Biltmore Blooms

We recently visited Biltmore to experience the spring flowers, especially the Azalea garden. While many of the Azaleas were not blooming yet, the tulips were gorgeous! Although I had a very excited spaniel attached to a leash in one hand, I managed to get a few photos of the tulips (and some of the azaleas) that weren’t completely blurry to share with you. If you’re on Instagram, search the hashtag #BiltmoreBlooms to see more.

If you’ve ever been to Biltmore, then you know that the long drive up to the estate is an amazing part of the whole experience. The wide swaths of tulips leading to the gatehouse literally made me gasp.

Once we arrived we made a bee-line to the rose garden. That’s ‘New Dawn’ in the foreground and ‘Rural England’ behind it. How amazing is this garden? I feel so lucky to live so close by.

The roses looked very healthy, completely leafed out and full of buds. Can’t wait for May to see them in bloom.

One rose was already flowering: ‘cl. Old Blush’. I’m sure the fact it’s being trained on a warm wall isn’t hurting, but this rose is also just an early bloomer–ours is getting ready to open up, too.

Flowering bulbs line the walks in the rose garden, like these…

…and these. Are these photos making you already start thinking about your bulb order for this autumn? Hang on, it gets pretty crazy…

…because once you enter the adjacent walled garden, it’s a veritable Tulipalooza!

These photos are making it look like the garden was pretty empty, but that is not the case. It was packed, and everyone, and I mean everyone, had their cameras out clicking away. We were not hearing the sounds of nature, but the sounds of shutters clackity-clacking, and when I said out loud, “gosh it’s not easy getting a photo without people in it” the photographer next to me joked, “don’t worry about it, just photoshop them out when you get home.”

You know what’s awesome, though? The fact that so many people enjoy a garden. It gives me hope for humankind. Eva was loving all the attention, too. She is pretty cute. 😉

The weather was alternating between clouds and sun, clouds and sun which made for tricky photo taking but after the cold we’ve had, it was lovely to be outside enjoying what actually felt like spring.

Moving on back to the rose garden, headed out to the azalea garden, more flowering bulbs, this time with labels!

I particularly liked this tulip, ‘Rem’s Favorite’. Remember those lollipops we ate as kids that were berries and cream flavored? These reminded me of those.

The paths leading into the woods and towards the pond were flanked by shrubs ready to burst into bloom at any moment. A few already had, like this fragrant beauty….

…and this one which was a little like looking up through stained glass.

But I think what I loved most were all the little woodland flowers tucked in the nooks and crannies.

Hope you are all having a wonderful spring!