Fountain, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, North Carolina

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located on of rolling meadows, woodlands and lakefront property in

Belmont, North Carolina Belmont is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, located about west of uptown Charlotte and east of Gastonia. The population was 10,076 at the 2010 census. Once known as Garibaldi Station, it was named for th ...

. Founded by Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile executive from Belmont, it includes large manicured gardens, natural surrounding areas, including a woodland trail, sparkling fountains, and an

Orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

Conservatory. The appealing garden site has a long history of use by its inhabitants. Originally, Native Americans of the

Catawba Catawba may refer to: *Catawba people, a Native American tribe in the Carolinas *Catawba language, a language in the Catawban languages family *Catawban languages Botany * Catalpa, a genus of trees, based on the name used by the Catawba and other ...

and

Cherokee The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...

tribes trapped, fished, hunted and raised families here. Later, the area served as home to early European settlers. In recent years, the garden’s meadowlands have been used as pasture for farm animals, although much of the site is covered by mature deciduous woodlands and pine forest. Although a relatively new facility, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden has a very old historical connection. The French botanist

André Michaux André Michaux, also styled Andrew Michaud, (8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specimens in England, Spain, France, and even Per ...

rode and walked across the garden property in 1795. Michaux found new plants in

Gaston County Gaston County is a county in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 227,943. The county seat is Gastonia. Dallas served as the original county seat from 1846 until 1911. Gaston County is included in the C ...

not far from the current garden, including the

Bigleaf Magnolia ''Magnolia macrophylla'', the bigleaf magnolia, is a deciduous magnolia native to the southeastern United States and eastern Mexico. This species boasts the largest simple leaf and single flower of any native plant in North America. Classificat ...

. More than 200 years later on this same farmland, the garden hosted the grand opening of developed on October 9, 1999. The opportunity to join as a founding member ended with 5,297 members. Today, standing sentinel over the new area is the Robert Lee Stowe Visitor Pavilion, featuring pale yellow

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and a ...

walls fronted by 20 white Tuscan columns and topped with a copper roof. Outside, guests find complete with lush gardens, 12 sparkling fountains plus a ½ mile (800 m) woodland trail. With 32 full- and part-time employees and more than 100 devoted volunteers, the garden continues to build recognition and its reputation.

HGTV HGTV (an initialism for Home & Garden Television) is an American pay television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The network primarily broadcasts reality programming related to home improvement and real estate. As of February 2015, appr ...

named it one of the nation’s "20 Great Gardens", and ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

'' proclaimed it one of the nation's top 10 places to "welcome fall with a flourish". Development of the master plan will occur over the next several decades. Future plans for the garden include a home demonstration garden, a boat water entrance with lakeside visitor center, a children's garden, a rose garden, a restaurant, and an Asian garden. The Orchid Conservatory is the region’s only public conservatory devoted to the display of tropical plants. Opened in January 2008, it features a wide range of plants that enable guests to learn about tropical ecosystems around the world. Year-round the display will include a selection of orchids. Each winter, the garden presents its Orchid Spectacular. The orchid conservatory makes the garden a true year-round facility, to serve not only the general public but schoolchildren around the region. Educational topics vary by the season and by the age group, but most focus on either horticulture and gardening or some aspect of life science or conservation. The series of curriculum-based school programs, specifically designed for kindergarten to fifth-grade levels, meet goals established by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. The garden also offers year-round special events and classes ranging from gardening and landscape to pottery and cooking with herbs.

See also