The Virginia Viorna Tour

May 16-20, 2027

Join Garden and Nature Tours, Friendship Tours, and the Friends of the Rogerson Clematis Garden for an unforgettable adventure in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. Our journey takes us to the wild haunts of eight clematis species. Four of these shrubby species are endemic to Virginia and are globally rare. This bucket-list trip offers exciting opportunities for exploration, discovery, and camaraderie!

Have you ever wanted to see a shale barren and the clematis that grow on it? Join us for a five-day tour led by C. Colston (Cole) Burrell, a lifelong naturalist, plantsman, and gardener. He is principal of Native Landscape Design and Restoration, which specializes in blending nature and culture through artistic design. When Cole is not traveling, he is designing gardens for his clients, or tending his own 10-acre property designed to display the plants he loves while letting natural succession serve as head gardener. He shares his garden with birds, butterflies, and a wealth of amphibians.

Cole escorts garden and natural history tours throughout the United States and abroad. The New World tropics are a favorite destination. He has traveled in Costa Rica, Panama, Brazil, Venezuela, Ecuador, and Argentina, as well as Canada, Europe, New Zealand, Vietnam, Africa, and Japan.

On this tour, Cole will lead us though rural counties of western Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains to visit eight herbaceous perennial (shrubby) clematis species, plus Clematis occidentalis. We will be based in historic Charlottesville, Virginia. The tour includes lodging, bus travel, all breakfasts, three lunches, three dinners, and garden and park admissions. Our final evening will be spent at Cole’s garden, the aptly-named Bird Hill.

The trip brochure contains the full daily itinerary and all costs. To book online, go to www.friendshiptours.net/group-travel and select Group Sign In. Enter the Tour Code 27MAY16GARDEN in the box labeled Make a New Reservation. If you have any questions, please contact Linda Beutler at oregonclematis13@gmail.com