Heritage Crafts Weekend: The North Carolina Arboretum’s newly renovated Heritage Garden presents a weekend of demonstrations, plant sales and musical performances on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 22 and 23, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. Handmade products will be available for purchase, and regional nurseries will sell plants used in heritage-craft traditions. The Arboretum’s Heritage Garden includes many plants that support crafts such as dye-making, paper-making, and basket- and broom-making.
All activities are free to the public; usual parking fees apply. For more information, visit www.ncarboretum.org or call the Arboretum at 665-2492.
The Joys of Year-Round Gardening: The Buncombe County Master Gardeners will present a free Garden School on Saturday, Sept. 29, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the auditorium of the Folk Art Center, which is located on the Blue Ridge Parkway just off Highway 70.
The morning session, from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., will cover three topics: basic fall and winter gardening activities; dealing with mountain-gardening challenges; and how to extend the growing season. The afternoon session, from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., will explore three different areas: creating interest in the winter landscape; renovating and revitalizing beds, borders and foundation plantings; and using native plants, especially as alternatives to invasive species. The half-day sessions will provide information for both beginners and veteran gardeners who are new to mountain conditions. Attendees may register for one or both sessions.
Enrollment is limited, so pre-registration, which guarantees both a place in the school and copies of handouts, is strongly encouraged. To pre-register and for more information, call the Buncombe County Extension office at 255-5522.
