The flowers may be over for the time being, but educational nonprofit Bullington Gardens in Hendersonville never sleeps, and has multiple classes in the works for early 2019. A Terrarium Workshop on January 8, 2-3:30pm, is sited in the greenhouse; attendees will create miniature gardens in glass jars with Mary Martin. A Pruning Seminar occurs on February 22, 1-2:30pm, where home landscapers can learn how to properly prune ornamental trees and shrubs; center director John Murphy instructs. “Garden Silk to Dye For” is scheduled for March 12, 2-3:30pm, again with Mary Martin, and involves learning how to use plants and other natural dyes to make silk scarves. The popular Vegetable Gardening Basics three-day seminar happens March 13-15, 3:30-5pm, and includes such topics as improving soil, composting, understanding what and when to plant, controlling pests, and more. For more information (and more classes), see bullingtongardens.org.
Asheville Farmstead School presents Flying Friends Family Discovery Day on February 9 from 10am-12pm, an event that involves exploring bird language and building a birdhouse in the AFS cove — a vibrant habitat for a variety of birds, animals, and insects (ashevillefarmstead.org).
The Organic Growers School attracts hobby farmers, backyard gardeners, and aspiring commercial agriculturists to the nonprofit’s annual Spring Conference March 8-10 at UNCA. Classes and workshops cover food gathering, homesteading skills, practicing permaculture, attracting pollinators, implementing sustainable forestry, cultivating herbs, and dozens more topics. The OGS also hosts plenty of other events in the colder months, including a Homestead Dreams workshop (February 16, 10am-5pm, at Creekside Farms Education Center in Arden) and the immersive, six-week course Spring Gardening (beginning March 5 at Lenoir-Rhyne University in Asheville and segueing into April at the Dr. John Wilson Community Garden in Black Mountain). For information on the conference, pricing, and other events, see organicgrowersschool.org.
House Parties Great and Small
Biltmore Estate’s grand holiday pageantry runs through January 6 and includes the signature 35-foot Frasier fir inside and 55-foot Norway spruce outside (along with countless other carefully curated Christmas trees), designer’s seminars on creating holiday tablescapes, candlelight winery tours, and seasonal-flora displays in the winter garden. A related highlight is the Annual Gingerbread House Tea at the Inn on Biltmore, held select dates from December 15 through 22, 1-3pm. See biltmore.com for a complete list of events. … At the Carl Sandburg Home National Historic Site in Flat Rock, the quintessential American poet’s beloved country home (nicknamed “Connemara”) is preserved in the thrifty Scandinavian style, which includes family antiques, postwar Christmas mementoes, and plenty of poinsettias. A just-concluded restoration means the home’s vast library is back in place. The holiday scene concludes with an inaugural storytelling event on January 6 — Sandburg’s 140th birthday. See nps.gov/carl for hours and more information. … The 1840s-era Smith-McDowell House Museum — at once Asheville’s first mansion and oldest surviving structure — hosts its Traditional Christmas
Historic Home Tours through January 5. Rooms are decorated in tradition of the Victorian era, with everything from greenery arrangements, table settings, and antique toys fulfilling an authentic scene. See wnchistory.org for details.