Picnic at Duke Gardens

Sarah P. Duke Gardens, the botanical garden adjoining the Duke University campus is my favorite garden for its beauty and its memories: it was the location of our wedding last June.

We were supposed to get married in the angle amphitheater (pictured below) on a balmy 96 degree evening. A quick rainstorm came through and we were moved to the tent at the Doris Duke center in the background, which cooled things off a bit and I'm told means good luck. It also made for a photographers dream lighting, the picture above is from our post-ceremony portraits in the garden (copyright Diane McKinney Photography).

So Brian and I finally got a free day together, and not having been able to get out of town for a few months, I grabbed by sun hat and we made the 30 minute drive over to Duke Gardens for a picnic among the spring flowers. We found a grassy spot overlooking a pond under a snowball viburnum.

 

It was the perfect time to enjoy the gardens, and there was so much to see! Duke Gardens has 4 main garden areas: The Doris Duke Center Gardens (where the angle amphitheater is), The H.L. Bloomquist Garden of Native Plants, The Terrace Gardens, and the Culberson Asiatic Areboretum.

Trillium (unsigned species)

Although there were interesting plants to be photographed everywhere, the terrace garden was the star of the show, with late-blooming tulips and early-blooming Allium. The plant combinations in this area are beautiful and inspiring, with mixes of early-season annuals, perennials, shrubs, and bulbs.

In another stunning area, walking through the largest garden by far, the Asiatic Arboretum, I always discover interesting new plants.  Perhaps this is because the gardens are always adding to their collection, with trips to China and Japan. With a lake as its center piece, and a traditional tea house on the shore, the beautiful details transform the North Carolina landscape into a lush Eastern paradise.

Rhododendron macrosepalum 'Linerifolium' (Spider Azalea)

Illicium henryi (Henry Anise)

Duke Gardens is our special place to get a way for a while outside of Raleigh. Along with a bit of sun and relaxation, I always come away inspired by the unique plants and beautiful designs. With the memories we've made and continue to make there, I'm sure it is a place we will make a point to visit often throughout our lives.

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."  ~John Muir

Greeting Spring at the Arboretum

There is no better activity for the first day of spring than a trip to the local arboretum to get a taste of early blooms. We are lucky enough to be a 5 minute drive from the J.C. Raulston Areboretum at NC State University. With many class and leisure hours spent there, it is my one of Brian and my favorite places to spend an afternoon. This particular trip, along with a myriad of blooms, we took an interest in some yellow magnolias as possible choices for our landscape. Below is Magnolia 'Lois'.

 

 

The arboretum has a fantastic magnolia collection, and although many of the pink varieties are just coming out of bloom, the yellow ones were in their prime, just unfurling. I was amazed at how much was in bloom, way too many to take a picture of each, so I will show the highlights.

I absolutely love these prairie crocus (Pulsatilla spp.). The one on the right is P. halleri subsp. styriaca. I don't know anything about them, but they have them planted in their scree (rock) garden.

This beauty was a standout, a scarlet flowered dwarf flowering peach (Prunus percisa 'NCSU Dwarf Double Red') that is a NC State University Horticultural Science introduction. What an amazing specimine plant! This is one I will be taking cuttings of (a benefit allowed by the arboretum for those in the industry and horticultural science students).

Two beautifully fragrant early spring plants, winter honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima - the name says it all!), and early Korean lilac (Syringa oblata subsp. dilatata) were in full bloom

These were two of my favorite trees of the day, a bright chartreuse Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas 'Spring Glow') (top)  just starting to leaf out is another NC State University Horticultural Science Introduction, and a two-toned witch-hazel (Hamamelis x intermedia 'Wiero') (bottom). I love witch-hazels, such an interesting bloom in addition to its many medicinal uses.

Another beautiful yellow magnolia (Magnolia 'Legend') was just opening to reveal its pollen coated innards in a pool of rainwater.

The final yellow magnolia specimen (Magnolia 'Yellow Lantern') (left) looked stunning here amidst bright pink flowers and blue skies. This Virginia Pine (Pinus virginiana 'Wate's Gold') (right) is a special winter-gold variety that is one of my favorite trees at the arboretum. A great variety of a native, this one graces the winter garden. I have tried on several occasions to root cuttings from this tree with no luck yet, but I'm sure I'll try again sometime!

Another one of my favorite specimen trees, this weeping elm is deserving of the spotlight even in the absence of blooms or leaves. Found growing wild in a nursery mans backyard (click picture below to see whole story) this NCSU Horticultural Introduction is 54 years old! The white-edged samaras hanging from the weeping branches created an effect much like sequence shimmering in the sun.

 

"Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire."  ~Virgil