Biltmore Estate Sunflowers: Annette and I visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina two Sunday’s ago to view and photograph their sunflowers. This is a seasonal ritual...

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Biltmore Estate Sunflowers

Jul 27, 2022 17:20:33 #

stavros Loc: East Tennessee

Annette and I visited the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina two Sunday’s ago to view and photograph their sunflowers. This is a seasonal ritual for us. We are pass card holders for the estate so we try to take advantage of the beauty the estate offers on a regular basis. Asheville is a little over an hour drive from our home in Northeast Tennessee. We seldom visit the mansion itself, but enjoy the beauty of the trails and gardens when we visit.

The sunflowers at the Biltmore, George Vanderbilt's 8,000-acre estate, are currently in peak bloom, lining the nearly mile-long road from the property's Biltmore House to Antler Hill Village and the Winery with flowers as high as eight feet. They were just starting to bloom when we visited so in addition to mature plants, we got some pretty cool shots of the plants budding and just starting to mature.

While summer is sunflower season at the Biltmore, the plants are now in their first peak bloom period (which usually lasts about 10 days) from the 105,000 seeds that were planted earlier this year. There will be a second peak around Labor Day from the second planting of 75,000 seeds that took place in the first week of July. The plantings are split in two phases to lengthen the period that guests can catch them in full bloom. It’s estimated that about 144,000 plants will likely sprout in the patch this season.