Dovecote

Elderflower Cordial Making with Mary Palmer Dargan, July 3

June 18, 2014

Learn to make elderflower frisse, a cooling summer beverage from lemons and the native elderflower, Sambucus canadensis from botanist, landscape architect and author, Mary Palmer Dargan.

What’s shimmering, pale and bubbles all over…and uniquely British? Why elderflower lemonade and Champagne, of course!

If you like foraging, and the weather is good, bring your elderflowers to Dovecote to bottle, or make lemonade for use immediately. Limit 12.

Bring your own bottle for samples! For more information & parking map, click here.

Download a map.

North Carolina Garden Center – Hosting Series of Garden Salons in Cashiers NC

May 15, 2014

Kicking off Series of Mountain Garden Talks & Workshops in Cashiers, NC

Cashiers, NC – Join Mary Palmer Dargan, landscape architect and garden design author, for a talk on “Empowered Gardens: Everything You Wanted to Know About Mountain Garden Design But Were Afraid to Ask” on May 29 at 10 a.m. at the Albert Carlton Library in Cashiers. FREE.

For reservations, please call 828-743-0307 or visit https://dargan.com/dovecote-events/

The library is located at 249 Frank Allen Rd., Cashiers, NC 28717.

Mary Palmer Dargan, the author of “Lifelong Landscape Design”, “Timeless Landscape Design” and “The Early English KitchenGarden”, will be available for book signings at the event.

For over 20 years, she has specialized in mountain landscape design and has award winning projects at Blackberry Farm, The Chattooga Club, Cullasaja, Biltmore Forest, Wade Hampton, Highlands Country Club, Balsam Mountain Preserve and many private estates and homes in the area. Dargan Landscape Architects celebrates its 40^th year serving clients.

The event is to kick off a series of talks entitled Thursdays at 10 In Dovecote’s Garden that Mary Palmer Dargan and guest speakers will give this summer to celebrate mountain landscape design, sculpture and art in the garden, home gardening and popular garden culture.

For more information about the summer series of lectures : https://dargan.com/dovecote-garden-porch/

Garden Talk Salon for the Summer

Unique in the Cashiers Highlands Plateau, this summer a series of informal garden talk salons are being held regularly on Thursdays at 10 In Dovecote’s Garden. This historic farmhouse, once nestled in the cornfields of Cashiers, is now ground zero for horticultural cognoscenti. The garden offices of landscape architects, Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, are located on McKinney Way (aka 35 Flash Point Lane) off Cashiers School Lane, 1 mile south of Crossroads on 107.

Enjoy a morning glass of herbal tea, stroll Dovecote’s two public gardens and make friends with guest speakers. Watch for our weekly schedule of in The Highlander, Cashiers Chronicle and The Laurel.

If you have a house full of guests, would you enjoy “Miniature Gardens for all Ages”, “Create a Garden Party Hat” or “Concocting Bitters for Summer Cocktails”? Have lunch at Cornucopia next door, then visit The Village Green and a garden center that afternoon.

How about big picture designs topics like “Making Flat Land on Mountain Slopes”, “Dahlias for Mountain Gardens” or “Perennials for Your Bullet-Proof Border”? Native plant lovers, please join us for “Splendid Native Shrubs & Trees to Know and Grow”, plus “Mountain Hedges: Elegant Tapestries & Utilitarian Hideaways”. We’ll be field-tripping to local nurseries to uncover secret recipes.

For the home gardener, improve your home environment with “Permaculture for Mountain Landscapes”, “Turbocharge your Soil with Compost & Compost Tea” or putter with us as we set seeds for “Vegetable Gardening with Vim and Vigor”.

Most lectures are free; workshops materials have a small fee. For instance, join us for a pre-Mountains in Bloom gathering then migrate to Highlands wearing our new hats to a special champagne lecture.

Intrigued with sculpture and art in the garden? Carl Peverall places three of his atmospheric pieces at Dovecote this summer.Cashiers Plein Air Festival kicks off week of July 12. Watch early dawn artists catch the light at Dovecote and the surrounding village of cottages.

What makes the BEST of mountain gardens for you and Mother Nature? Come hear “My Magic Mix for Mountain Landscapes”. Heal the earth, one garden at a time. Rest lightly on the land and always remember that form follows function…then beautify!

About Mary Palmer Dargan and Hugh Dargan

“Hugh and I moved to Dovecote from Highcote in High Hampton (Cashiers) after 15 years of building its 8 gardens. It was time to downsize. We spent 2013 renovating and building these new gardens. Now, we are celebrating!” explains Mary Palmer.

Licensed landscape architects, Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLAs, enjoy creating custom master plans for living environments. Their designs for residential properties, museums, churches and campuses have received innumerable awards, print and TV (HGTV’s Ground Breakers and CNN), media coverage. Now almost 40 years into honing their craft, the Dargans travel far and wide to assist in creating transformative environments. They offer one-on-one VIP days and master plan packages.

For more information about the garden talks series, please contact:

https://dargan.com/dovecote-events/ or call 828-743-0307.

Fairy Gardens – Designed by Mary Palmer

May 13, 2014

Our new fairy gardens were debuted at a recent garden show in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta – and we got an enthusiastic response!

I never played with dolls as a child, but this gardening genre resonates with me. We tried four different miniature garden models – and will be creating more of these little beauties in the future.

Who can love a fairy garden? I see clients with family members who love to garden, but are of limited mobility. Or, brilliant children who naturally create environments when given the right tools to organize spaces. Garden in a container filled with an imaginary landscape? Complete with a house, chairs, path, pets …you name it! Fairy gardens entertain and take us out of ourselves into a benign world.

So watch for the announcement of my website page for these precious building materials in the near future!

Take a Roadtrip to Cashiers NC – And See Our Garden!

May 9, 2014

Take a day trip to Cashiers, NC this summer – and enjoy the cool, lovely mountain beauty of the southwestern North Carolina region.

Once in Cashiers, visit us at the Dovecote Garden & Porch Delights. Visitors are welcome to wonder around the gardens and sit on the porch for a spell. If you have any gardening questions, talk to the staff or proprietors Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargen, who are longtime NC landscape architects.

Stroll in our gardens at Dovecote in Cashiers, NC

The address for Dovecoat is:

35 Flash Point Drive, Cashiers, NC 28717 (next to Cornucopia Restaurant)

Starting in June, Dovecote will have weekly complimentary courses on Thursdays at 10 a.m. about garden design topics.

A North Carolina Roadtrip – and the Arts

Schedule your road trip through The Highlands in midJuly and stop by Cashiers for the Cashiers Plein Air Festival. The biennial event is held to raise funds to enhance The Village Green. During this week-long event, artists set up their easels in and around Cashiers to capture the landscape and lifestyle of the area.

On July 18, the Dovecote will host an Artists Open House. Artists will be on hand to display their works and answer questions.

Blue Ridge Mountain Day Trippers

Once in Cashiers, it’s an easy stroll to the local restaurants. The Cornucopia Restaurant (next to the Dovecote garden center) is famous for its buttermilk pies. Or sample some Southern smoked meat at the Carolina Smokehouse. For local treats, stop by the Farmers Market, which is open from about Easter through Thanksgiving.

Thursdays at 10 am – Garden Talks

If you will be around on a Thursday morning, stop by the Dovecote for a lecture on gardening. We will be posting a series of events soon; check out our schedule at Dovecote events page.