Celebrate Mother’s Day at UT’s Blooms Days

Posted: Friday, May 10, 2013 8:00 pm

KNOXVILLE — Specialty plants, unique garden goods, live musical performances, garden workshops, children’s activities and more make the UT Gardens’ Blooms Days a great destination for more than just gardeners.
Blooms Days has become a spring tradition, drawing families, students and Knoxville natives to experience the splendor of the gardens. The event will run Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day.
More than 20 workshops (included in the cost of admission), led by regional gardening experts, will be offered for everyone from novice to advanced gardeners. Workshops will cover a variety of gardening topics such as roses, shade gardening, lawn care, gardening with children and more.
This year, give mom the perfect gift — a day outside enjoying the sights and sounds of Blooms Days. Moms will receive a free daylily from Oakes Daylilies while supplies last, and families can have a portrait made by Hurley Co. Photography in the Beall Family Rose Garden.
New this year is the HGTV Home Showcase Garden featuring the HGTV Home Plant Collection. Also new is a bonsai show hosted by the Knoxville Bonsai Society, where participants can see prize-winning bonsai from around the region and talk with expert bonsai growers to learn a few tricks of the trade.
Live musical performances will be held on both days.
Children of all ages can visit the Kids Corner to create make-and-take projects, see an insect zoo and enjoy story time with local author Jean Leigh Claudette.
The festival will also include a garden marketplace in which visitors can shop for plants, arts, crafts, garden goods and specialty plants from more than 20 vendors. Snacks will be available on site for purchase.
Round out the day with a self-guided tour of the gardens and learn about some 4,000 annuals, perennials, herbs, tropicals, trees, shrubs, vegetables and ornamental grasses.
Tickets at the gate will be $6 per day. Children 12 and younger are free. All proceeds will benefit the UT Gardens.
For more information and a complete schedule of the weekend’s activities, please visit:  http://utgardens.tennessee.edu.
The UT Gardens is located just off Neyland Drive behind the UT Veterinary Medical Center in Knoxville. For more information, please visit utgardens.tennessee.edu.
The University of Tennessee Gardens in Knoxville, Jackson and Crossville have recently been designated the official botanical gardens for the Volunteer State. The gardens are part of the UT Institute of Agriculture and are a destination for an estimated 70,000 families, children, youth, green industry professional and students each year, who learn about plants that enrich their lives with beauty, better health and a closer connection to nature. The gardens’ mission is to educate and cultivate an appreciation of plants through horticultural displays, educational programs and research.
The gardens in Knoxville and Jackson are Tennessee Certified Arboreta and American Conifer Society Reference Gardens. The gardens are open during all seasons and are free to the public. For more information, visit http://utgardens.tennessee.edu and http://west.tennessee.edu/ornamentals/.

Published in The Messenger 5.10.13