Press Release
University of North Carolina Asheville
UNC Asheville’s Biology Department and the Botanical Gardens at Asheville will celebrate Appalachian nature with the 42nd annual Spring Wildflower and Bird Pilgrimage, May 2-4. This weekend of special events, including talks and guided tours, will focus on local flora and fauna.
Registration begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 2, in the lobby of UNC Asheville’s Robinson Hall. The registration fee of $5 for the public and $1 for students covers all events.
Following registration, Scott Dean, naturalist and UNC Asheville alumnus, will present “Appalachian Spring” at 7:30 p.m. in UNC Asheville’s Robinson Hall Auditorium. Dean’s experience as a naturalist ranges from building cougar and bobcat habitats at the Western North Carolina Nature Center to teaching courses for The Great Smoky Mountains Wildflower Pilgrimage. He will show colorful slides of native spring wildflowers and discuss the origins of plant names, strategies these plant use for pollination and seed dispersal, changes in growth forms through the seasons, and share plant lore from the medicinal to the magical.
Events on Saturday, May 3 include seven guided tours and activities. The outings feature an all-day field trip to the Craggy Mountains, and both morning and afternoon half-day adventures such as a birding trip through Craven Gap, and a wildflower walk along the Shut-In Trail on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Events on Sunday, May 4, include a birding trip along the Blue Ridge Parkway, a trip to the old growth sites in the Craggy Mountains, and a wildflower walk in the Shinn Gardens.
Coinciding with the Spring Wildflower and Bird Pilgrimage is the annual “Day in the Gardens” festival at the Botanical Gardens at Asheville. The celebration includes plant vendors, raffles and food from noon to 6 p.m. on Friday, May 2 and from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, May 3, at 151 W.T. Weaver Blvd., adjacent to campus.
For more information about UNC Asheville’s Spring Wildflower and Bird Pilgrimage, call David Clarke, UNC Asheville associate professor of biology, at 828.232.5151 or visit biology.unca.edu/wildflower-pilgrimage.
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