If you enjoy spending time outside during the winter and wonder what kinds of trees you are seeing, we have just the program for you. Master Gardeners Carrie Blair and Bob Mertens will lead a series of winter hikes in Brevard, area forests, and green spaces. Carrie and Bob will lead the hikes to show you how to identify trees any time of the year using phenology, which is the study of periodic plant life events including leafing, flowering, fruiting, location, shape, bark, branch pattern, buds, leaf scars, seeds, and more.
This registration form is for the City of Brevard Community Garden & Tannery Skate Park hike only. Reservations for other hikes can be made on the Transylvania County Cooperative Extension Website.
Carrie and Bob have presented their Tree ID program for the Transylvania County Master Gardeners for the past three years and Carrie has led hundreds of plant identification events.
In addition to being an NC and VA Master Gardener and a Virginia Master Naturalist, Carrie is a Past President of the Piedmont Chapter of the Virginia Native Plant Society, has served as a docent for the State Arboretum of Virginia, and is a member of the Georgia Botanical Society, the Western Carolina Botanical Club, MountainTrue, Conserving Carolina, the Pisgah Conservancy, and our NC Native Plant Society.
Bob Mertens is a Florida horticulturist who retired from the UF/IFAS Extension Sarasota County. His passion for plants spans over 50 years during which he has grown hundreds of indoor plant varieties. His areas of specialty also include environmental horticulture, palms, landscape ornamentals, and landscape installation and maintenance. Bob and his wife, Leslie, relocated to Brevard from Florida in 2017. They are both Transylvania County Extension Master Gardeners.
The hike schedule is:
February 12th, Franklin Park,109 Lakeview Ave, Brevard
February 19th, Davidson River Campground 1 Davidson River Circle Pisgah Forest
February 26th, Kuykendall Group Camp 1161 Cathey’s Creek Rd, Brevard
March 5th, Deerwoode Reserve 395 Riversedge Road, Brevard
March 12th, Cradle of Forestry 11250 Pisgah Highway, Pisgah Forest
March 19th, City of Brevard Community Garden & Tannery Skate Park, 158 Silversteen Dr, Brevard
March 26th, Library Rain Garden & South Broad Park, 212 S. Gaston St., Brevard
April 2nd, Silvermont Mansion and Park 374 E Main St, Brevard
April 9th, Allison-Deaver House 2753 Asheville Highway, Pisgah Forest
April 16th, Pisgah Inn mile 408 Blue Ridge Parkway, Canton
April 23rd, Surprise
- Participation is limited to 15 people per hike, aged 16 and up.
- Bring a hand lens, binoculars, and a tree ID field guide if you have them.
- Individual sign-up for each class is required.
- In the event of inclement weather, the class will be held in the Cooperative Extension Conference Room. Bring books, oculars, and twigs for identification. The decision to meet inside will be made by 11:00 that day.
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