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Highlands Botanical Gardens

Scenes from the Gardens

The gardens change by the week — new blooms opening, light shifting through the cove forest, the slow turn from one season into the next. These are a few of the moments our horticultural team stops to photograph along the way.

Photographs by Canty Worley, Horticultural Specialist,
and Aidan Holton, Gardens Assistant

30 photographs

Rattlesnake master, its spiky spherical flower heads catching soft early-morning light — photograph by Canty Worley 01 Canty Worley A Turk's cap lily nodding on a tall stem, its orange petals curled fully back and speckled with dark spots — photograph by Canty Worley 02 Canty Worley A path winding through the gardens under full summer greenery — photograph by Canty Worley 03 Canty Worley Ghost pipe, a waxy translucent-white woodland plant, pushing up through fallen leaves — photograph by Aidan Holton 04 Aidan Holton A small green inchworm arched mid-crawl along the edge of a leaf — photograph by Aidan Holton 05 Aidan Holton Wild blackberries on the cane, ripening from red to glossy black — photograph by Aidan Holton 06 Aidan Holton Bright orange coral fungus branching upward from the forest floor — photograph by Canty Worley 07 Canty Worley Rhododendron in full bloom lining a garden path — photograph by Canty Worley 08 Canty Worley Rhododendron flowering beside a shaded garden path — photograph by Canty Worley 09 Canty Worley A vivid red mushroom emerging from moss and leaf litter on the forest floor — photograph by Canty Worley 10 Canty Worley Scarlet beebalm flowering at the edge of the pond — photograph by Canty Worley 11 Canty Worley Scarlet beebalm blooming among white flowers in a planting bed — photograph by Canty Worley 12 Canty Worley A close view of scarlet beebalm's ragged, flame-red bloom — photograph by Canty Worley 13 Canty Worley A dense green carpet of woodland groundcover — photograph by Canty Worley 14 Canty Worley Layered ferns, leaves, and moss forming a tapestry of woodland greens — photograph by Canty Worley 15 Canty Worley Ferns and glossy round galax leaves growing over a moss-covered log — photograph by Canty Worley 16 Canty Worley Two pale blue eggs cradled in a small woven nest — photograph by Canty Worley 17 Canty Worley A rhododendron shrub covered in open blossoms — photograph by Canty Worley 18 Canty Worley Rosebay rhododendron blossoms lit by dappled sunlight — photograph by Canty Worley 19 Canty Worley Purple flower spikes of pickerelweed rising from the water under a bright summer sky — photograph by Canty Worley 20 Canty Worley Rhododendron branches arching over the lily pond — photograph by Canty Worley 21 Canty Worley A midsummer bed of lilies in full bloom — photograph by Canty Worley 22 Canty Worley Lilies blooming alongside red-orange coral honeysuckle — photograph by Canty Worley 23 Canty Worley A sunlit pollinator meadow full of mixed wildflowers — photograph by Canty Worley 24 Canty Worley Pale asters flowering along a garden path — photograph by Canty Worley 25 Canty Worley A border planting of native wildflowers in bloom — photograph by Canty Worley 26 Canty Worley A wooden boardwalk crossing the summer bog garden — photograph by Canty Worley 27 Canty Worley The mottled, heart-shaped leaves of heartleaf ginger spread across the forest floor — photograph by Canty Worley 28 Canty Worley A water lily blossom beaded with raindrops on the pond surface — photograph by Canty Worley 29 Canty Worley Slender flowering spikes of a woodland orchid rising from the leaf litter — photograph by Canty Worley 30 Canty Worley

Highlands Biological Station • Highlands Botanical Gardens

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Western Carolina University | Highlands Biological Station

265 North Sixth Street, Highlands, NC 28741
828.526.2602  ·  hbs@wcu.edu

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