The Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden is a remarkable place that all garden and arboreta lovers should put on their agendas. For visitors to North Carolina, access is easy: The garden is located less than an hour’s drive west of Charlotte – and it’s well-worth the visit.
First-time guests will marvel at the maturity of the Stowe Garden’s plant material, given that it was only in 1989 when the garden was conceptualized by Daniel J. Stowe, a retired textile executive from Belmont, NC. And it wasn’t until 1992 that the first display garden was even opened to the public.  Add Photo to Journal |  | | Photo Credit: David L. Morgan | | The Visitor Pavilion graces the entrance to Stowe Garden. |
Stowe was a man with a mission – and apparently in a hurry. Intending to leave a gift in perpetuity to the community that made him wealthy, Stowe reserved 450 acres of prime rolling meadows, woodlands and lakefront property, and established a $12 million foundation to develop a world-class botanical garden. A lifelong nature lover and gardening enthusiast, Stowe and his wife, Alene, envisioned designing a complex evolving over many generations to rival other internationally renowned gardens.
And so his dream began. Today, the garden appears as if it’s been there for decades, like an old East Coast private garden. But look again. The sparkling Visitor Pavilion, with an antique stained-glass dome adorning the foyer, gives it away. With its marble floors and freshly painted interior, the building reflects the planning and care that has gone into every corner of a well-planned, but recently designed, masterpiece.
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