11 Ways to Go Wild for Flowers in North Carolina

Treat your eyes – and your nose – with the region’s fabulous florals. Take home a bouquet of your favorites or simply enjoy them in their wild glory, from a single hue to a full spectrum of color.

Sunny Delights

Instagram: @thefieldsatsunflowertrail

Sunny Delights

Get lost in a colorful maze of yellow and gold blooms during a visit to The Fields at Sunflower Trail. This outgrowth of Brock and Tabitha Holbrook’s reception venue in Mocksville showcases more than 30 varieties of sunflowers and opens its gates to the public twice each year: in mid-June and late September.

 

Falling for Florals

Falling for Florals

After two summers of renovations, the Catawba Falls Trail near Old Fort will sport a new boardwalk and stairs for summer 2024. One thing that hasn’t changed: the March-through-May symphony of wildflowers throughout the mossy valley, including deep purple dwarf crested iris, wild geraniums in shades of pink, three-petaled trillium, lacy foamflower and delicate chickweed.

 

Bouquet Your Way

Bouquet Your Way

Early August is prime time to walk the mountaintop fields of flowers and berries at family-owned Jeter Mountain Farm in Hendersonville. Assemble your own bouquet of Technicolor zinnias and 10 varieties of sunflowers (some up to 9 feet tall), then kick back and enjoy a hard cider or latte while the kids explore a 6,000-square-foot indoor playground.

 

Bridge the Gap

Bridge the Gap

More than 350 feet of beautiful gardens, art and murals encompass the Lake Lure Flowering Bridge, which was dedicated in 2013 and is maintained entirely by volunteers. The bridge is home to more than 700 species of plants and is designated as a National Wildlife Habitat and Monarch Waystation.

 

Lilies of the Mountain

Lilies of the Mountain

You don’t need a rod and reel to catch trout lilies, an early spring beauty with six bright yellow petals and mottled leaves that resemble frolicking fish. Six miles of hiking trails at Rocky Face Mountain Recreational Area between Taylorsville and Hiddenite take you through woodland and sloping environs where colonies of this native perennial bloom from February through April.

 

Into the Wild

Into the Wild

The trails, particularly Campbell Creek and Little Creek, at Raven Rock State Park in Lillington step up their appeal with a bounty of spring wildflowers. Mountain laurel in several shades of pink are impossible to miss, but keep your eyes on the ground for patches of bloodroot, yellow bellwort and trailing arbutus (which makes up for its understated flowers with an intoxicating jasmine-like scent).

 

A Colorful Bunch

A Colorful Bunch

All summer long you can wander the fields of Vollmer Farm, a fifth-generation acreage in Bunn. Pluck whatever blossoms tickle your fancy and embellish classics like zinnias and cosmos beside texture-rich show-offs including sunflowers and celosias.

 

Think Pink

Think Pink

A tidal wave of magenta washes over Roan Mountain every June. Head to Pisgah National Forest to take in miles of Catawba rhododendron, then stop in Bakersville for art, music and the mid-June North Carolina Rhododendron Festival.

 

Follow the Leader

Follow the Leader

Adam Bigelow, a self-proclaimed plant nerd, has been studying Southern Appalachian flora for more than 20 years. Join short walks led by Bigelow’s Botanical Excursions most Fridays from March through November. Bigelow can take you to numerous spots in and around Cullowhee to discover and photograph more than 50 species of plants and flowers.

 

Green Revival

Green Revival

Nearly 20 years ago, a community horticulture club transformed an overgrown dumping site in Yanceyville into the Caswell Community Arboretum, a 2-acre sanctuary for trees and plants. Follow a half-mile trail past water features; a restored one-room schoolhouse; and gardens dedicated to evergreens, butterflies and seed-producing plants.

 

Pine and Dandy

Pine and Dandy

No ordinary stand of evergreens, the Calloway Forest Preserve near Raeford is home to hundreds of mature longleaf pines. While you roam among these 80- to 100-year-old wonders, don’t miss the pops of color poking through wire grass understory. In April and May, wild lupine launches blue spires, goat’s rue offers pastel-color blooms and wild indigo betrays its name with clusters of bright yellow buds.

 

Make your vacation plans bloom with The Official 2024 North Carolina Travel Guide.