Location

Located within the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina at an elevation of 3,366ft, Aborcrest Gardens sits just inside the city limits of Boone, North Carolina. The town of Boone, also known as the 'Heart of the High Country' features the highest elevation of any town its size (population over 10,000) east of the Mississippi River. Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and is named for famous pioneer and explorer Daniel Boone.

Boone features a subtropical highland climate, a rarity for cities in the South. During the summer, high temperatures in Boone are typically 78 °F (25 °C) or below, noticeably cooler than the lowland areas to the east and south, and summers are also considerably less humid than in other parts of the Carolinas. In comparison to other cities in the Carolinas, winters are long, harsh, and cold, with frequent sleet and snowfall. Blizzard-like conditions are not unusual during most winters. Boone's winters are more similar to that of New England than the South. Boone typically receives on average nearly 40 inches of snowfall annually, which is far higher than the lowland areas in the rest of North Carolina, which usually receive less than 10 inches of snowfall annually on average.