This year at Biltmore Estate in Asheville, the tulips and azaleas are battling it out for everyone’s attention! We have never been to Biltmore — located 20 minutes from the Inn on Mill Creek — when the azaleas and tulips were in full bloom at the same time. Just, wow.
Its cheery song is smile-inducing, the return of its golden feathers in April adds to Spring’s color palette, and its frequency and acrobatic skills at the feeders make it a constant joy to watch. What’s not to love about the American Goldfinch? The second most-photographed bird at the Inn on Mill Creek (after our unofficial mascot, the ever-entertaining Tufted Titmouse), the American Goldfinch is also one of our most asked-about birds. So let’s give the goldfinch its due as the featured bird in the month of April in this year’s12 Months of Birding at the Inn series on our blog.
April is a great time to visit Biltmore Estate in Asheville if you love flowering trees and shrubs. As promised to our Facebook fans, here are some photos we took on April 12, just before the 80,000 tulips stole the show…enjoy!
Old Fort, North Carolina is a small town where big things happen: On Saturday April 27, 2013, three very different events will be taking place, but all connect history to the present…perfect for Old Fort.
This year, our area of Western North Carolina is the place to be in early May if you love food and local art!
| [Photo credit: Painters Greenhouse] |
Time to get your thyme! The 9th annual Painters Greenhouse Herb Festival is the weekend of April 13-14, 2013, at Painters Greenhouse in Old Fort, NC. Painters is one of our favorite places to buy plants and the herb festival features not only a variety of herbs on sale, but also local crafts, great food, live music and other activities. So while you’re walking among all the sage and rosemary, you can also check out the work of more than 25 local artisans and listen to fabulous music, featuring Lee Entrekin and Friends opening on Saturday followed by Mean Mary, then jazz and blues artist Linda Mitchell on Sunday morning followed by Jay Brown One-Man-Band performing American roots originals and classics.
| April marks the return of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail |
Reason #348 that we love Spring…the return of the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail to the Inn on Mill Creek, our Bed & Breakfast near Black Mountain and Asheville, NC. Lovers of nectar producing plants, these beautiful butterflies flock to our phlox as soon as the phlox start flowering. The creeping phlox, low to the ground (hence its name), blooms in early April and then the tall garden phlox bloom in the summertime, keeping the Eastern Tiger Swallowtails very happy. And they make us happy. Happiness all around.
