• Daffodil Days Ahead!

    Daffodil Days Ahead!

  • 1

Member Directory

Visitor Guide

Community Events

Shopping & Dining Guide

Area Jobs

CashiersAreaJobsIcon TRANS

Visitor Center

Join Mary Palmer Dargan, landscape architect and garden design author, for a talk on “Empowered Gardens:  Everything You Wanted to Know About Mountain Garden Design But Were Afraid to Ask” on May 29 at 10 a.m. at the Albert Carlton Library in Cashiers. FREE. Dargan will be available for book signings at the event.

For over 20 years, Dargan has specialized in mountain landscape design and has award winning projects at Blackberry Farm, The Chattooga Club, Cullasaja, Biltmore Forest, Wade Hampton, Highlands Country Club, Balsam Mountain Preserve and many private estates and homes in the area. Dargan Landscape Architects celebrates its 40th year serving clients.

The event is to kick off a series of talks entitled Thursdays at 10 In Dovecote’s Garden that Mary Palmer Dargan and guest speakers will give this summer to celebrate mountain landscape design, sculpture and art in the garden, home gardening and popular garden culture.

Garden Soirees for the Summer

CCC News Dovecoat SummerSeriesUnique in the Cashiers Highlands Plateau, this summer a series of informal soirees are being held regularly on Thursdays at 10  In Dovecote’s Garden.  This historic farmhouse, once nestled in the cornfields of Cashiers, is now ground zero for horticultural cognoscenti. The garden offices of landscape architects, Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, are located on McKinney Way (aka 35 Flash Point Lane) off Cashiers School Lane, 1 mile south of Crossroads on 107.

Enjoy a morning glass of herbal tea, stroll Dovecote’s two public gardens and make friends with guest speakers. Watch for our weekly schedule of in The Highlander, Cashiers Chronicle and The Laurel.

If you have a house full of guests, would you enjoy “Miniature Gardens for all Ages”, “Create a Garden Party Hat” or “Concocting Bitters for Summer Cocktails”? Have lunch at Cornucopia next door, then visit The Village Green and a garden center that afternoon.

How about big picture designs topics like “Making Flat Land on Mountain Slopes”, “Dahlias for Mountain Gardens” or “Perennials for Your Bullet-Proof Border”? Native plant lovers, please join us for “Splendid Native Shrubs & Trees to Know and Grow”, plus “Mountain Hedges: Elegant Tapestries & Utilitarian Hideaways”. We’ll be field-tripping to local nurseries to uncover secret recipes.

For the home gardener, improve your home environment with “Permaculture for Mountain Landscapes”, “Turbocharge your Soil with Compost & Compost Tea” or putter with us as we set seeds for “Vegetable Gardening with Vim and Vigor”.

Most lectures are free; workshops materials have a small fee.  For instance, join us for a pre-Mountains in Bloom gathering then migrate to Highlands wearing our new hats to a special champagne lecture.

Intrigued with sculpture and art in the garden? Carl Peverall places three of his atmospheric pieces at Dovecote this summer. Cashiers Plein Air Festival kicks off week of July 12. Watch early dawn artists catch the light at Dovecote and the surrounding village of cottages.

What makes the BEST of mountain gardens for you and Mother Nature? Come hear “My Magic Mix for Mountain Landscapes”. Heal the earth, one garden at a time. Rest lightly on the land and always remember that form follows function…then beautify!

About Mary Palmer Dargan and Hugh Dargan

“Hugh and I moved to Dovecote from Highcote in High Hampton (Cashiers) after 15 years of building its 8 gardens. It was time to downsize. We spent 2013 renovating and building these new gardens. Now, we are celebrating!” explains Mary Palmer. 

Licensed landscape architects, Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLAs, enjoy creating custom master plans for living environments. Their designs for residential properties, museums, churches and campuses have received innumerable awards, print and TV (HGTV's Ground Breakers and CNN), media coverage. Now almost 40 years into honing their craft, the Dargans travel far and wide to assist in creating transformative environments. They offer one-on-one VIP days and master plan packages. For more information about the garden talks series, please contact: http://dargan.com/dovecote-garden-porch/ or call 828-743-0307.

For reservations, please call 848-743-0307 or visit http://dargan.com/dovecote-garden-porch/

The library is located at 249 Frank Allen Rd., Cashiers, NC 28717.

Chamber News

LEADERSHIP CASHIERS 2024 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

LEADERSHIP CASHIERS 2024 APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN

In its sixth year, Leadership Cashiers will kick off Class Read More
48TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARADE WINNERS & VIDEO

48TH ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARADE WINNERS & VIDEO

Thank you to the enthusiastic audience and participants who came Read More
MOURNING THE LOSS OF THOMAS TAULBEE

MOURNING THE LOSS OF THOMAS TAULBEE

Tuesday, November 28, 2023 ~ From the family of Thomas Taulbee Read More
Thomas Taulbee named Executive Director of CACOC

Thomas Taulbee named Executive Director of CACOC

Taulbee tapped to lead Cashiers Area Chamber of Commerce Cashiers, Read More
CONGRESSMAN EDWARDS VISITS CHAMBER

CONGRESSMAN EDWARDS VISITS CHAMBER

A record turnout of Cashiers Area Chamber board of directors Read More
  • 1