Annual Southern Blooms Festival starts Saturday

Rock City Gardens opens i ts 10th annual Southern Blooms Festival and Founder’s Day celebration on Saturday, May 12, for two weekends of viewing the attraction’s natural beauty while it is enhanced by lush plants and flowers lining the Enchanted Trail.

Just six miles from downtown Chattanooga, Rock City Gardens is a 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.

Southern Blooms honors the legacy of the attraction’s original gardener, Frieda Utermoehlen Carter. Included in the festival is a “Walking in Frieda’s Footsteps” tour to learn more about the gardens’ rich heritage at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. May 12-13 and 19-20. The festival also offers gardening advice from Master Gardeners of Hamilton County, fairy garden workshops and interactive planting demonstrations with the horticulture team.

Children will receive an adventure passport upon entering the park and can participate in “Garden 2 Go” activities, as well as meet Southern belles and Rocky the Elf.

Rock City is offering an Enchanted Mother’s Day Lunch on Sunday, May 13, at 1 p.m. Skip the restaurant crowds for this reserved three-course meal set at a beautifully decorated table with a live harp performance. To make a reservation and get additional info on the scheduled Blooms activities, visit www.seerockcity.com/southernblooms.

Rock City’s community partner for this event is Partnership for Families, Children and Adults’ Family Connections Supervised Visitation Center. The center provides a safe, homelike environment for supervised visitations between children and their noncustodial parent.

For more information: www. seerockcity. com/ southernblooms