Late summer and early fall is an excellent time to visit the learning garden at Silvermont Park. The learning garden, located on the walking path at the rear of the mansion, is a labor of love from the Transylvania County Extension Master Gardeners, and it’s extraordinary at this time of year.

The learning garden is an educational demonstration garden that highlights vegetables, fruits, herbs, and pollinators grown in our area. In a relatively small space, a bounty of food is growing in raised beds among brightly-colored flowers buzzing with bees.

Plants in the learning garden are labeled, and all produce grown here is donated to local food pantries.

The Transylvania Master Gardeners are volunteers who created and maintain this garden and the nearby woodland garden, and as an interpretive sign in the garden states, they “are dedicated to learning and sharing research-based information, enhancing their communities through horticulture, and connecting people with the benefits of gardening.”

Thanks, Master Gardeners, for your inspiring example of practical and beautiful horticulture!