Azalea Belle Information
Each year, we get many inquires about how to become an Azalea Belle.  For 2008, please note that the Azalea Festival falls during Spring Break for the New Hanover Co. public schools.
It is mandatory that all Belles are available April 5-13.  
Please review the club's Azalea Belle selection policy.

      The 2008 Azalea Garden Tour, “Gardens from the River to the Sea” is a leisurely self-guided tour highlighting the beauty of the Cape Fear Region’s coastal and river landscapes.  One of the longest running and most popular garden tours in the South, the tour changes each year with selection of different gardens. According to Tour Chairman Donna Pendergrast, the eleven gardens chosen for this year’s tour “reflect the interesting variety of gardens our area offers from sweeping lawns with backdrops of azaleas to panoramic views of the Intracoastal Waterway”. Click here for a preview of the 2008 Gardens. 

      The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony officially opens the tour on Friday morning, April 11^th at 10:00am.  Begin your tour by attending this grand event at the garden of The Governor Dudley Mansion.  Located in the historic downtown and overlooking the Cape Fear River, the 1825 mansion was home to North Carolina’s first elected governor Edward B. Dudley.  The walled grounds feature towering oaks, fountains and statuary framed with a variety of plantings. Cape Fear Garden Club hosts this colorful ceremony and will present over 100 beautiful Azalea Belles, the Citadel’s Summerall Guards, the official committee members of the NC Azalea Festival and celebrity guests. The Queen’s Garden Party immediately follows the Ribbon Cutting where you can taste delicious homemade cookies and punch prepared and served by members of the Cape Fear Garden Club.  Bring your camera to take back memories of this old fashioned, Southern garden party.  

      The remaining ten gardens offer visitors a variety of unique settings.  Downtown area gardens showcase historic city gardens. Visitors will especially enjoy the Biblical garden of First Presbyterian Church featuring a crape myrtle planted by Woodrow Wilson’s mother and surrounded by plants and flowers mentioned in the Bible.  The glorious colors of azaleas highlight the established gardens of the Forest Hills area. Always a must see with visitors are the lush gardens in the Landfall area. In addition, all types of home architecture, from Federal to Low Country, make the tour an adventure to remember.  Azalea Belles welcome visitors in each of gardens during the tour. 

      Over the past 55 years, Azalea Garden Tour profits have funded thousands of dollars of beautification and horticulture grants in New Hanover County.  Funds also support scholarships at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and Cape Fear Community College and finance conservation efforts at Battery Island, a National Audubon Society bird sanctuary.  

Users may also link directly to this page directly via AzaleaGardenTour.org