Enjoy Southern hospitality amid the
glorious color of azaleas during the 56th
Annual
Azalea
Garden
Tour in the beautiful coastal
region of
Wilmington
,
North Carolina
. This year’s tour “Something
Old, Something New” explores
old, established gardens, as well as new areas on tour for the first time. Featured in SOUTHERN
LIVING, the tour is
one of longest running and most popular garden tours in the south.
According to Tour Chairman Brenda Moore, the twelve private gardens
chosen for this year’s tour “showcase an interesting variety of
gardens including elegant formal designs, whimsical cottage gardens, and a
coastal landscape with views of the
Intracoastal Waterway
.” Azalea Belles welcome
visitors in each of the gardens during the tour.
The Azalea Garden Tour opens Friday,
April 3 with the colorful Ribbon
Cutting Ceremony at the home of Rick and Myrna Willetts. Located
in the historic
Forest Hills
area, the 1939 antebellum style home was built by the current owner’s
grandfather. Many of the original plantings grace this grand garden
including azaleas, maples and camellias.
Queen Azalea LXII and
her court preside over the ceremony. Summerall
Guards, the Citadel’s elite senior drill team, escort over 100
beautiful Azalea Belles dressed in authentic antebellum gowns.
Local and national celebrities are also present to celebrate the
event. Following the ceremony, members of the Cape Fear Garden Club serve
refreshments and hundreds of homemade cookies.
Musical entertainment and media coverage complete this exciting
event.
Presale tickets are available beginning January 27 for the discounted price of $15
through this web site and the NC Azalea Festival Office. After March 1, tickets
are $20. Tickets
will then be available at Belk, Sterling House, The Fisherman’s Wife,
and local garden centers. Group
discounts and guided tours are available. Children 12 and under are
admitted free except for the Ribbon Cutting where a $1 is charged per
child. Tickets are good all
three days and include a map for a self-guided tour with garden
descriptions.
Gardens are open 10:00am to 6pm daily.
As an added bonus, tickets include free admission to the exquisite
Airlie
Gardens
on the Saturday, April 4.
Over
the past 56 years, Azalea Garden Tour profits have funded thousand of
dollars of beautification and
horticulture grants in
New
Hanover
County
. In 2008, Cape Fear Garden
Club awarded over $90,000. Funds
also support scholarships at
the
University
of
North Carolina
at
Wilmington
and
Cape
Fear
Community College
and finance conservation efforts at
Battery
Island
, a National Audubon Society bird
sanctuary.
Queen's
Garden Party 
