Garden Conservancy's Open Days

"The Sandy Side of Raleigh"

Sponsored by the JC Raulston Arboretum


  • Saturday, October 3, 2015 – 9:00 am5:00 pm
  • Sunday, October 4, 2015 – 12:00 pm5:00 pm

The Garden Conservancy's Open Days Program comes to Raleigh, North Carolina, in October this year. The fall tour features six fabulous area gardens.

Arthur Garden

Arthur Garden

Brie and David Arthur
7624 Troy Stone Drive
Fuquay-Varina, NC

This suburban Raleigh garden began to take form in 2011. Now in its fourth growing season, this one-acre former tobacco field is a bountiful "Foodscape". Owner and designer, Brie Arthur has utilized her home garden as a food growing laboratory by integrating edibles in a traditional HOA approved landscape design. This garden is featured in the PBS show "Growing A Greener World" in season 6 airing summer 2015.

Directions: From Raleigh, NC, take US-401 South for 20 miles. Turn left onto Judd Parkway for 2 miles. Turn left onto South Main Street/ US-401 South for 0.3 miles. Turn right onto Wagstaff Road and go 1.5 miles. Turn right onto Troy Stone Drive (just after railroad crossing). Number 7624 is the fifth house on left. Park along street and cul-de-sac.

The Bristol Brier

The Bristol Brier

Jeremy Schmidt
1109 New Castle Court
Raleigh, NC

Started in December 2011, this 0.69-acre garden demonstrates how foodscaping can seamlessly transition into an intensive garden - and all on a small budget. The Bristol Brier features a large front yard foodscape, lotus ponds, a sunken deck, backyard agriculture, and a bog.

Directions: From Raleigh, travel South on North Dawson Street/US-70 East/US-401 South/NC-50. Continue to follow US-401 South for 5 miles. Turn left onto Old Stage Road for 4 miles. Turn left onto Ten Ten Road for 1.8 miles. Turn right onto Sauls Road for 1.8 miles. Turn right onto Pagan Road for 0.3 miles. Take the second left onto South Downs Drive. Take the first right onto New Castle Court. Number 1109 New Castle Court is on the left.

Lamm Oasis

Lamm Oasis

Jack Lamm and Dan Gant
4204 Lamm Drive
Apex, NC

This wonderful garden sanctuary surrounds an attractive two-story Dutch Colonial-style house, a replica of the Ward-Hancock house in Beaufort, North Carolina. The garden reflects a relaxed manner and design reminiscent of an English cottage garden. Several water features, an eighteenth-century garden shed and a gazebo contribute to the quiet feeling of privacy and contemplation in this garden. While strolling along brick pathways through sophisticated arbors, one observes the complex garden plan that features the owner's thirty year collection of succulents, perennials, wildflowers, tropical plants, bulbs, and conifers. Two sequoia redwoods, towering bananas, and several metasequoias complement the numerous treasures in this garden oasis.

Directions: From the JC Raulston Arboretum, take Route 1 south. Take the Jones Franklin Road exit, and follow to the end. Turn left onto Holly Springs Road, and go about 5 miles. Turn left onto Pierce Olive Road, and follow to the end. Turn left onto Optimist Farm Road and Lamm Drive is on left (you will see the green road sign on the right, the driveway will be on left).

Southern Secrets

Southern Secrets

Sandra Simpson
1012 Bass Lake Road
Holly Springs, NC

Southern Secrets is a shade garden on Bass Lake in Southern Wake County. Antique brick walking trails are bordered by a varitey of shade plants, decorated fallen timbers and moss, moss moss! Vines climb tobacco stick fences and traditional trellises. Come see the garden that is just barely out of the woods.

Directions: From the corner of Hilltop Needmore and Sunset Lake Road, Hilltop Needmore will change the name to Bass Lake Road. Follow Bass Lake to the entrance 1012 Bass Lake Road. Parking is limited, so you may want to drive to the next drive at the Bass Lake Retreat Center (900 Bass Lake Road) to park at Bass Lake Park, they have a small garden at the entrance to the retreat center and there is a small trail to the house, 1012 Bass Lake Road.

Weston Farms and Lakeview Daylily Farm

Weston Farms and Lakeview Daylily Farm

Noel Weston and Erin Weston
1000 Benson Road
Garner, NC

Boasting one of the largest collections of cultivated bald cypress in the world and housing one of the largest daylily farms in the Southeast, Weston Farms consists of several farms in Garner and Clayton, North Carolina. Conveniently located ten minutes from downtown Raleigh, the Garner farm, "Lakeview" has over 1500+ cultivars of daylily, a conifer collection of colorful selections and more than five acres of Southern magnolia that is used for a luxurious and exclusive line of wreaths, garlands and other decorative accessories.

Former horticulturist for the City of Raleigh, Noel Weston, leads the horticultural initiatives and the gardens are a green spot of biodiversity in an otherwise suburban area. Daughter Erin Weston is the creative director of Weston Farms and Weston Farms Southern Magnolia wreaths and Erin's designs have been featured in national magazines and television spots including Southern Living, Garden and Gun Magazine, HGTV, Time Warner Cable Leisure Channel, and PBS affiliate UNC-TV. Wreaths will be available for sale during the tour.

Directions: From Raleigh, turn left onto North Dawson Street/US-70 East/US-401 South/NC-50. Continue to follow US-70 East/NC-50 for 6.2 miles. Take the ramp toward Garner/Benson. Turn right onto NC-50/Benson Road. Number 1000 Benson Road is on the right.

Fuquay Mineral Springs Inn and Garden

John and Patty Byrne
333 S Main Street
Fuquay Varina, NC 27526
http://www.fuquayinn.com/

This Colonial Revival landmark inn is one of the historic inns of North Carolina, listed on the National Register Historic District, and is located directly across the street from the Historic Fuquay Mineral Spring Park, in Fuquay Springs. This North Carolina bed and breakfast boasts lavish accommodations and breathtaking gardens. Innkeepers and owners John (currently mayor of Fuquay-Varina) and Patty Byrne (English teacher at Fuquay-Varina High School) welcome you to their lovely garden home.

Directions: From Raleigh, take US-401 south to Fuquay-Varina. The Fuquay Mineral Springs Inn and Garden is on the left between Vance Street and Spring Street in downtown Fuquay-Varina.

Cost
Admission is $7.00 per garden. Ticket books (six tickets) are available at the JC Raulston Arboretum through October 2 for $35.00. Individual tickets and ticket books will be available at each garden during the event.
Registration
No reservations required, but tickets will be available prior to the event.
Location
Six gardens in Raleigh, Garner, Holly Springs, Apex, and Fuquay-Varina, North Carolina.
Directions
A downloadable/printable information sheet with driving instructions is available.
Parking
Free parking is available at each of the gardens.
Questions
Contact Faye Koonce at (919) 513-7457 or faye_koonce@ncsu.edu for more details or ticket information.