{"id":1465,"date":"2011-06-30T12:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T16:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/?p=1465"},"modified":"2011-06-29T23:31:48","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T03:31:48","slug":"biltmore-estate-and-gardens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/2011\/06\/30\/biltmore-estate-and-gardens\/","title":{"rendered":"Biltmore Estate and Gardens"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Biltmore House<\/p><\/div>\n

I have visited the Biltmore Estate on several occasions, but\u00a0my May visit this year was special.\u00a0I had the opportunity to\u00a0interview Parker Andes, Biltmore\u2019s Director of Horticulture,\u00a0and Bill Alexander,\u00a0Landscape and Forest Historian.<\/p>\n

Few properties match the overall grandeur of Biltmore Estate and Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore is a historical perspective of America over a century ago. The property was designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead, Sr., deigned the father of American Landscape Architecture. Famed botanist and horticulturist Chauncey Beadle maintained the\u00a0grounds nearly 60 years.<\/p>\n

Olmstead took on over 1000 acres, an area some 50 times larger than another of his grand projects – New York\u2019s Central Park. The 3- mile entry driveway winds through dense woodlands to the estate home and gardens of tycoon George Vanderbilt. Along the\u00a0drive are native rhododendrons and azaleas (Rhododendron spp<\/em>.), mountain laurels (Kalmia spp<\/em>.), hemlocks (Tsuga spp<\/em>.), pines (Pinus spp.<\/em>) and thick stands of bamboo (Bambusa spp<\/em>.).<\/p>\n

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Espanade of Replanted Tulip Poplars<\/p><\/div>\n

A double lined esplanade of 2nd<\/sup> generation tulip poplars (Liriodendron tulipifera<\/em>) frame the entrance to Biltmore House. The four-acre Walled Garden and the 16th-century Italian garden\u00a0are adjacent to the house.<\/p>\n

The Spring Gardens Festival had just ended, and newly-planted summer annuals replaced thousands of tulips, hyacinths, etal. The adjacent rose garden was fully in bloom. According to Bill Alexander, the garden staff <\/strong>is launching a multi-year rose trial of varieties gathered worldwide.<\/p>\n

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Rose Garden at Biltmore<\/p><\/div>\n

Many\u00a0mature specimen trees and shrubs are found on the property: one of the first dawn redwoods (Metasequoia glyptostroboides<\/em>) brought to the U.S. from China in the early 1940\u2019s; a century-old Persian ironwood (Parrotia persica<\/em>) with its mosaic patterned bark, and a mature Katsura tree (Cercidophyllum japonicum<\/em>). The enormous size and majesty of the Olmstead- planted beeches and oaks is always breathtaking.<\/p>\n

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Growing Berries at Antler Hill Farm<\/p><\/div>\n

I concluded the delightfully full day with a trek through\u00a0the new Antler Hill area, where the Winery and Creamery (not the original) are situated.\u00a0Close by\u00a0is the Historical Farm,\u00a0which includes\u00a0the livery, coppersmith, and woodworking shops. Visitors have the opportunity to play games\u00a0popular in\u00a0the 19th<\/sup> and early 20th centuries. An\u00a0antique farm equipment museum was recently\u00a0added near the\u00a0fruit, vegetable and herb gardens.<\/p>\n

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Magnificent Mountain Laurels (Kalmia)<\/p><\/div>\n

Bringing Biltmore Gardens home to your garden is no longer wishful thinking. The horticultural\u00a0team has partnered with several nurseries around the world to reproduce\u00a0many of the fabulous plants which have\u00a0grown on the grounds for over a century. Periodically, I\u00a0plan to\u00a0feature these horticultural treasures in my blog: whatgrowsthere<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 I have visited the Biltmore Estate on several occasions, but\u00a0my May visit this year was special.\u00a0I had the opportunity to\u00a0interview Parker Andes, Biltmore\u2019s Director of Horticulture,\u00a0and Bill Alexander,\u00a0Landscape and Forest Historian. Few properties match the overall grandeur of Biltmore Estate and Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina. Biltmore is a historical perspective of America over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[711,709,604,694,738,621,625,712,598,630,7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1465"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1501,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1465\/revisions\/1501"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/whatgrowsthere.com\/grow\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}