In 2003 Larry and Lee Newlin began Garden Discovery Tours to parlay a passion into a business. Vacations, even when their daughters were young, often included visits to great gardens and garden centers. In 1997 they partnered with Carolina Gardener Magazine to sponsor a symposium and garden tour which has now become an annual tradition. Garden Discovery Tours has led tours to great Southeast gardens in such cities as Asheville, New Bern, Chapel Hill, Southern Pines, Richmond, Charleston, Savannah, and New Orleans. We have also led tours further afield such as the Pacific Northwest, Hudson Valley, Brandywine Valley, Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, England, and Italy. We have gained hundreds of gardening friendships and had some exciting and inspirational good times. This has to be one of the best avocations on Earth!
Larry earned his undergraduate degree from Davidson College and Lee from UNC-C. They both owned and managed garden centers for 21 years where they organized workshops, seminars, a kid's garden club, and plant festivals - leading to recognition as the National Innovator of the Year by Garden Center Magazine. Lee conducts healthy eating workshops out of our home. Larry chaired the Retail Committee of the NC Nursery and Landscape Association organizing educational seminars and writing for their magazine and has also served on the Board of Greensboro Beautiful and the Guilford Horticultural Society. They have spoken to numerous garden clubs, horticultural societies, and Master Gardener groups.
In preparation for any Garden Discovery tour the Newlins spend a great deal of time making sure that all the details are taken care of. There is extensive research involved for each tour to ensure all participants are delighted (click on Customer Testimonials). Our tours are primarily about experiencing great gardens, but they often add an optional house museum, art museum, winery, or other local attraction to the itinerary. As Lee's healthy cooking workshops have expanded, we changed the name of our business to Garden Discoveries in 2009 to better reflect the broader purposes of our business.
As gardeners the Newlins are drawn to both the serene and the exuberant - they are eclectic in their tastes and style. The result in their own garden is ever evolving, that changes with the seasons, and that provides them both with a great deal of joy and gratification. It has been their pleasure to share their private garden in such functions as the Open Garden Days for the Garden Conservancy, the Home and Garden Tour of the Greensboro Council of Garden Clubs, garden party fundraisers for Greensboro Beautiful, and Carolina Gardener Magazine's Greensboro Symposium and Tour. The Newlins' home and garden was featured in the March/April 2008 issue of NC Signature Magazine.
In May, 2011 the Newlins moved to a new farm, Peaceful River, on the Haw River near Chapel Hill. To read about this sustainable farming adventure, go to http://gardendiscoverytours.com/newsletters/gdt_newsletter_28.pdf.
Like millions of Americans Larry and Lee enjoy gardening and visiting gardens. Much of the inspiration and ideas for their own "piece of heaven" has come from visiting great gardens and meeting wonderful gardeners. They seek through these tours to bring people together to share exciting discoveries and make lasting friendships. Our world needs more beauty, more opportunities to create community, more creativity, more passion, and more serenity. Discovering gardens together and making and renewing gardening friendships has been their piece of heaven.