*Early registration ends on Friday, June 3.

Calling All Hoarders

By Dennis Carey, Curator

Part of being the plant records keeper here at the JC Raulston Arboretum involves occasionally doing some historical sleuthing. Our database is huge and contains tons of excellent information but there are gaps, holes, and fuzzy spots that appear as the years pass. I have already found some great supplemental information in J. C.’s writings from the 1980s and 1990s, particularly his old NCSU Arboretum Newsletters and Southern Nursery Association Proceedings (like this one).

To that end, I’d like to put out a call to all of you who may have collected the JC Raulston Arboretum's Current Plantings document over the decades to let me study them. I am interested in all years from 1976 to 2019. I’d like to borrow your copy and digitize it so I may refer to it in the future.

If you have anything like this, please contat me at dennis_carey@ncsu.edu.

Educational Program Highlights

By Christopher Todd Glenn, Programs and Education Coordinator

The JCRA has something for everyone, especially you! Join us for in-person and online educational programs that are sure to make your skills bloom! Spaces are limited so register today to reserve your spot. If you have any questions, please contact us at jcraprograms@ncsu.edu.

Plant Parenthood: From Planting to Pest Management
Bryce Lane, NC State University
Mondays, June 6–August 8 – 6:30 PM
(No class on July 4 and July 25)
In Person and Online

This class focuses on eight of the most important gardening tasks that we gardeners need to understand and perform correctly. Each week will be devoted to learning how to best perform a specific cultural practice. Topics include the following: plant selection, bed preparation, planting, water and water relations, fertilizing and nutrition, pruning, potting and repotting, and pest management.
   
Time Tested Plants: Tried and True Performers in the Garden
Bryce Lane, NC State University
Saturday, June 18 – 9:00 AM
In Person and Online

With new plants being introduced at breakneck speed, there is a great emphasis on buying the latest and greatest plants. The long-term success of these new plants is questionable at best, resulting in frustration and uncertainty among gardeners. Although newly introduced plants create excitement in the gardening world, we shouldn't forget those time tested plants that, for years, have been predictably thriving in our gardens. This class covers many of the most time-tested plants that Bryce believes gardeners should seriously consider growing.

Photography Walk
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography
Thursday, June 30 – 10:00 AM
In Person

Bright sun produces hot spots and deep shadows that can make garden photography challenging. In this session, Mary Louise will discuss and demonstrate how to control the lighting conditions in the garden to enable great photography all day long. She will explain how to use tools like daytime fill-flash, translucent diffusers, and opaque reflectors to create beautiful lighting for your scene. Afterwards, participants will apply these new skills photographing in the Arboretum's gardens.

Landscape Color and Professional Field Day
Presented by NC State's Department of Horticultural Science and the JC Raulston Arboretum

Thursday, July 14  – 9:00 AM

Join us for the 2022 Landscape Color and Professional Field Day for a day filled with helpful information for green industry professionals. The subject matter is across the board, giving professionals a wide variety of interesting topics they'll find useful in their daily tasks.

Photography Walk
"Focus Stacking Technique: Macro Photography with Full Depth-of-field Control"
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography

Saturday, July 16 – 8:30 AM

In the close-up environment of macro photography, it is not possible to get sharp shots from front to back of deep flowers like lilies due to inherent technical limitations that produce shallow depth-of-field for this situation. However, full control of depth-of-field is possible using the focus stacking photography technique. This technique involves taking multiple shots of the same subject, each focused at different points and then using software to combine the multiple images to make a single image with the combined depth-of-field of all the shots.

Hypertufa Trough Workshop
Beth Jimenez and Amelia Lane, Lasting Impressions and JCRA Volunteers

Saturday, July 23 – 9:00 AM

Hypertufa troughs were developed in England as an alternative to old stone sinks which were used to feed and water livestock. They provide excellent drainage and can highlight those special small plants that you have! A planted trough can be a garden unto itself. Participants will mix the ingredients, build a container, and learn how to release a finished container from its mold.

Cast Concrete Leaf Workshop
Beth Jimenez and Amelia Lane, Lasting Impressions and JCRA Volunteers

Saturday, July 23 – 1:00 PM

This two-hour workshop will teach you everything you need to know about how to prepare your leaf, mix the concrete medium, and mold a natural leaf sculpture to hang on an inside wall or use outside in a garden.

For more information about these programs, please click on the links above or write jcraprograms@ncsu.edu.

Intern Introductions

By Carly Dressen, Development Assistant; Douglas Ruhren, Gardens Manager; and the Summer Interns

Thank you to everyone who gave to the Student Internship Program this spring's crowdfunding project! Your gifts helped to support the salary of one of this year's summer interns for 13 weeks of work.

The internship program runs from May to August each summer and gives the next generation of horticultural leaders a chance to gain valuable experience in one of the most diverse plant collections in the country.

Just a few weeks ago, our summer interns began working with the JCRA staff and we are excited to introduce this great crew (presented left to right in the above photograph) to you:

Matthew Steele

My name is Matthew Steele and I am from Niceville, Florida. I developed a great passion for trees and plants when I was twelve years old and have been learning nonstop since. Coming from Florida, I have been enjoying and loving learning about the flora in North Carolina, especially at the Arboretum. I am planning to attend the University of Florida this fall for a bachelor's degree in plant science with an emphasis in greenhouse and landscape industries. My top career interests are working at a botanical garden, developing new plant cultivars, promoting underused plant species, and landscaping. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity here at the JC Raulston Arboretum to help broaden my experience and knowledge. I have really enjoyed working with the staff and other interns so far.

Michael Entwistle

Hello! My name is Michael Entwistle and I'm a senior in horticulture at NC State University. I first became interested in plants in middle school when I participated in Envirothon, which is an environmental science competition that showed me how nerdy I truly was. Now in college, I get to see where that first love of the natural world took me, and it's been super fun so far. I'm really excited to finish out my studies at State, and, of course, I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer at the JCRA!

Morgan Bacon

Hi! My name is Morgan Bacon, I'm a junior at NC State studying horticultural science with concentration in landscape design. I'm really interested in sustainability and foodscapes. I became interested in horticulture as a kid building raised beds with my father to grow our own fruits and vegetables. At the end of 2020, I got really into house plants and have had a lot of fun filling the inside and outside of my house with plants. I'm really excited to learn about the landscape design of the Arboretum as well as greenhouse/nursery management. I'm so excited and grateful to be spending the summer at JCRA.

Dylan Winstead

My name is Dylan Winstead, and I am a born and raised Raleigh native currently attending NC State for horticulture and landscape design. One of my end goals is to make Raleigh a better and more green city than when I found it. I nerd out over plants, music, and books and could talk on these subject for as long as people listen (usually not that long). My career goals are to start my own design firm and create a name for myself in the industry.

Danielle Clade

Hi everyone! I’m Danielle and I'm currently studying horticultural science at NC State. I've always had a love and interest in plants and gardening, which was initially instilled by my parents and grandparents since they always gardened while I was growing up. As someone who grew up around Raleigh, I've always been familiar with JCRA and enjoyed visiting it over the years. I'm super excited for my internship this summer, not only because I get to work at the Arboretum, but also because I know it will provide lots of great learning opportunities and experience!

Ashley Bertles

Hi, my name is Ashley Bertles and I am so excited to be the Children's Program education intern for this summer! I am from Raleigh and I am a rising junior at NC State studying learning design and technology. My dream career is to work in the EdTech industry as an instructional designer. I have a huge passion for education, so I am so excited to be part of the Children's Program at the Arboretum! This summer, I am most looking forward to the summer camps and teaching the campers all about nature!

You have now been introduced to this summer's interns. As gardens manager, I must say that it is always extremely valuable to have the increased labor force that five interns represent. I know that both Tim and I have really enjoyed this year's crop. And I might add, that coming into this job in October 2017, I did not know what a pleasure it would be to work with these bright, interesting, and kind young adults. They have always given me hope for the future of horticulture and the world. A tremendous thank you to those of you who have made this possible through your financial support!

If you have any questions on how to support the Student Internship Program, please contact Alycia Thornton at alycia_thornton@ncsu.edu.

The Fascination with Fasciation

By Dennis Carey, Curator

Working here at the JC Raulston Arboretum is a fun and exciting job. Every day, I get to work with excellent people and learn about new plants. And occasionally, I get to see some pretty unusual things. Sometimes, they are comical, like the day someone drove a car through our (open) pedestrian gate and did not stop until they reached the steps near the Bobby G. Wilder Visitor Center. Or they are entertaining, like the day a squirrel tore into a sack lunch that we had left out for a children’s program and stole an entire sandwich. Or poignant, like the family that comes to take graduation photographs of their child in the garden. And then there are the just plain weird things that I get to see.

I recently had a photograph show up in my inbox of a Digitalis (foxglove) with a bizarre flower. The photograph was sent by a gardener, Scott Miller, who wanted to know what kind of mutation his plant had.

The flower stalk of a foxglove is normally about the diameter of a celery stalk, round in cross-section with small leaves along its length and 20–40 bell-shaped flowers symmetrically distributed around the upper half. The photograph I was looking at was a freakish flower stalk about 4”–5” wide and flat with over 100 flowers irregularly crammed in along its length.

Are we looking at some sort of secret government gamma ray experiment (The Hulk of foxgloves), or an alien plant from Mars (feed me Seymour!), or has some weird hybrid foxglove/cactus spontaneously erupted in this yard? Sadly, it is not any of these things … otherwise Scott would be rich.

This malformation is a fairly common event called fasciation. Fasciation is a type of deformity where the growing tip of a plant becomes misshapen. Normally, the cells of the growing tip of a plant are a cylindrical and radially symmetrical cluster that divide in a precise manner to generate roots, stems, branches, leaves, flowers, and fruit. Cell division is controlled by genes that produce growth hormones to grow tissue specific cell types in a precisely choreographed ballet that results in normal growth. But as we all know from our own warts, moles, and weird, long, white eyebrow hairs (that one is personal), normal growth is not always what you get.

In the case of fasciation, something occurs that causes the growing point to become elongated and misshapen perpendicular to the direction of growth. As a result, all the structures generated from that growing point are malformed. What is this something that triggers fasciation? There are several causes, including heat stress, chemical exposure, UV radiation from the sun, mechanical damage from insect feeding, or infection by a fungus, bacteria, or virus. Sometimes, a genetic mutation in the DNA of the plant results in fasciation that is heritable from parent to child.

The result, in Scott’s case, was a malformed flower stalk that was more like five flower stalks mashed together into a misshapen pad. Digitalis happens to be a genus where fasciation occurs more frequently than in other plants.

This peculiar sort of growth is rare, but when you grow 50,000 plants, even rare events can be seen with some regularity. Usually, these abnormalities are pruned out and the public is never the wiser. The plant itself is not harmed by the presence of fasciations, and, in most cases, pruning out the offending structure cures the problem. Even the infection based fasciations don’t spread very easily and are isolated to just a single plant and its offsets. Those of you who spend a lot of time in large gardens and have sharp eyes are likely to come across fasciations a few times a year.

I have seen fasciation occur in stems (as with Scott’s Digitalis) and also in flower heads where the flower becomes weirdly contorted and doubled. The first fasciation I ever saw was when I was a horticulture student working in an overly hot greenhouse and it was on a gerber daisy flower that was heat stressed. Since then, I’ve also seen deformed, palm-sized strawberries that were the result of fasciation during fruit formation. Fasciations have been recorded in hundreds of species of plants all over the plant kingdom including ferns, conifers, lilies, cacti, broccoli, and roses. The JCRA photograph database contains a few examples of fasciation. And of course a Google image search for fasciation reveals thousands of amazing photos of this phenomenon.

For collectors of the weird, there is even a market for plants with heritable fasciations. These are usually termed "crested" growth and can be seen in the so called brain or cockscomb Celosias, crested conifers, and crested cacti. Our recent Raulston Blooms! plant sale featured a crested succulent called Sinocrassula from a fasciation.

Even though fasciations are grotesqueries of the plant world, they are still amazing to behold. These weird, wonderful deformities are fun to encounter and suitable for gardens with themes influenced by Dali or Geiger.

Gardening 101
"Transplanting in Hot Weather"
Douglas Ruhren, JC Raulston Arboretum
Wednesday, June 1 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

Garden Storytime✽
Friday, June 3 – 10:00 AM
In Person
Full—Join the Waitlist (in person)

Propagation Workshop
Christopher Todd Glenn and Sophia McCusker, JC Raulston Arboretum
Saturday, June 4 – 9:00 AM
In Person
Full—Join the Waitlist (in person)

Plant Parenthood: From Planting to Pest Management
Bryce Lane
Mondays, June 6 through August 8 – 6:30 PM
No Class on July 4 and July 25)
In Person and Online
Register (in person and online)

Plant-lover's Tour
"The Xeric Garden"
Douglas Ruhren, JC Raulston Arboretum
Tuesday, June 7 – 9:00 AM
In Person

Midweek with Mark
"Highlights of the Plant Auction"
Mark Weathington, JC Raulston Arboretum
Wednesday, June 8 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

I Spy! Tour✽
Thursday, June 9 – 9:30 AM
In Person
Register (in person)

Southeastern Plant Symposium
Presented by Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrubs
Friday, June 10 – 9:00 AM
Friday, June 10 – 6:00 PM (optional dinner)
Saturday, June 11 – 9:00 AM
In Person and Online
Register (in person and online)

I Spy! Morning Walk✽
Bees and Butterflies
Friday, June 10 – 10:00 AM
In Person
Register

Garden Critters✽
Monday, June 13 through Friday, June 17 – 9:00 AM
In Person
Full—Join the Waitlist

I Spy! Tour✽
Tuesday, June 14 – 9:30 AM
In Person
Register

Evening Garden Stroll
Tuesday, June 14 – 4:30 PM
Tours at 5:00 PM and 6:00 PM
In Person

Deeper in the Garden
"Asparagaceae, the Asparagus Family"
Douglas Ruhren, JC Raulston Arboretum
Wednesday, June 15 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

Time Tested Plants: Tried and True Performers in the Garden
Bryce Lane
Saturday, June 18 – 9:00 AM
In Person and Online
Register (in person and online)

Nature Detectives✽
Monday, June 20 through Friday, June 24 – 9:00 AM
In Person
Full—Join the Waitlist

I Spy! Tour✽
Tuesday, June 21 – 9:30 AM
In Person
Register

Plant-lover's Tour
"The Xeric Garden"
Douglas Ruhren, JC Raulston Arboretum
Wednesday, June 22 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

I Spy! Tour✽
Thursday, June 23 – 9:30 AM
In Person
Register

I Spy! Morning Walk✽
Art in the Garden
Friday, June 24 – 10:00 AM
In Person
Full—Join the Waitlist

Backyard Farm✽
Monday, June 27 through Friday, July 1 – 9:00 AM
In Person
Full—Join the Waitlist

Gardening Adventures with Extension Master Gardener Volunteers
"Seasonal Plants in Container Gardens: Thrills, Spills, and Fills"
Tracy Thomasson, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer of Wake County
Monday, June 27 – 10:00 AM
In Person and Online
Registration opens soon

I Spy! Tour✽
Tuesday, June 28 – 11:00 AM
In Person
Register

Horticulture Hour
JCRA Staff
Wednesday, June 29 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

Photography Walk
"Controlling Light to Enable Photographing in the Garden All Day"
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography
Thursday, June 30 – 10:00 AM
In Person
Register

Crinum ×herbertii 'Schreck'
hybrid crinum-lily

moonshine evergreen dogwood

Helianthus
Suncredible Saturn sunflower

Dahlia 'Datretten'
Dalina Maxi Tampico garden dahlia

Cercis canadensis 'NC2016-2'
Flame Thrower eastern redbud

YouTube Channel Update

By Christopher Todd Glenn, Programs and Education Coordinator

Five educational programs were recorded in April and were posted to our YouTube channel. Receive announcements about our latest additions by subscribing to our YouTube channel. Click on the bell icon to adjust your frequency settings from occasional notifications to all notifications and vice versa.