was our biggest and best year yet. We were able to safely return to a walk-through show, allowing visitors to explore the gardens at their own pace. The per-car ticket model, along with the new tiered ticketing system, helped us host more guests than ever before. We sold over 28,000 tickets and welcomed an estimated 107,000 guests! 

Thanks to you, we were able to exceed our fundraising goals. These funds go towards keeping the Arboretum beautiful all year long and hiring more staff to make that happen. Thank YOU for making Winter Lights a huge success!

Learn & Grow with Adult Education

The challenges presented by the start of the pandemic two years ago meant we grew opportunities for innovative onsite, field-based and online classes. We’re offering new classes asynchronously, so you can learn on your own schedule. Vertebrate Zoology of the Blue Ridge blends course content and lively discussion online with live-time round table talks with the instructor. A second asynchronous course, The Curator's Journal, opens on March 25, with the first of new entries that our bonsai curator will keep coming each week for a full year!

Keep up with what’s growing in Adult & Continuing Education by signing up for our monthly newsletter, now published the fourth week of every month. You’ll see new classes in natural history & ecology, horticulture & landscape design, and contemplative arts & wellness listed monthly.