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Reader photo by Paula Roberts, of Hendersonville, N.C.
“Earth laughs in flowers,” at Historic Johnson Farm, Hendersonville, N.C.
Taken Aug. 21, 2011
Photographer’s notebook
Taken during a visit to Historic Johnson Farm in Henderson County, this moonflower remains guarded transforming the normal lily-like blossom into a stunning five point star. Captured with a Canon 7d, EF 24-70mm f/2.8L lens set on manual 70mm at 1/250 second at f/2.8 with an ISO of 500.
Editor’s note:
Farm one of three owned by a school system in the U.S.
The Historic Johnson Farm, where this photo was taken, is a late 19th century tobacco farm located in Hendersonville, N.C. There are dozens of historic sites to visit throughout the region that celebrate our area’s heritage. But this site is unusual in that it is owned by Henderson County Public Schools. According to the school system’s website, only three school systems in the country own a farm. Henderson County Travel and Tourism’s Historic Hendersonville website describes it this way:
Historic Johnson Farm is a fine example of a late 19th and early 20th century farm & tourist retreat. The entire structure was handmade from bricks that were fired on site from French Broad River mud. The Johnson Farm was the home of a wealthy tobacco farmer, Oliver Moss. Over the years many outbuildings were constructed, including a tool shed/blacksmith shop, barn, boarding house, and a cottage.
It is also a member of the Blue Ridge National Heritage Area, an organization that was designated by the U.S. Congress and the president in November, 2003. The organization, which serves 25 western North Carolina counties, describes the area this way:
The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina are among the oldest mountains on Earth. The landscape is full of superlatives: the highest mountain (Mount Mitchell), deepest gorge (Linville Gorge), and highest waterfall (Whitewater Falls) in the eastern United States; the oldest river in North America (the New River); and the two most visited National Park lands in the country (the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park). The region is also blessed with a stunning diversity of plant and animal life; more, in fact, than the whole of Europe.
In each of North Carolina’s 17 westernmost counties, tourists spent more money in 2010 than they did the prior year, according to data recently released by the North Carolina Department of Commerce, Division of Tourism, Film and Sports Development. Read our report about where tourists are spending their money here.
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