Discover Cuba— Gardens, Culture, History, Art, and Music

By Mark Weathington, Director

Two thousand and fifteen is shaping up to be an exciting year for the JCRA as we invite everyone to "stop and smell the roses." We have some great programs and events lined up such as our annual winter symposium on February 21 and An Evening with the Explorers featuring Dan Hinkley on March 6. We'll be having fun for the whole family during our Raulston Blooms! festival including a massive plant sale, education programs, hands-on projects for kids, a birdhouse competition, craft vendors, and food trucks serving some of the best street food in the Research Triangle on April 11 (member’s only preview sale on April 10).

Perhaps most exciting for 2015 is a JCRA led trip to Cuba, November 7–17, to discover the plants and culture of this secretive island. I’ll be taking participants to visit some the best gardens in the Caribbean including the Soroa Orchid Botanical Garden, the Cienfuegos Botanic Garden, and the National Botanic Garden. Other stops will include organic farms, artist’s villas, local music, and the amazing architecture of historic Havana and Trinidad. No visit to Cuba would be complete without a pilgrimage to the village that inspired Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea and the farm where he spent 21 years writing this and other master works.

The trip will include all meals (excepting one breakfast and dinner), airfare to and from Miami, visas, bilingual guides, and all other expenses. An optional pre-tour excursion in Miami to visit three world-class gardens including Fairchild Tropical Botanic Gardens, Montgomery Botanical Center, and The Kampong, David Fairchild’s personal garden, will also be available.

Despite the recent thaw in relations between the United States and Cuba, it will be several years at least before travel restrictions are loosened but on the positive side, Cuban cigars, rum, and art up to $100 in value will be allowed through customs for the first time in 50 years!

Space is extremely limited and is already filling fast so interested parties should get in touch soon. For more details, check out the program announcement, and I look forward to sharing the botanical and cultural wonders of Cuba with you!

Winter Symposium

By Christopher Todd Glenn, Programs and Education Coordinator

"Stop and Smell the Roses"
February 21, 2015

Take time out of your busy schedule to enjoy the beauty of plants during the JC Raulston Arboretum's "Stop and Smell the Roses" winter symposium. Learn to appreciate life's beauty through the power of plants with Bryce Lane, NC State University, and transform your knowledge of roses with John Dole, Ph.D., NC State University, and Bill McNamara, Quarry Hill Botanical Garden.

For more information, please contact Chris Glenn at (919) 513-7005 or chris_glenn@ncsu.edu. Registration opens soon.

An Evening with the Explorers

By Christopher Todd Glenn, Programs and Education Coordinator

Triumphs and Tribulations of the Plant Hunters

Sponsored by Bartlett Tree Experts

Friday, March 6, 2015

Celebrate the start of spring with the JC Raulston Arboretum and six noted plantsmen. Hear extraordinary plant collecting tales from Andrew Bunting, Dan Hinkley, Ozzie Johnson, Greg Paige, Scott McMahan, and Mark Weathington. Enjoy hors d'oeuvre, wine, beer, other drinks, and a silent auction and a live auction featuring numerous rare plants and a two night visit with Dan Hinkley at his home and garden in Indianola, Washington.

For more information or to register, please contact Chris Glenn at (919) 513-7005 or chris_glenn@ncsu.edu. Registration is limited. Online registration opens soon.

Upcoming Children's Programs

By Elizabeth Overcash, Children's Program Coordinator

Project BudBurst

Project BudBurst is coming to the Arboretum! The JCRA is one of Project BudBurst's newest Garden Partners. In the new year, we will be collecting data on ten plants in our plant collections and sending our observations to Project BudBurst. These observations will capture when the plant flowers, has fall color, loses all of its leaves, and many other specific stages throughout the year. The data we collect will be added to a nationwide database for scientists to study how plants are responding to climate changes.

You can become part of this national effort to study plants by filling out observation reports while you are visiting gardens. Come learn about the program, how to participate, and exciting opportunities to adopt one of the ten plants this coming year at the Project BudBurst Kickoff Event, Saturday, January 31 at 10:30 am. RSVP to this free event online at our registration e-Store.

Summer Camps

Cold weather getting you down? Need some warm thoughts to cheer you up? Register for a summer garden camp! Registration for our summer garden camps will begin January 12, 2015, for Friends of the Arboretum. If your membership has lapsed or you've been on the fence, join now so you can get a jump on the line and register early for a camp! Nonmember registration opens February 2, 2015.

Four camps will be offered this summer:  

• June 15 to 19, Garden Critters, 4 and 5 year olds
  
• July 13 to 17, Nature Detectives, rising 1st through 3rd graders
  
• July 27 to 31, Garden to Table, rising 4th through 6th graders
  
• August 10 to 14, Artists in the Garden, rising 2nd through 4th graders  

Children's Program Volunteering

By Elizabeth Overcash, Children's Program Coordinator

Get Children Hooked on Plants

On January 10 at 10:00 am, I'll be highlighting all the great things we're doing at the Arboretum for our visitors in the lowest of age brackets. Don't be intimidated by their short height or witty questions! Interacting, teaching, and working with children can be a great experience especially when you have the chance to see their interest in plants and gardening sprout and bloom. Come learn about our upcoming programs, how your help is needed for a successful program, and how to become a volunteer for the children's program. Spread the word to any friends, family and neighbors that might also be interested. Please let Elizabeth Overcash know you plan to attend by e-mailing her at elizabeth_overcash@ncsu.edu.

Gardening Classes with Bryce Lane

By Bryce Lane, Retired, NC State University

Garden Soils Class

"If You Build It, They Will Come: Understanding and Improving Garden Soils"

Saturday, January 24, 2015
8:30 am–12:30 pm

As gardeners, we spend most of our time thinking "above ground". We ruminate about plants, combinations, color, texture, and about light exposure, water, temperature and climate. Gardening success is equally dependent on what is going on below ground. A scientific understanding of soil chemistry, biology, physics, and fertility makes a good gardener a "master" gardener! This class will help us understand basic soil principles, and how we can use that understanding to improve our garden soils, properly prepare garden beds, reduce fertilizer inputs, compost, and maximize growth in our gardens.

Gardening Basics Course

"Using Science to Grow Better Petunias"

Wednesdays, February 4 through March 25, 2015
7:00 pm–9:00 pm

Whether you are new to gardening, a seasoned gardener, or new to this area, this eight week gardening course will help you be more successful in all your gardening endeavors! By understanding plant classification, growth, soils, and reproduction we will learn how to be better at propagation, plant selection, planting, pruning, fertilizing, and pest management. This practical, dynamic gardening course will equip you to handle most all of your gardening challenges.

Schedule

• February 18: Plant Growth and Development
• February 25: Plant Reproduction
• March 4: Soils and Bed Preparation
• March 11: Planting and Transplanting
• March 18: Pruning and Fertilizing
• March 25: Pest Management and Wrap-up

For more information, please contact Chris Glenn at (919) 513-7005. Registration is required and is available online (garden soils and gardening basics).

Landscape Design Course

By Preston Montague, Landscape Architect and Botanical Illustrator

Landscape Potential: A Design Charette
Preston Montague, Landscape Architect and Botanical Illustrator

Saturday, January 31 and February 7 and 14, 2015
9:00 am–11:00 am

Consider the performance of your home landscape. Would you describe it as a fit, functional work of art that reflects your lifestyle and encourages outdoor activity? If not, join Raleigh-based landscape designer Preston Montague this winter at the JCRA for a design workshop that will help you revise and reboot your outdoor space.

Landscape Potential will introduce you to the process designers use to develop ideas, solve problems, and map the landscape. This three-part workshop explores design process and thinking, and maximizes the development of solutions through group collaboration in a friendly and encouraging atmosphere. By the end of the course, participants will have not only learned how to approach problems as a designer, but will also have a vision-plan for realizing the potential of their home's most dynamic room.

For more information, please contact Chris Glenn at (919) 513-7005. Registration is required and is available online.

Other Upcoming Programs

By Christopher Todd Glenn, Programs and Education Coordinator

As Mark mentioned in his e-Update article, 2015 is an exciting year for education programs at the JCRA. He wrote about a few programs in his article and Bryce Lane, Preston Montague, and I have featured many other programs in this e-Update, however, there are many other upcoming programs. Online registration is available for the two programs below. Be on the outlook for more program announcements coming soon.

Propagation Workshop
Saturday, February 7, 2015
9:00 am–3:00 pm

Join Mark Weathington and Lizzi Lathers in this hands-on propagation workshop and learn how to asexually propagate some of your favorite plants in the JC Raulston Arboretum's collections via hardwood cuttings. Participants will go home with a greater knowledge of plant propagation and with many freshly propagated plants. Techniques discussed can be done at home. This workshop is open to all knowledge/experience levels.

Renewal Pruning Class and Demonstration

Douglas Ruhren, Ironwood Gardens and JCRA Volunteer

Saturday, March 21, 2015
9:00 am–11:30 am

Want to maximize the production of flowers and fruits from your shrubs? Renewal pruning is the way to do it. This simple technique works with the natural cycle of replacing old stems with new. This class will start with classroom explanations of the nature of shrubs, the reason for and the techniques of renewal pruning, the tools of the trade as well as demonstrations of this technique. This will be followed by actual demonstration of the technique on shrubs in the arboretum with some hands-on experience for class participants.

For more information, please contact Chris Glenn at (919) 513-7005. Registration is required and is available online (propagation workshop and renewal pruning class).

Coming Attractions

By Nancy Doubrava, Interpretive Specialist

Mahonia japonica 'Hivernant'
Japanese mahonia

Opuntia basilaris var. aurea
creeping beavertail prickly pear cactus

Agave parryi subsp. parryi var. huachucensis
Fort Huachuca barrel agave

Hamamelis mollis 'Goldcrest'
Chinese witchhazel

Hamamelis 'Amethyst'
hybrid witchhazel

Camellia japonica 'Ta Fuku Benten'
variegated Japanese camellia

Magnolia maudiae
smiling forest michelia

Hamamelis ×intermedia 'Jelena'
copper-flowered common witchhazel

YouTube Channel

By Christopher Todd Glenn, Programs and Education Coordinator

Two new videos were recorded in December. Look for it in our YouTube Channel or click the link below.

Receive announcements about our latest additions by subscribing to our channel.