The Mountains in Bloom Garden Festival will be held July 7 through 10 in Highlands.

From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday, July 7, author and interior designer Suzanne Rheinstein, will speak at The Farm at Old Edwards. Tickets for the lectures are $65 per person.

From 6 to 8 p.m. that evening there will be a flower show preview and Frank Stella: American Master opening reception at The Bascom. This is a first peek at the floral, horticultural and photography exhibitions that comprise the flower show. Tickets are $50 per person and will include cocktails and heavy hors d’oeuvres.

On July 8 and 9, five gardens in the Highlands Country Club area will be featured on a garden tour. Parking for the tours will be at the Highlands Civic Center, where participants will be shuttled to houses. Tickets are $80.

The admission-free flower show will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, July 9 and 10, at The Bascom.

Mountains in Bloom benefactors will also tour the Southern Highlands Reserve at Lake Toxaway from 1 to 3 p.m. on Sunday, July 10. The Southern Highlands Reserve is a private native plant garden and research center dedicated to the preservation, cultivation and display of plants native to the Southern Appalachian Highlands.

Benefactors are also invited to a “Some Enchanted Evening” Benefactor Party on Sunday, July 10, featuring music by Jim Gibson of Hickory Cove Music. A seated dinner will follow.

828.526.4949 or visit www.thebascom.org.