Friends of the Arboretum Newsletter

Number 4

February 1982

J. C. Raulston

Winter Diversions of a Gardener

Happy New year to all. During the past year, and particularly the last month, I've had the pleasure of getting back into horticultural reading just for fun-away from the stern and proper technical manuals of great seriousness that occupy (by necessity) most of my professional reading. This issue of the newsletter is devoted to the winter activities of the gardener when the active tending of the garden slows a bit, even here in the Mid-South. The heading above is taken from a book by the same title (Wright-1934) in which the author writes about such varied subjects as gardening clergy, history of plant introductions, flower painters and others. His book begins "Each autumn we follow the same course. Sit up with the garden until its intimate demise at the hands of Black Frost, then a hectic clearing away of the dead. Rip-roaring autumnal suttees of branch and stalk. The last revolution of the compost heap. Leaves are heaped under old sacking to be piled on beds when the ground freezes. Into the barn go garden furniture and figures. The awnings are stowed away, for their hibernation. Tender bulbs hauled off to a safe place. And so it goes until the old year dies in a swelter of bills. Life suddenly grows stern and demanding. It grinds away with an awful insistence. I tug at the leash of necessity that holds me. Sometimes I feel like a chained Bible, wishing for a financial Reformation that would bring freedom. Sometimes like a chained Decameron, which is far worse... Then, in the nick of time, along came the advance scouts of the seed catalogs, and the old gardening urge seethes up again. In those weeks, then, between the first catalogue and the first Saturday of late April gardening, I have found escape in these diversions. Separated from my garden, I study the garden's past. (He then discusses the subjects he hunted out, studied, and will write about). There is nothing practical in thee pages. From them no bewildered gardener will learn what to do to the beetles that chew peonies or the black spot that devastates roses. Book stores are littered with information on such subjects. Rather, these papers have been written for my own amusement. They were composed as a mental retreat, into which I could run and be safe after hours at an office.

So it is with me -- I want to share recent discoveries in horticulture and suggest some winter pleasures for the gardener. My last letter was written Thanksgiving Day, which seems an eternity away at this point because so much has happened since that time. The next day I headed to British Columbia and spent the next two weeks working my way up and down the west coast with last visits to gardens and obtaining plants for the arboretum. At Van Dusen Garden in Vancouver (my favorite) it was amazing to see the changes in just three months since my previous visit. The new Sino-Himalayan hill had been planted nd the new large maze garden installed (unlike most mazes which are planted with small plants to grow to size; this one was planted with large plants 5-6' tall for instant effect and totally paid for by one member of their "Friends" organization!).

The garden was a joy with fall color, autumn bulbs, berries, etc. on a perfect sunny day; and the following day covered with 3" of snow from the first snowfall. A wonderful morning with Mrs. Kruckeberg of MsK Rare Plant Nursery, wandering in her Seattle suburban garden in the typical rainy day of the area, looking at the wide variety of plants in her yard and buying things to bring back. A stop at the personal house garden of Mr. Gambrill, director of the Rhododendron Species Foundation (described in the last issue) - a true plantsman with a beautiful garden of choice plants collected from around the world and arranged with the eye and skill of a Gertrude Jekyll in her style o garden. One of my favorite gardens of the year and he generously shared many plants for the arboretum. And so it continued down the coast with numerous stops filling the car as I went. Iseli Nursery with their wonderful conifers; Gossler Farms where I ended up with twice the number of plants I originally ordered - buying extra things not in their catalog. An interesting sidelight, their magnolias (150 species and cultivars planted around their home) and other rare plants are a recent venture with their main business the raising of 65 acres of peppermint for flavoring chewing gum. You should have seen my VW upon arrival back in S.F. - suitcases, projectors and slide trays (from several meetings and talks I presented) and 75 container plants packed to the ceiling in every available space. A week more collecting in the Bay Area from many nurseries. A regret to discover just as I was leaving the area - Western Hills Nursery - an incredible garden developed over the last 20 years by Lester Hawkins and Marshall Olbrich and a wide selection of extremely unusual and rare plants for sale (unfortunately no mail order). I only had an hour and a half to dash about the garden in the rain and select things - a real frustration as I could have spent days. The garden is in the Marin County hills hit so hard by recent floods and mudslides and I wonder how they have faired. On December 21 the time of departure came and I loaded my rented U-Haul trailer with accumulations of the year and headed on the 4,000 mile drive back via a deep south route to avoid cold weather and plant damage. Though anxious to return to NCSU, my work and friends and the arboretum; it was admittedly difficult to leave new friends and horticulture of the west behind Rhododendrons and magnolias in full bloom in Golden Gate park across from my house. A difficult but successful drive back and plants now safely tucked in greenhouse and nursery areas for final planting later. Some plants are almost worn out from packing and unpacking and movement in and out of car, houses, greenhouses as much as a dozen times! Arrival back has been hectic with 3 professional meetings and 4 talks my first week back (including a trip to Idaho for a nurserymen's meeting!), unpacking, the pile awaiting me in the office, and the reality of the storms which brought the worst temperatures, and ice and snow damage, experienced in a half century - ugh! At the arboretum there was joy in how well everything looked and ho much everything had grown and the near completion of the wonderful rare plants house (needs only graveling of paths now) and new plantings there; and a major disappointment to discover the arboretum has become "known" enough to attract someone in who cut a number of our choice conifers for Christmas trees enough to attract someone in who cut a number of our choice conifers for Christmas trees one night in mid-December. It was our first major vandalism and a painful welcome back, particularly the loss of our beautiful 10 year old Lace-Bark pine (ironically described in the last newsletter as my long-time favorite plant). But in spite of the losses, the arboretum continue to grow in size and quality and we look forward to a grand year ahead. Now for a variety of winter diversions for you.

NCSU Arboretum (now the JC Raulston Arboretum) - New Years Day 1982

North Carolina gardeners so emphasize the glories of the late spring garden of daffodils, azaleas and dogwood that the rest of the year is often neglected and considered of little interest. I wandered through the arboretum on a beautiful New years Day and recorded plants of interest that one could enjoy in mid-winter and found a wide variety of bloom and color for enjoyment.

Plants in flower

  • Hamamelis japonica Ruby Glow and Jelana. The witch hazels of different types offer dependable bloom from Nov. - March with yellow, bronze and reddish blooms.
  • Lonicera heckrotti - an evergreen pinkish red honeysuckle with many buds and a few opened flowers in protected places.
  • Gelsemium sempervirens - Yellow Carolina Jessamine. At its best in February but some flowers open on a protected south exposure.
  • Chimonanthus praecox - Wintersweet. The best of winter flowering shrubs - in full bloom and wonderfully fragrant.
  • Forsythia sp. - A few flowers open here and there.
  • Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat - Some late flowers still open in good shape.
  • Chaenomeles sp. - Flowering Quinces. The old plant with red flowers (an unknown cultivar from old plantings) - some blooms on the plant every month of the year.
  • Mahonia 'Arthur Menzies' - a hybrid between M. lomarifolia and M. bealei of great beauty and dependable January flowering.
  • Lonciera fragrantissima. Winter Honeysuckle - small white extremely fragrant flowers.
  • Arbutus unedo compacta - strawberry tree - white bell-shaped flowers in drooping clusters remaining from fall flowering.
  • Salix sp. Pussy willows of various kinds cracking buds and showing the silvery flower clusters.
  • Camellia cv. - an unnamed pink cultivar from Dr. Cliff Parks of Chapel Hill is the best in the garden - large showy pink flowers of great hardiness.

Plants with fruit

  • Ilex aquifolium argenteomarginata - Var. English Holly. White and green.
  • Thujopsis dolbrata variegata - Variegated thujopsis - at right side of entrance gate - bright white and green - the best white variegated conifer we have on display.
  • Carex morrowii variegata - in planter in visitor center - white and green "grass" plant.
  • Ilex Sunny Foster - the brightest gold of any broadleaf evergreen in the arboretum very showy - near Visitor Center on current self-guiding tour (later scorched by the 5°F weather).
  • Cupressus arizonica Gareei - Blue Arizona cypress - brightest blue-gray in the arboretum and attracts much attention. Unfortunately must be propagated by grafting and not readily available.
  • Ilex chinensis variegata - Variegated Chinese Holly - yellow and green, much less vigorous than green forms and touchier to grow.
  • Euonymus sp. & cvs. - many types with yellow and white markings.
  • Hedera helix Glacier - nice white form of English ivy.
  • Acuba japonica cvs. - golden variegations of various patterns.
  • Juniperus sp. & cv. - several types of variegated junipers - most noted is the yellowish-white variegated J. procumbens.
  • Juniperus scopulorum Blue Haven - an upright bright blue conical evergreen often asked about by visitors. Again a grafted plant.
  • Chamaecyparis pisifera squarrosa - Blue Moss Chamaecyparis - "fluffy" blue conifer attractive - often misplanted in small spaces - grows to a big plant 15-20' with time.
  • Chamaecyparis pisifera filifera aurea - Golden Thread Chamaecyparis - probably the brightest gold of any plant in the arboretum. Very showy in winter.
  • Cupressus macrocarpa Donard Gold - I continue to be amazed that the Monterrey Cypress will grow well here. This cultivar very bright gold and showy.
  • Liriope cvs. - the variegated form is yellowish white in winter - more whitish in summer. The black liriope - a purple black color - very slow to multiply in the garden.
  • Cryptomeria japonica Sekkan Sugi - Golden Cryptomeria - bright yellow new growth on outside of plants.
  • Eleagnus cvs. - White and yellow variegated forms.

Plants with winter branches of interest by form or color

  • Corylus avelena contorta - Harry Lauder's Walkingstick Bush - twisted and curled branches. Left of garden entrance.
  • Salix Golden Curls - Contorted yellow barked weeping willow. Relatively new variety with golden twisted branches.
  • Morus alba contorta - Contorted mulberry - strange form and white branches - very showy in winter. Near Visitors Center. Very fast growing 6-9'/year when young.
  • Prunus serrula - Birch Bark Cherry - bright red peeling bark.
  • Cornus alba cvs. - red twigged dogwoods.
  • Acer palmatum dissectum - the cut leaf maple grown with beautiful twisting branches shown well in our large specimen near the Visitor's Center.
  • Acer palmatum Sango Kaku - Coral Bark fragrance Maple - bright coral - red winter bark color.
  • Picea pungens glauca - Colorado Blue Spruce - one of fines blue conifers - slow growing in Piedmont.
  • Grasses (of many kind) - the gold, brown and blue winter foliage and seedheads of interest.

Some Recent Additions to the NCSU Arboretum (now the JC Raulston Arboretum) Collections

  • Abies bracteata - Santa Lucia Fir from California - doubtful hardiness
  • Abies concolor candicans - A bright silver-blue cultivar of White Fir, Calif. native
  • Acer davidii - David's Maple - China - green and white striped bark
  • Acer grandidentatum - Rocky Mountain sugar maple - spectacular fall color
  • Acer micranthum - Japan - beautiful leaves and excellent fall color
  • Actinidia chinenais - Kiwi vine, hardy, produces Kiwi fruits sold in stores. Need male and female vines
  • Actinidia kolomikta - Vine with green, white, pink and red coloration
  • Aesculus californica - California Buckeye - attractive gray bark, white fragrant flowers
  • Agapanthus Rancho White - massive leaves and heavy umbels of white flowers
  • Araucaria araucana - Monkey Puzzle tree from Chile - strange spiny conifer
  • Arbutus hybrid ( A. canariensis x A. andrachnoides) - Evergreen flowering tree
  • Arbutus menziesii - Madrone tree - Calif-Wash. coastal areas. Beautiful bark on evergreen tree - virtually impossible to grow - my 5th attempt.
  • Arum italicum - herbaceous perennial with beautiful vareigated winter foliage
  • Aspidistra elatior Milky Way - a spotted cultivar of the hardy Cast-Iron Plant
  • Aucuba chinensis - Chinese Aucuba - narrower leaves than A. japonica
  • Berberi darwinii - Chili. Superb evergreen with orange flowers - doubtful hardiness
  • Buddleia 'Lochinch' - Beautiful silvery grey foliage. Award winner in England.
  • Caragana arborescens - Siberian Peashrub - Siberia - small tree with fragrant yellow flowers
  • Carex Hime Kawsuge - a dwarf variegated Mondo-grass-like plant
  • Carpenteria californica - California native evergreen with white flowers
  • Cephalanthus occidentalis - A western species of our buttonbush
  • Chamerops humilis - Meditterranean Fan Palm. Hardiest palm-to 0-5°F
  • Comarostaphylos diversifolia - California - small evergreen tree, white flowers
  • Coreopsis gigantea - a fleshy trunked semi-woody California Coreopsis, yellow flowers
  • Cornus alba Kesselringii - a shrubby Cornus for winter color - black purple stems
  • Cornus alternifolia - Eastern U.S. - large shrub, horizontal branches, fall color
  • Cornus californica - California shrubby dogwood
  • Correa pulchella - Australian fuschia - not hardy. Woody with attractive flowers for pot culture
  • Corylopsis pauciflora, sinensis spicata, willmottiae - late winter flowering shrubs
  • Cotoneaster bullata - a vigorous plant sued for understock to produce grafted tree of weeping Cotoneaster standards (grafted at 4-7' high) as specialty plants. China
  • Cryptomeria japonica Tenzon Yatsubusa - the first dwarf Leyland cypress. Possibly first plant of it in the U.S.
  • Cupressus abramsiana, goveniana and guadalupensis - cypreses of unknown hardiness for evaluation
  • Cyclamen neapolitanum - hardy cyclamen, fall-winter flowering
  • Daphne arbuscula, burkwoodi Somerset, mezerum - fragrant flowering shrubs
  • Desfontainea sponosa - Chilean holly. Evergreen with red and yellow flowers. Doubtful hardy.
  • Dierama pulcherrimum - Wand flower. South Africa. White to purple flowering bulbous plants.
  • Disanthus cercidifolius - China, redbud-like shrub, superb fall color.
  • Distylium racemosum - Japan, evergreen shrub, early spring flowering
  • Edgeworthia papyrifera - Japan - Deciduous shrub, early fragrant yellow flowers
  • Embothrium coccineum - Chili, Not hardy. Spectcular red flowers
  • Enkianthus perulatus - Japan. Deciduous shrub, white flowers, fall color
  • Erynigium yuccafolium - Rattlesnake Master, N.C. native. Yucca-like rosettes
  • Eucalyptus gunni, niphophila - hardiest of the Eucalyptus species.
  • Eucryphia nymansensis. Chile, Evergreen shrub, late summer white flowers.
  • Ferns - Adiantum pedatum subpumilum, A. triumph; Asplenuim trichomanes incisum; Dryopteris atrata, D. drythrosora; Polystichum aculeatum, P. andersonii, P. californicum; Thelypteris phegapteris
  • Foresteria neomexicana - Arizona - Desert Olive. Deciduous shrub.
  • Fouquieria splendens - Arizona. Octillo. Woody desert plant, brilliant red flowers.
  • Garrya acaulis, septemfida. Herbaceous perennial, blue flowers, difficult.
  • Gunnera chileneis - Chile, high herbaceous perennial popular in Europe, 6' dia leaves.
  • X Halimiocystis sahucii - A Halimiun x Cistus hybrid; evergreen shrub
  • Helleborus niger - Christmas rose; winter flowering herbaceous perennial
  • Heteromeles arbutifolia - California Holly; broadleaves evergreen shrub, red berries.
  • Hoboellia latifolia - Himalaya; evergreen vine; likely not hardy.
  • Iris foetitissima - Europe; evergreen, narrow sword-like leaves, grown for seedpods and brilliant red fruit in fall.
  • Iris graminea - Europe; fragrant, yellowish white flowers
  • Iris unguicularis - Algeria; evergreen Iris grown for Dec.-Jan. flowering.
  • Juncus effusus spiralis - corkscrew Rush; strange spiral reed-like leaves
  • Juniperus recurva coxii - Himalaya; beautiful graceful weeping conifer tree
  • Juniperus squamata Blue Carpet - New cv. from Holland; blue foliage-spreading form
  • Juniperus squamata Loderi - dwarf dense conical form.
  • Leucothoe keiskei - Japan; small evergreen shrub, brilliant red winter color.
  • Leycesteria formosa - Himalaya honeysuckle; summer purple flowers on 6' shrub.
  • Ligularia chirimen Buwarnen- Bizarre Japanese cv. of this herbaceous perennial greatly distorted foliage appears treated with 2,4-D
  • Linnaea borealis - Twinflower evergreen groundcover names in honor of Linneaus
  • Liquidambar styraeiflua Burgundy, Festival, Palo Alto - popular west coast cv. of native sweet gum tree
  • Lithocarpus densiflora - evergreen tree oak relative from Oregon
  • Lomatia longifolia - Australia; one of hardiest Proteaceae; evergreen white flowers Lycoruis aurea - China; yellow fall blooming bulb.
  • Loyonothamnus floribundus - Catalina Ironwood - California; not hardy tree.
  • Maackia amurensis - Manchuria; white flowered small tree
  • Magnolia grandiflora extionensis, Ruff, Russet, Samuel Sommers, Victoria - Cvs. of our evergreen southern magnolia
  • Magnolia lennei, Leonard Messel, sargentiana,verganica - many thanks to Mr. Jerry Rogers for donating these four Magnolias to the arboretum
  • Miscanthus sinensis Susuki - A showy variegated japanese cultivar of Miscanthus grass
  • Nothofagus antartica - Chile; small deciduous tree related to beech
  • Oplopanox horridus - California; very spiny shrub; maple-like leaves
  • Osmanthus frangrans aurantiacus - China; fall flowering evergreen; orange flowers
  • Peltiphyllum peltatum - Umbrella plant; Oregon; bold foliaged perennial; lvs 1-2' across
  • Photinia prionophylla - China; evergreen shrub; likely not hardy
  • Phyllostachys nigra - Black bamboo; hardy to 5°F; black stems
  • Pinus attenuata, heldreichii leucodermis, latifolia contorta, muricata, ponderosa - various pines for evaluation
  • Podocarpus alpinus - Australia; groundcover yew-like conifer; hardy
  • Poncirus trifoliata Flying Dragon - A contorted Japanese cv. of trifoliata orange
  • Prunus lyonii - Catalina Cherry; evergreen shrub; likely marginal hardiness
  • Quercus chrysolepis, durata, hypoleucoides, lobata, sadleriana - An assortment of coast oaks
  • Raoulia australis - New Zealand; silvery grey dwarf groundcoger; not hardy
  • Rhododendron fragrantissima - Extremely fragrant flowers; tender species
  • Rhododendron occidentale - Western U.S.; deciduous shrub; white flowers
  • Rhus integrifolia Lemonade Berry - California; evergreen shrub; not hardy
  • Scirpus taberbaenibtab zebrubys Shima-Futo - unusual variegated reed from Japan
  • Sequoiabendron giganteum pendula - weeping giant redwood
  • Sinofranchettia chineanais - China; deciduous trifoliate vine
  • Sysyrinchuim bellum, californicum, striatum - Perennial flowering Iris-like plants
  • Stachyrus chinensis, praecox - China and Japan; very early flowering shrub
  • Staphea colchica - Caucasus Mts.; white flowering deciduous shrub
  • Stewartia malacodendron, pseudocamellia - Summer Camellias; white flowers on deciduous shrubs in July-August.
  • Stylidium graminifolium - Australia; evergreen perennial, pink flowers; June
  • Sycopsis sinensis - China; evergreen; flowering in February
  • X Sycoparrotia semidecidua - Manmade hybrid of Sycopsis x Parrotia
  • Stipea gigantea - A 6' tall very columnar grass
  • Thuja occidentalis oklendorfii - A cultivar with coarse erope-like branches
  • Torreya californica - California nutmeg tree; slow growing yew-like conifer
  • Trachycarpus fortunei Windmill Palm - China; hardy to 1-°F
  • Vitis vinifera purpurea - A purple foliaged ornamental grape
  • Washingtonia filifera - The hardiest native U.S. palm to 10°F; California
  • Zelkova serrata variegata - japan; thin white margin on leaf edges.

New Catalogs of Interest

Logee's Greenhouses, 55 North Street, Danielson, CN 06239. (203/774-8038). Catalog is $2.50 with 100 pages listing 1,800 different plants. Mostly tropical and subtropical greenhouse and houseplant listings with a few hardy outdoor materials. But a fascinating catalog - enormous list of hundreds of begonias (42 pages), also good on all kinds of teraniums, cacti and succulents, ferns, herbs and vines (would you believe 18 passion flower vine species alone!) Most prices $1-3 per plant with a few to $8.

Holbrook Farm and Nursery, Rt. 2, Box 223B, Fletcher, NC 28732. (704/891-7790). A new perennials and rare plants mail-order nursery begun by Allen Bush following a year of work/study at Kew Gardens in England. A beautiful produced quality catalog and a most welcome addition to the N.C. plant world.

Far North Gardens, 15621 Auburndale Ave., Livonia, MI 48153 (313/422-7047). $1 catalog of 49 pages. Primrose plants and seeds of an extremely wide range of very unusual plants (relatively few woody plants unfortunately). Their collectors seed list is quite amazing particularly for rock garden plants.

Middle Country Gardens, 515 Middle Country Rd. (Rt. 25), Corman, Long Island, NY 11727 (516/732-8642). NO MAIL ORDERS. Very good selection of japanese maples, conifers, dwarf rare and grafted plants for those visiting the NYC area.

Smith Hawken Garden Tools, 68 Homer, Palo Alto, Calif. 94301. A beautiful little 34 pg booklet of high quality tools and unusual books. Great craftsmanship and fine writing in the catalog that is a pleasure to read.

Dutch Mt. Nursery, Augusta, MI 49012. Leaflet catalog $ .25 in coin or stamps. Inexpensive ($1-4) seedlings of about 100 plants - an interesting range of not rare, but less common trees and shrubs - many natives. They specialize in plants to attract birds and wildlife and catalog has interesting listings of plants for different birds.

Schiedel Nursery, 27007 S.E.Rbeman Rd., Boring, OR 97009. (503/668-4487). A list of 46 young grafted liners of fine unusual plants - 4 Firs, 14 Japanese maples, 9 Cedrus, 2 Beeches, 4 Spruces, 12 Pines and a Hemlock. Reasonably priced.

A World Seed Service, J. L. Hudson, Seedsman - P.O. Box 1058, Redwood City, CA 94064. a 135 pg. catalog of an extremely wide array of seeds including many woody plants rarely seen for sale to the public. $1.00 for the catalog. Most packets $.75-$1.50.

Capability's Books for Gardeners, Box 1140A, Highway 46, Deer Park, Wisc. 54007. $1.00 charge for catalog of 400 horticultural books (refunded with order of a book). (From Bug's Barringer's column).

Book News

Winter is the season when one can spend more time reading in the tremendous never-ending variety of horticultural books available. From the tempting brightly colored mail-order catalogs to highly technical manuals, a world of information awaits to tempt one into the fantasy and dreams of new plants and techniques to try in one's own garden the next year, and to travel via written work and photograph to distant countries and gardens that are beyond our free time and finances. During my last swing through Portland I accidentally discovered one of the finest selections of horticultural books I've ever seen. They do not issue a catalog, but if one writes looking for a particular book, they will sell and mail it if in stock. The store is Powell's Books, 1005 W. Burnside Street, Portland, OR 97209 (503/228-4651). Of a number of books read this winter for pleasure I would like to recommend several to you. I once again rediscovered Elizabeth Laurence's books: A Southern Garden, Gardens in Winter, and The Little Bulbs. Her writing is superb, her horticultural knowledge immense, and she is greatly admired in England and west coast, but unfortunately often unknown here at home since her books have been out of print. Her gardening experience occurred in Raleigh and Charlotte (where she still lives) so the excellent information is local nd readily adaptable to gardens across the state. Happily her book, A Southern Garden was reprinted this fall and can now once again be found in bookstores - an absolute must for any gardener in this area.

I have belatedly just gotten Onward and Upward in the Garden by Katherine White which was published in 1979 and received much praise at that time. She was editor of The New Yorker magazine for 34 years and writes with great skill of her personal feelings for gardens and gardening. A most nejoyable book and I highly recommend it. It's commonly available in most good bookstores.

Growing Dwarf Conifers by Hindle, Tang and Roberts, a small bulletin of 16 pages is available for $.85 from: Cooperative Extension Service, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI. Certainly not a comprehensive work, but good general information for a beginner an most useful for the 3 listings of where to see them, where to buy them,a nd references on dwarf conifers.

Assorted Notes and Announcements of Coming Events

New faculty member

In the last newsletter I mentioned that we have a new position available in landscape design. We are please to have Tracy Segner in the Horticultural Science Department now teaching our new course HS 416 Planting Design and working with Will Hooker in the landscape horticulture course. She is a graduate of the NCSU School of Design with a Master's of Landscape Architecture degree and has returned to the U.S. after 2 years in England and extensive world-wide travel including 4 months in India, Nepal and Africa.

Arboretum Daffodils

Thousands of daffodils are now planted in the arboretum and drifts of new cultivars have been planted near the magnolia collection and a single bulb each of 120 cultivars has been planted behind the French parterre. Bambi was the first to bloom on Feb. 14 followed by Landmark on Feb 22. During the next 6-8 weeks it will be worth several visits to see the succession of bloom.

China Gardens Talk - April 2 at 7:30

A slide show on highlight of gardens and plants in Mainland China will be the special presentation of the spring. The attendance was so good the Europe talk with standing room only that we have moved the China talk to a large auditorium where there will be plenty of room for the expected large crowd. We will meet in Room 3712 of Bostian Hall. For those unfamiliar with the campus I will have a map on the door of Kilgore 159 (where we normally meet) explaining how to get there. It's very close - go behind Kilgore to the parking lot between the greenhouses and Kilgore, head east toward te library down the walk lined with magnolias. The walk will pass through a building which is Bostian Hall, go up the stairs and the hall is on the second floor to the left (north) of the sidewalk. Bring a friend (or more) for this special show.

Easter Trip to NYC and Washington, D.C. - April 15-19

Each year the HS 531 class takes a study trip over the Easter break to see many gardens and horticultural sights - Brookside Gardens, Dumbarton Oaks, the National Arboretum, Longwood Gardens, Swiss Pines Garden, the N.Y. Botanic Garden, the Ford Foundation and others. Although students have first priority, we often have a few extra spaces available which we would be happy to fill on a first come-first serve basis. If interested drop me a postcard and I'll send detailed information when available about March 15. The cost will likely be about $150-175 for the 4-day trip and includes transportation, lodging, all admissions and a number of meals.

Memorials Dedication Day - April 15 - 2:00 P.M.

During the past two years gifts of plants and a garden for the NCSU Arboretum (now the JC Raulston Arboretum) have been made in memory of 6 individuals and a special day has been set to officially honor these individuals and dedicate memorial markers in their memory. You are invited to attend this ceremony and a garden walk will be held following the dedication of memorials.

Volunteer Help?

The arboretum continually grows and our support remains very limited - particularly in the area of maintenance support. Would you be interested in "adopting" an area of the arboretum to contribute an hour or so every few weeks to weed, remove dead blooms, check labels, etc. We could also use help in stuffing envelopes for the mailings of the newsletters every 3 months to relieve the pressure I'm creating for Ms. McLamb and Mrs. Tate now that I'm back home loading them down again. Let me know if you would like to sign up to help in some way.

Membership Renewals

Several people have sent letters and renewal checks quite concerned that they had not been asked to renew. I felt that i had promised 4 newsletters in a year and that I would not ask for renewal until you received what was promised. So, if you've been a member that long, you'll have a renewal notice with this issue. We hope for a 100% renewal rate and to pick up new members as well, for the support of the Friends of the NCSU Arboretum (now the JC Raulston Arboretum) is essential for continuing of the arboretum development.

Next Newsletter

In May with more information, announcement of another lecture, a special summer event, a plant distribution, and much more. Have a wonderful spring in your gardens and visit the arboretum often. The pussy willows (5 kinds!) and witch hazels are wonderful right now.