As Western North Carolina continues to reckon with the devastation left by Hurricane Helene, filmmaker David Weintraub believes a nearly forgotten native plant has an important story to tell  - about protecting our rivers, preserving Cherokee culture, and learning to work with nature rather than against it.

At this year’s Art in Bloom, hosted by The Gallery at Flat Rock, flowers and art met in more ways than one. Inside the gallery, floral designers created arrangements inspired by works of art, while Liz Queen created a floral experience of her own.

Outside the gallery, Libby - Queen’s vintage Volkswagen flower truck - greeted visitors from her spot near the entrance. Together, the truck, a growing patchwork of gardens, and Liz Queen’s lifelong love of flowers reflect the beauty and joy she is bringing to the Flat Rock community through her business, Let It Be Flowers.

At the entrance to The Park at Flat Rock, a small plaque celebrates Conserving Carolina’s role in helping make one of Flat Rock’s most beloved places possible. Hundreds of people walk past the marker every day. They come to walk the trails, exercise their dogs, watch their children play, practice yoga, share a picnic, or simply sit beside a creek for a while - to rest, rejuvenate and reconnect with the natural world.

Most park visitors probably don't realize that the place they have come to enjoy is also an example of how Conserving Carolina has quietly enriched life across Western North Carolina for nearly four decades.

Many who live in Flat Rock pass by the stone columns along Greenville Highway, just southeast of St. John in the Wilderness Episcopal Church, several times a week. The tilting columns stand as reminders of a once-grand home called Dolce Far Niente, built ca. 1837 by Thomas Lowndes. That home, and the property surrounding it, would become a magnet drawing generations of Lowndes descendants back to Flat Rock for nearly 200 years. This is the story of the house, the land, and the family legacy they helped create. 

On a warm, bright Saturday morning in East Flat Rock, Mireya Chipol stood inside her new home and cried. Around her, Habitat for Humanity staff and volunteers had gathered in the Dodd Meadows community to celebrate the dedication of two new homes. Mireya’s family gathered by her side, and as Father Tom Buechele offered a blessing for the home, the significance of the moment seemed to overwhelm her.

Flat Rock Playhouse audiences do not need an introduction to Nat Zegree or Courter Simmons. They already know them. They have applauded them, laughed with them and watched them command the Playhouse stage in roles that revealed just how versatile two gifted performers can be.

This summer, Nat and Courter return to Flat Rock Playhouse for a new challenge: the Playhouse’s 30th-anniversary production of Jonathan Larson’s groundbreaking musical RENT.

Nat and Courter have built successful professional careers that have taken them to stages across the country. Both have extensive résumés, exceptional talent, and countless opportunities to perform elsewhere.

Yet each has repeatedly chosen to bring that talent back to Flat Rock. That raises an intriguing question: What makes Flat Rock Playhouse a place such accomplished artists genuinely want to return to?