Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden
Encyclopedia
Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located on 380 acres (1.5 km²) of rolling meadows, woodlands and lakefront property in Belmont, North Carolina
. Founded by Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile executive from Belmont, it includes large manicured gardens, natural surrounding areas, including a woodland trail, sparkling fountains, and an Orchid
Conservatory.
The appealing garden site has a long history of use by its inhabitants. Originally, Native Americans
of the Catawba
and Cherokee
tribes trapped, fished, hunted and raised families here. Later, the area served as home to early European settlers. In recent years, the garden’s meadowlands have been used as pasture for farm animals, although much of the site is covered by mature deciduous woodlands and pine forest.
Although a relatively new facility, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden has a very old historical connection. The French botanist André Michaux
rode and walked across the garden property in 1795. Michaux found new plants in Gaston County
not far from the current garden, including the Bigleaf Magnolia.
More than 200 years later on this same farmland, the garden hosted the grand opening of 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) developed on October 9, 1999. The opportunity to join as a founding member ended with 5,297 members.
Today, standing sentinel over the new area is the Robert Lee Stowe Visitor Pavilion, featuring pale yellow stucco
walls fronted by 20 white Tuscan columns
and topped with a copper roof. Outside, guests find 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) complete with lush gardens, 12 sparkling fountains plus a ½ mile (800 m) woodland trail.
With 32 full- and part-time employees and more than 100 devoted volunteers, the garden continues to build recognition and its reputation. HGTV named it one of the nation’s "20 Great Gardens", and USA Today
proclaimed it one of the nation's top 10 places to "welcome fall with a flourish".
Development of the master plan will occur over the next several decades. Future plans for the garden include a home demonstration garden, a boat water entrance with lakeside visitor center, a children's garden, a rose garden, a restaurant, and an Asian garden.
The Orchid Conservatory is the region’s only public conservatory devoted to the display of tropical plants. Opened in January 2008, it features a wide range of plants that enable guests to learn about tropical ecosystems around the world. Year-round the display will include a selection of orchids. Each winter, the garden presents its Orchid Spectacular, and in the fall, butterflies become a major added attraction in the display.
The orchid conservatory makes the garden a true year-round facility, to serve not only the general public but schoolchildren around the region. Educational topics vary by the season and by the age group, but most focus on either horticulture and gardening or some aspect of life science or conservation. The series of curriculum-based school programs, specifically designed for kindergarten to fifth-grade levels, meet goals established by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. The garden also offers year-round special events and classes ranging from gardening and landscape to pottery and cooking with herbs.
Belmont, North Carolina
Belmont is a small suburban city in Gaston County, North Carolina, United States, located about west of uptown Charlotte, North Carolina and east of Gastonia. The population was 8,705 at the 2000 census. Once known as Garibaldi, the city named in honor of August Belmont, a prominent New York banker...
. Founded by Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile executive from Belmont, it includes large manicured gardens, natural surrounding areas, including a woodland trail, sparkling fountains, and an Orchid
Orchidaceae
The Orchidaceae, commonly referred to as the orchid family, is a morphologically diverse and widespread family of monocots in the order Asparagales. Along with the Asteraceae, it is one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species,...
Conservatory.
The appealing garden site has a long history of use by its inhabitants. Originally, Native Americans
Native Americans in the United States
Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...
of the Catawba
Catawba (tribe)
The Catawba are a federally recognized tribe of Native Americans, known as the Catawba Indian Nation. They live in the Southeast United States, along the border between North and South Carolina near the city of Rock Hill...
and Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
tribes trapped, fished, hunted and raised families here. Later, the area served as home to early European settlers. In recent years, the garden’s meadowlands have been used as pasture for farm animals, although much of the site is covered by mature deciduous woodlands and pine forest.
Although a relatively new facility, Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden has a very old historical connection. The French botanist André Michaux
André Michaux
André Michaux was a French botanist and explorer.-Biography:Michaux was born in Satory, now part of Versailles, Yvelines. After the death of his wife within a year of their marriage he took up the study of botany and was a student of Bernard de Jussieu...
rode and walked across the garden property in 1795. Michaux found new plants in Gaston County
Gaston County, North Carolina
Gaston County is a county located just west of Charlotte in the southern Piedmont in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third largest county, by population, in the Charlotte Metropolitan Area, officially designated the Charlotte-Gastonia-Concord Metropolitan Statistical Area . As of...
not far from the current garden, including the Bigleaf Magnolia.
More than 200 years later on this same farmland, the garden hosted the grand opening of 110 acre (0.4451546 km²) developed on October 9, 1999. The opportunity to join as a founding member ended with 5,297 members.
Today, standing sentinel over the new area is the Robert Lee Stowe Visitor Pavilion, featuring pale yellow stucco
Stucco
Stucco or render is a material made of an aggregate, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as decorative coating for walls and ceilings and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture...
walls fronted by 20 white Tuscan columns
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
and topped with a copper roof. Outside, guests find 10 acres (40,468.6 m²) complete with lush gardens, 12 sparkling fountains plus a ½ mile (800 m) woodland trail.
With 32 full- and part-time employees and more than 100 devoted volunteers, the garden continues to build recognition and its reputation. HGTV named it one of the nation’s "20 Great Gardens", and USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
proclaimed it one of the nation's top 10 places to "welcome fall with a flourish".
Development of the master plan will occur over the next several decades. Future plans for the garden include a home demonstration garden, a boat water entrance with lakeside visitor center, a children's garden, a rose garden, a restaurant, and an Asian garden.
The Orchid Conservatory is the region’s only public conservatory devoted to the display of tropical plants. Opened in January 2008, it features a wide range of plants that enable guests to learn about tropical ecosystems around the world. Year-round the display will include a selection of orchids. Each winter, the garden presents its Orchid Spectacular, and in the fall, butterflies become a major added attraction in the display.
The orchid conservatory makes the garden a true year-round facility, to serve not only the general public but schoolchildren around the region. Educational topics vary by the season and by the age group, but most focus on either horticulture and gardening or some aspect of life science or conservation. The series of curriculum-based school programs, specifically designed for kindergarten to fifth-grade levels, meet goals established by the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. The garden also offers year-round special events and classes ranging from gardening and landscape to pottery and cooking with herbs.