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Rock City offers ‘southern’ festival

Rock City offers ‘southern’ festival

Posted: Tuesday, April 23, 2013 8:00 pm

Guest speakers, food, music, art and garden tours full of beautiful blooms will be showcased in an “all things southern” event at Rock City Gardens in Lookout Mountain, Ga., May 3-5 for the Southern Blooms Festival.
This fifth annual event, which will be held daily 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., honors Rock City’s original gardener, Frieda Utermoehlen Carter.
This year’s Southern Blooms will feature southern chef, writer and TV personality, Virginia Willis, who will share some cooking secrets and fun tips during a workshop on that Saturday. Some of her recipes will also be served at Rock City’s new outdoor restaurant Café 7 during the event, including a special menu item featuring moon pies. Ms. Willis is author of “Bon Appetit, Y’all!” and is the former kitchen director for Martha Stewart Living Television.
Other speakers during the weekend will include Andy Offutt Irwin, speaking on that Sunday and Felder Rushing speaking on that Friday. Irwin is a southern storyteller, writer, musician and recent winner of the “Storytelling World Award” for his latest cd “Risk Assessment.” Rushing is the founder of the “Slow Gardening” movement and has authored several books. All speakers will be available for meet-and-greets and book signings after their workshops.
Morning group tours of Rock City Gardens will be offered daily at 9 a.m., led by Rock City’s director of horticulture George Schimpf and Chattanooga’s Master Gardeners. Coca-Cola will also sponsor a “Build-Your-Own Rain Barrel” workshop each day.
Check out the full event schedule with specific times at www.seerockcity.com/southernblooms.
Published in The Messenger 4.23.13

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