Herb festivals, garden classes, and plant-filled weekends across the mountains
Learning Thursdays
In most gardens, color is something you admire. In Joyce Tromba and Pat Strang’s world, it’s something you extract. At The Learning Garden this spring, the Master Gardeners will explore botanical dye gardening during two hands-on workshops: Introduction to Botanical Dye Gardening on May 28 and Hands-on Dyeing with Weld on June 11. Together, the sessions introduce participants to the art of botanical dyeing and show how flowers and roots can be transformed into vivid natural color. “We use the plants we grow right there in the garden to guide students through the entire process, from extracting pigment from the plants, to preparing the fiber, to the dyeing itself,” says Tromba, a longtime fiber artist who helped establish the Natural Dye Garden at the Buncombe County Extension Office. The Learning Garden’s spring schedule also includes Straw Bale Gardening with Diane Mooney on April 9 and Gardening for Butterflies with John Fieselman and Nina Fox-Holladay on June 4.
Thursdays in The Learning Garden (49 Mount Carmel Rd., Asheville), 10-11:30am. See buncombemastergardener.org.
The Biggest Herb Festival Around
Some plants season a meal. Others soothe a cough, calm the mind, or perfume a garden path. At the 36th Annual Asheville Spring Herb Festival, visitors will find all of the above — and then some. Held each April at the WNC Agricultural Center, the event has grown into the largest herb festival in the United States and Canada, drawing thousands of gardeners, cooks, and plant lovers eager to explore the world of herbs. “This is the only annual festival focused entirely on herbs and herbal products,” festival manager Andy Reed says proudly. Expect tables filled with culinary favorites alongside harder-to-find plants such as calendula, ashwagandha, and comfrey. Vendors also offer herbal extracts, oils, salves, and fresh or dried herbs for cooking. Free workshops throughout the weekend cover topics ranging from herbal skincare and tea cultivation to foraging and botanical gardening.
36th Annual Asheville Spring Herb Festival, April 24-26, WNC Agricultural Center (1301 Fanning Bridge Rd., Fletcher). See more at ashevillespringherbfestival.org.