Wildflowers in the mountains near Robbinsville
Several brightly colored beds of wildflowers are planted along U.S. 52 in Forsyth County at the Rural Hall exit. “Those are beautiful,” said Winston-Salem motorist Carolyn Wright, who had taken the exit. The beds are part of the N.C. Department of Transportation’s wildflower program, which began in 1985, inspired by First Lady Lady Bird Johnson’s efforts to beautify the nation’s highway system and suggested by North Carolina First Lady Dorothy Martin. Don Lee, NCDOT roadside environmental engineer, said the program has now grown to include hundreds of acres, the largest planned wildflower program in the nation. “We have been larger in the past, the program’s a little smaller, but we’ve maintained about 1,500 acres,” said Lee.
The wildflower efforts start in the fall. “We sow all our flowers that’s going to come in the next spring, and then, after those bloom and die out, we do our summer wildflower program and those bloom late summer,” said Todd Hyatt, division 9 roadside engineer. And the plantings help the boost the state’s tourism industry. “Tourism in North Carolina is beyond $20 billion. That’s a large investment, and certainly it’s important for economic development,” said Lee. The $1.5 million program is funded by money raised by the state selling personalized license plates.