Master Gardener cultivates beauty atop Flat Rock’s historic granite landscape
The Playhouse’s extensive grounds show up year round, tended by Master Gardener Tamsin Allpress. Mini rock gardens mix with blooms and bits of whimsy including sculpture and a stump suitably etched with the drama masks.
Photo by Rachel Pressley
Long before the curtain rises at Flat Rock Playhouse in Henderson County, another kind of performance is already underway.
Offstage, on the Playhouse grounds, a native white fringe tree bursts into soft blooms beside winding stone paths. Rare irises unfurl. As spring turns to summer, the rare plumleaf azaleas will begin to open. Panicle hydrangeas spill into woodland edges, and the “Temple of Bloom” Seven-Son flower tree, popular with pollinators, will turn from white to red as August progresses.
The showy production is thanks to Master Gardener Tamsin Allpress, who, alongside a dedicated team of volunteers, has spent nearly two decades transforming the landscape surrounding the theater into what she describes as “a botanical garden in its own right.”
Originally from Zimbabwe, Allpress grew up digging in the dirt before later living in England and Switzerland, where she became fascinated by the distinct styles of European gardens. After moving to Western North Carolina 24 years ago, she enrolled in the Henderson County Master Gardener program to learn more about growing in the region’s humid mountain climate.
Not long afterward, someone connected to the Playhouse approached Allpress about planting annuals — a modest project that gradually evolved into something far more ambitious.
“From the beginning, I could see there was so much opportunity here,” Allpress says. “It’s been a really wonderful process watching the gardens slowly become what they are today.”
The Playhouse gardens now span roughly four acres and contain nearly 60 individual garden spaces, each with its own personality. Some are themed around native plants or pollinators, while others showcase woodland species, rain-garden techniques, or rockery plantings shaped by the rugged terrain beneath them.
That unusual terrain presented early challenges. Much of the Playhouse property sits atop exposed granite, where trees grow directly from crevices in the rock, and very little soil exists for new plants to take root. To create space for the gardens to flourish, volunteers gradually built raised beds and low stone walls, layering in enough soil to support shade-loving plants and perennials.
Photo by Rachel Pressley
Volunteers also put considerable thought into successional color. Through what Allpress refers to as “layered gardening,” plants are managed to bloom in stages, allowing new colors and textures to emerge as others begin to fade.
“There’s always something flowering,” she says. “Different plants peak at different times throughout the year.”
Last summer, after countless seasons of quietly tending the gardens, Allpress finally felt the landscape was ready to step into the spotlight. The Playhouse launched its first seasonal Garden Tours soon after, inviting visitors to explore the property’s hidden pathways and ever-changing landscape. The tours return again this year.
According to Allpress, each two-hour tour winds through the Playhouse grounds. Along the way, visitors can ask questions, learn about specific species, and even see photographs of rare plants when they are not actively blooming.
“People are very attentive. They’re fascinated by the gardens,” Allpress says. “The gardens have really become a destination unto themselves.”
Garden Tours at Flat Rock Playhouse (2661 Greenville Hwy., Flat Rock) take place the last Friday of each month from July through October at 10am. Tours are free and open to the public, though donations are encouraged to help support ongoing garden maintenance. No registration is required.