This spring, two classes at Beaufort County Community College will take participants out into the beautiful and bloodthirsty world of plants.

BCCC regularly offers personal enrichment classes through its Continuing Education Department in its service area, but field trips are also offered to take residents to some of the awe-inspiring and educational opportunities around eastern North Carolina.

The North Carolina Museum of Art will host its third-annual festival of arts and flowers, called “Art in Bloom.” Floral designers from across North Carolina and beyond bring springtime into the museum’s West Building by interpreting masterworks from the permanent collection in breathtaking flower displays. Participants will travel to Raleigh for the morning tour of the displays and each lunch at Iris, the museum’s restaurant.

In the afternoon, European floral designer Francoise Weeks will put on a workshop for the group. Her subject is woodland design, and she will create a beautiful arrangement as she explains her approach to the subject. Participants can take inspiration from the day to bring nature’s beauty into their own homes.

This trip will take place on March 30 from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Participants will cover their own meal, but all other expenses are included in the $75 fee.

Venus flytraps only grow in a 70-mile radius around Wilmington. North Carolina is also home to four other carnivorous plants, and all of these grow in the Nature Conservancy’s Green Swamp Preserve in Brunswick County. On the field trip “Venus Flytraps,” BCCC’s biology instructor, Chad Smith, will teach the group about Venus flytraps, sundews, pitcher plants, bladderworts and butterworts. BCCC’s Clay Carter will discuss gardening with carnivorous plants. The Nature Conservancy’s Zack West will lead the field trip through the longleaf pine savannah, which also hosts red-cockaded woodpeckers. During the spring, these open, sunny forests are colored with a variety of wildflowers. The class will have lunch in Wilmington.

Participants will pay for their own meal, but all other expenses are included. This class will take place on April 25 and 27 and costs $55.

“This trip will let people see some of the most interesting plants in the entire world,” said Carter, director of personal enrichment at BCCC. “And the greatest thing is they live right in our backyard.”

These field trips bring an educational component to day trips around the state and let area residents tap into the knowledge of faculty at the community college and guest presenters. These field trips also offer a shared experience, making an already pleasant spring trip into an adventure with new friends.

For more information about these trips, contact Clay Carter at 252-940-6357 or clay.carter@beaufortccc.edu.