Highlands Botanical Gardens

Martha has been urging me for some time now to visit the improvements that have been made to the Botanical Gardens at the Highlands Biological Station, and this was a good time to do it - Sunday afternoon, slightly overcast sky, and only a few other visitors.  Part of Western Carolina University, the Nature Center has been in Highlands since 1927.  There is a wonderful Nature Center with some good exhibits (including live snakes), extensive gardens, and housing for students pursuing research.  In fact, our daughter completed a semester here as an Environmental Studies major at UNC-Chapel Hill several years ago.

We have often taken visitors to the Nature Center on Horse Cove Road, including my sister and her children when they used to come to Highlands to visit us and their Grandmother.  I have stopped there more than once during the middle of a long run to slake my thirst from what must be the coldest water fountain in Highlands.  The students working there were invariably friendly, and I would ask them about the latest bear sightings.  One day several years ago, we walked around behind the building to the little outdoor amphitheater and saw a very large bear at pretty close quarters.  But we saw no bears today, and the Nature Center itself was closed due to Covid-19.

Some local people on Facebook have complained recently about improvements to the Gardens, which stretch out behind the Nature Center down to Lake Ravenel (which some call Lake Lindenwood)  and to Lower Lake Road, where we often run.  But we found the improvements very practical, if less rustic than they used to be, especially the wide wooden walkways constructed around the lake.

The lake was still and peaceful today.  We carried face masks in our pockets and quickly pulled them out and donned them when encountering visitors, and they did the same. 

The new construction off Lower Lake Road includes a big deck where we understood Yoga classes and other activities had been scheduled before Covid-19 put a stop to everything. 

These monarch butterflies were especially attracted by this plant, whose name I could not find but later discovered was sedum.  Almost all of the plants are labeled, so it makes it a good place to visit during any season to learn their names.

I don’t know how many times I have run along Lower Lake Road, during many different seasons.  The lake is always changing, and when the water lilies are blooming it is beautiful.  From the new deck, I had a good view looking down at the water lilies.

On the other side of the lake, stairs ascend to Lower Lake Road, and a confusing series of trails branch off in different directions.  We decided to try to find a map the next time so as not to miss anything.  There were quiet benches along the trail, and Martha spotted these ducks close to shore.

Plenty of familiar fall flowers were blooming - Joe Pye Weed, spotted jewel weed, goldenrod - but I also spotted this pretty little flower, neatly labeled.  Now I will know where to find it again:  Grass-of-Parnassus.

Neither of us could remember the last time we had been to the Gardens and walked on the walkway and the Woodland Trail on the other side of the lake.  We have run around its lake, usually once a week, and stopped for that ice cold water.  But it was nice to be able to explore it at a leisurely pace, and to know that this resource is right here in Highlands, literally under our noses.  We ended up deciding to visit again, and often.