Eat, drink and be rosemary as Rock City Gardens hosts its 13th annual Southern Blooms Festival May 7-8 and 14-15 from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., along with a Mother’s Day lunch on May 8. Discover a living sculpture, revel in the folk music of Matt Downer, watch the kids create their own works of art and buy a plant to take home!
Treat Mom to a special Mother’s Day lunch at the Big Rock Grill. Savor items like quiche Lorraine, chicken salad on croissants or chicken tenders for the kids, a mixed green salad with vegetables and strawberry balsamic dressing, and a dessert choice of chocolate cake or strawberry rhubarb.
Purchase also includes timed entry to the Southern Blooms Festival, and one keepsake plant and souvenir photo per party. Arrival time is 12:45 p.m. for a 1 p.m. lunch seating. Reservations are available until May 5 at www.seerockcity.com/mothersday.
Matt Downer performs as the quintessential musical voice of Rock City, playing traditional old-time tunes on fiddle, banjo and guitar. Other entertainment includes a live performer embodying the role of a fountain statue as falling water flows out of this “living fountain.” Multiple easels surround the fountain for kids to create their own interpretive art pieces in the pavilion. Make-and-take planting supplies with seeds, recycled containers and soil are also available so guests can grow their own southern blooms at home. These activities are included in the price of admission!
Another returning favorite to the event as an add-on option is a fairy garden workshop where kids, or kids at heart, can learn how to make their own fairy garden.
Café 7 is offering counter service from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. with regular menu items, as well as themed event food: an Awesome Blossom (fried blooming onion with comeback sauce), meat and cheese plate dusted with edible flower petals, vegan Blooming Bowl, a dried pineapple flower with coconut cream for dessert and beautifully delicious drinks like Butterfly Pea Tea Lemonade.
Smell the aroma of spring flowers and take some beautiful photos of the gardens’ featured blooms: rhododendron, rose campion, native azalea, petunia and mountain laurel. Visit www.seerockcity.com/southernblooms for the schedule of all activities and entertainment.
Rock City’s returning community partner for this event is Partnership for Families, Children and Adults’ Family Connections Supervised Visitation Center. They provide a safe, home-like environment for supervised visitations between children and their non-custodial parent. PFCA is a community impact agency that has been empowering people to build better lives through counseling, crisis intervention, prevention and education programs for 140 years. PFCA serves tens of thousands of people in Tennessee, Georgia and Alabama and is a United Way Member Agency. For more info, go to www.partnershipfca.com.
Just six miles from downtown Chattanooga, Tennessee, Rock City Gardens is an enchanted, 4,100-foot walking trail showcasing lush gardens, caves and soaring rock formations. Rock City is home to over 400 species of plants and flowers.