Bigelow's Botanical Excursions

20/06/2025

Happy Solstice Friends! So much Light!

Our modern world will try to convince us that this is the start of Summer. It's not. It's High Summer! It's Mid-Summer!

We need to reconnect with the Earth and the Forest and Plants. They remember us, as we remember them. The memory is in our bones, is in our blood.

Here's to the Light in you. May it keep shining.
Here's to the Cycles. May they continue

11/05/2025

06/05/2025

Hello Friends and Fans of Bigelow's Botanical Excursions!

I am sharing with you all that I will be suspending all scheduled Wildflower Walks and most all other business for the remainder of the year, beginning on June 1st. I am going to Washington state to be with Family as we help a member of our Family transition into death. It will be a beautifully challenging time, and I will certainly miss Appalachia, the Wildflowers, and walking in the woods with you all while I am gone. I will be gone for 3-6 months.

I will be in a beautiful place surrounded by Nature and Wildflowers!

My last Wildflower Walk of the Season will be on May 30th and I have altered my schedule so that I can spend the last walk up high in elevation at Old Bald.

Here is the remaining schedule of walks. Please come walk among the wildflowers with me. It means the world to me when you do.

May 9 Grassy ridge Mine overlook, Blue ridge Parkway
May 16 The Vertical Bog, Blue Ridge Parkway
May 23 Onion Mountain Preserve, Macon County, NC
May 30 Old Bald, Blue Ridge Parkway ***Note Schedule Change***

I encourage you all to keep walking in the woods and keep learning about and looking at the beautiful Wildflowers that live all around us here in Southern Appalachia. Towards that, I am going to create a group list of shared email addresses in case you all want to organize Wildflower Walks on your own while I am gone. If you would like to be included in that group, please send me a message and I will add you.

I will be back for the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference in July, and will accept all of the hugs and Love I can get.

Here is my full schedule for 2025 with most of the locations. Please, go look at Wildflowers! Please care for them and care for each other while doing so. And please, for me, tell the Flowers that haven't bloomed yet this year that I Love them and I will miss them. And tell that to yourself as well, while you're at it.

2025 Wildflower Walk Schedule

March 28 Pinnacle Park Sylva, NC
April 4 Nodding Trillium Garden Cullowhee
April 11 **No Walk. Presenting at Celebrate Spring in Clayton, GA
April 18 Corneille Bryan Native Garden, Haywood County, NC
April 25 Standing Rock Overlook, Blue ridge Parkway
May 2 Panthertown Valley, Jackson County, NC
May 9 Grassy ridge Mine overlook, Blue ridge Parkway
May 16 The Vertical Bog, Blue Ridge Parkway
May 23 Onion Mountain Preserve, Macon County, NC
May 30 Highlands Botanical Garden
June 6 **No Walk
June 13 Old Bald, Blue Ridge Parkway
June 20 Mountain Camelia Walk with Jack Johnston, Otto, NC
June 27 Whiteside Mountain, Jackson County, NC
July 4 Waterrock K**b, Blue Ridge Parkway
July 11 The Vertical Bog, Blue Ridge Parkway
July 18 **No Walk due to the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference
July 25 Black Balsam, Blue Ridge Parkway
Aug 1 Heintooga Ridge Rd, Blue Ridge Parkway
Aug 8 The Vertical Bog, Blue Ridge Parkway
Aug 15 Cullowhee Falls aka High Falls **One Walk Only, all-day walk. Bring Swim Suit**
Aug 22 Highlands Botanical Garden
Aug 29 Panthertown Valley, Jackson County, NC
Sept 5 Vertical Bog, Blue Ridge Parkway
Sept 12 Sam’s Meadow, Blue Ridge Parkway
Sept 19 Buck Creek Serpentine Barrens, Clay County, NC
Sept 26 Tennet Mountain, Blue Ridge Parkway
Oct 3 Heintooga Ridge Rd, Blue Ridge Parkway
Oct 10 Alarka Laurel, Jackson County, NC
Oct 17 Cabin Flats, Jackson County, NC
Oct 24 Old Bald, Blue Ridge Parkway
Oct 31 Whiteside Mountain, Jackson County, NC

I Love you all, and I will miss you. And I will return to Appalachia in time for Winter Fruit Tree Pruning, at the latest.

Be good to yourselves. You deserve it.

Your friend and Joyful Botanist,
The Greenman of Cullowhee

05/05/2025

I have no idea why this didn't take off...

01/05/2025

Beltane Blessings to you all! May you go outside and tell your Love to the Wildflowers, Shrubs, and Trees. May you sing your Love to the Forest, the Birds, the Waters, and to the Wind. And listen as they sing their Love back to you. And May all of your dreams come true.

With all of my Love, the Greenman of Cullowhee

26/04/2025

I hope that you can join me on Friday to walk Among the Wildflowers!

We will be visiting one of the most special places in all of Southern Appalachia, Panthertown Valley. Called the "Yosemite of the East" Panthertown is an incredible hiking, camping, fishing destination located near Cashiers, NC. It is also filled with beautiful waterfalls, scenic views, and of course wonderful wildflowers.

Here is a link to information about Panthertown Valley, including how you can help preserve it through monetary donations, and volunteering.
https://panthertown.org/

Weekly Wildflower Walks will be meeting on Fridays throughout the season, with a morning session from 9am to 12pm, and an afternoon session from 1pm to 4pm. We will meet at a different location each week, following and chasing the best blooms and locations. Remember that on our walks The Wildflowers Are the Destination!

All of the Friday Wildflower Walks are offered on a sliding scale of $50-$15 per person, and are capped at 15 people per session. This allows for more people to be able to attend the walks. I ask that attendees pay based on their ability, and on how they value the experience.

26/04/2025

What a fun group of Wildflower Walkers we had yesterday morning. You can be filled with Wildflower Bliss just like these people are by joining me for a Walk Among the Wildflowers most Fridays throughout the year.

24/04/2025

Don your caps, and come see if Bishop's Cap (Mitella diphylla) really does resemble a hat and if you can see the tiny snowflakes that ring these bells.

Wildflower Walk tomorrow at Standing Rock Overlook, Blue Ridge Parkway. 9am to 12pm and again from 1pm to 4pm. $50-$15 sliding scale pricing per person.

You know you want to...

 

24/04/2025

Was looking at a beautiful Mountain Fetterbush (Eubotrys recurva) in bloom today and noticed a Bee on it, so I snapped its photo.

Wasn't until I got home that I noticed the Crab Spider that had caught and was making a meal of the Bee.

One day is for the Bee, one day is for the Spider