Biltmore Tulip Blooms, photo courtesy of Biltmore Estate
The annual Biltmore Blooms event starts with tens of thousands of tulips in early April — but by Thursday, May 23, when the pageantry ends, the gardens will have put forth more than 130,000 flowers total, including hyacinth, azalea, wisteria, and many more common and exotic specimens, spread over the estate’s iconic 8,000 acres of gardens. Also thriving this spring: the grand house’s latest sartorial exhibit, A Vanderbilt House Party, featuring sumptuous reproduction clothing from the Gilded Age created by Oscar-winning costumier John Bright and Cosprop of London. The display is on view through May 27; see biltmore.com for more information. …Visit the Black Mountain Home for Children, Youth, & Families on Saturday, April 13, 12-3pm, to check out the facility’s campus-wide open house and the Festival of Flowers & Music. Visitors can enjoy the featured flowers, hear music by the Riceville Valley Boys, and shop crafts from The Paper Flower Market, New Direction Crafters, and others — guided tours of the Home are also available, with refreshments at every stop; blackmountainhome.org. … A week later, drop by the Spring Arts and Flowers Festival, happening Saturday, April 20 and Sunday, April 21 at the Tryon Arts & Crafts School. The eighth annual event is a spring plant sale/live-music/craft-show combo not to be missed; tryonartsandcrafts.org. … Learn about Using Perennials in the Landscape in a workshop hosted by Crissy Dzielak of Landmark Landscapes, held at Bullington Gardens in Hendersonville on Tuesday, April 23, 3-4:30pm. Dzielak will highlight great perennial options for Western North Carolina, especially lower-maintenance cultivars and how they can be used in the Southern mountains’ variable gardening zones; bullingtongardens.org. … On Saturday, May 11, Chimney Rock State Park will hold a Spring Migration Hike as part of its Naturalist Niche series. Visitors will be guided into areas of the park with the most wildflower species in bloom to hear what makes each microregion a prime place for growth. See chimneyrockpark.com for ticket information. … Everything’s coming up roses Saturday, May 25 (9am-5pm) and Sunday, May 26 (9am-4pm) when the Asheville-Blue Ridge Rose Society Exhibition returns to the North Carolina Arboretum. Award-winning blooms, Q&As with experts, and educational programming are all part of the show; ncarboretum.org. … The Rhododendron Festival is a high-elevation profusion of pink that’s unfolded every June since 1947. It happens Saturday, June 22 and Sunday, June 23 at Roan Mountain State Park (elevation 6,000’) on the North Carolina/Tennessee state line, with crafts, live music, and homestyle food; roanmountain.com.