Your May 2022 JCRA e-Update

Director's Note

By Mark Weathington, Director

Where does the time go? I ask myself that question every spring as I look around my own garden at all the projects I had planned to complete. This year, I've barely had time to revel in what a glorious spring it has been, but I snatch every moment I can out in the Arboretum. Depending on the day, I either see how amazing the JCRA is or how much potential we have to be even better. Of course, our potential only grows as the team here makes the garden and all its various functions flourish.

We plan to make some big changes in the garden thanks to your generosity over the past year. Projects which have been funded but delayed over the past two years are moving forward, and, if our new buzzwords, "supply chain issues," don't slow us down, you'll be excited by the improvements you see. I hope you all feel like you are part of this amazing team—staff, volunteers, members, and friends—it takes all of us to make the JCRA possible.

See you in the garden.

Evening Garden Stroll—Sensory Overload

Featuring Phil Hathcock Sculpture

By Arlene Calhoun, Assistant Director

Take a break from your weekly grind and come enjoy the gardens during this season's first Evening Garden Stroll. The gardens will remain open until 7:30 PM on Tuesday, May 10.

Phil Hathcock’s love and appreciation of nature and the natural world are evident in every piece he creates. His love of rocks and boulders and a curiosity of how rock formations evolve from geological and natural events led Phil to a career of working with stones. Many of you know Phil and his amazing work through Natural Stone Landscapes. We’re honored to have his pieces on display at the Arboretum—art and horticulture at its best.

Be prepared for a sensory overload! If you’re like me, every turn you take becomes your favorite view. Very few things can compare to the fresh tapestry created by a spring garden—the varying color and texture as our woody friends and perennial favorites flush with new growth and blooms. Close your eyes and take a deep breath to appreciate the sweet smell of a banana shrub or the spicy scent of your favorite dianthus. Mark your calendars, grab your family and friends, and come take a stroll and this special night.

If you’d like a guided tour, meet one of our talented tour guides at the Bobby G. Wilder Visitor Center at 5:00 PM or 6:00 PM. They would enjoy sharing what they know and answering any questions you may have.

The Evening Garden Strolls are scheduled every month through October. Mark your calendars for June 14, July 12, August 9, September 13, and October 11 and keep in touch. We’re partnering with a few groups to give the evenings an added twist.

Crowdfunding Update

By Carly Dressen, Development Assistant

Thank you to everyone who has given to our crowdfunding project for the JCRA Internship Program so far!

Each summer, JCRA interns work with our staff and volunteers while gaining valuable work experience, which can truly make an impact in their life. Our funding goal of $6,000 will support the cost of hiring one summer intern for 13 weeks of work.

With only a couple of weeks left of this unique opportunity, we hope you will join us in supporting our JCRA interns. This fundraising platform runs until May 13, and it works best when shared with others, especially on social media, so please kindly share with your network, too!

To keep up to date with our progress, please visit https://crowdfunding.ncsu.edu/g/spring-2022.

If you have any questions about crowdfunding or other ways to support the Internship Program, please contact Alycia Thornton at alycia_thornton@ncsu.edu.

Southeastern Plant Symposium Invitation

Presented by Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrubs

By Mark Weathington, Director

Calling all plantaholics, plant nerds, nurserymen, gardeners, and horticulturists! We are thrilled to announce the fourth annual JC Raulston Arboretum and Juniper Level Botanic Garden Southeastern Plant Symposium—presented by Proven Winners ColorChoice Flowering Shrubs this year. Join us for two very full days of plant lust as we host the best of the best to talk about cutting-edge plants. We've got plant explorers, plant breeders, nurserymen, and other experts for a two-day deep dive into what's new and exciting in the plant world. What could be better than great lectures and mingling with your fellow horti-thusiasts? How about a chance to get your hands on some of the most exciting plants during the completely mind-numbing, fever-inducing silent auction. This is the one garden event that you definitely don't want to miss! Special thanks to all of our sponsors—Proven Winners, Ball Horticultural, Sta-Lite, Leaf & Limb, and the August (Gus) A. De Hertogh Educational Endowment fund.

Speakers

Friday, June 10

Eleftherios Dariotis (Liberto Dario on Facebook), Horticulturist
Adam Black, Assistant Curator and Head of Propagation, Bartlett Tree Research Laboratories and Arboretum
Dan Hinkley, Plantsman and Owner, Windcliff and Director Emeritus, Heronswood
Patrick McMillan, Ph.D., Horticultural Manager, Juniper Level Botanic Gardens
Kelly D. Norris, Gardener, Curator, Artist, and Owner, Three Oaks Garden Peter Zale, Ph.D., Associate Director of Conservation, Plant Breeding, and Collections, Longwood Gardens

Saturday, June 11

Tony Avent, Co-owner, Juniper Level Botanic Garden and Plant Delights Nursery
Ian Caton, Co-owner, Wood Thrush Natives
Shannon Currey, Marketing Manager, Hoffman Nursery
Richard Hawke, Director of Ornamental Plant Research, Chicago Botanic Garden
Hayes Jackson, Urban Regional Extension Agent, Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Alabama A&M University
Adrienne Roethling, Director, Paul J. Ciener Botanic Garden Mark Weathington, Director, JC Raulston Arboretum

For more information or to register, please visit https://jcra.ncsu.edu/southeastern-plant-symposium/ or contact Chris Glenn at (919) 513-7005 or chris_glenn@ncsu.edu.

Educational Program Highlights

By Mackenzie Grainger, Programs and Education Assistant

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! In the couple of months, we have a tour led by Brie Arthur, two propagation workshops with Doug Ruhren, Sophia McCusker, and Chris Glenn and many more learning opportunities. Spaces are limited in these and all of our other program programs so register today to reserve your spot. If you have any questions, please contact us at jcraprograms@ncsu.edu.

Spring Cottage Foodscape Tour
Brie Arthur, Horticulturist
Tuesday, May 10 – 6:30 PM
In Person

Join local gardener Brie Arthur for a tour of her private garden, the Spring Cottage Foodscape. Enjoy a refreshing beverage while learning about the various species that make this season extraordinary! The displays include colorful poppies, larkspur, and other fall-planted varieties that burst into flower through the month of May. Brie will also have books, plants, seeds, and soil available for purchase.

Creating and Managing Bird-friendly Landscapes
Barbara Driscoll, New Hope Audubon Society, and Preston Montague, M.L.A., Landscape Architect
Wednesday, May 11 and 18 and June 1 – 6:30 PM
In Person & Online

What to learn about how your gardenscape can become more populated with winged friends? Join us in this three-evening course to understand the principles of making your landscape more bird-friendly and how to manage your newly found friends.

Herbaceous Perennials Propagation Class and Demonstration
Douglas Ruhren, JC Raulston Arboretum
Saturday, May 14 – 9:00 AM
In Person & Online

Propagating plants is rewarding, often easily done, and is a great way to add to the plants in your landscape. Join Doug Ruhren in this propagation class and demonstration focused solely on propagating herbaceous perennials. Techniques discussed include division, stem and leaf cuttings, seed, and other techniques. Doug will demonstrate each of the techniques discussed and show class participants how they can propagate perennials at home using simple techniques.

Photography Walk
"Garden Photography at the Juniper Level Botanic Garden"
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography
Thursday, May 19 – 9:00 AM
In Person

Raleigh's Juniper Level Botanic Garden is a delight to plant lovers and photographers alike. In this session, Mary Louise will discuss and demonstrate a variety of garden photography techniques. The extended session gives time for participants to explore different types of garden photo setups. In addition, there will be an opportunity for an informal Q&A session with Mary Louise while eating a bagged lunch on a shaded garden patio. This class is suitable for beginner to advanced photographers using DSLR and mirrorless cameras.

Recreational Tree Climbing at the JCRA
Open to Youths and Adults
Patrick Brandt, Piedmont Tree Climbing
Saturday, May 21 – 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:30 PM, 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM, 3:30 PM, and 4:30 PM
In Person

Recreational tree climbing is coming to the JC Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh! Climb with your friends and family into the canopy of one of our majestic oaks and experience the JCRA like you never have before. Patrick Brandt, founder of Piedmont Tree Climbing, will provide all the needed gear and instruction

Photography Walk
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography

Tuesday, May 24 – 7:00 PM (Meets Online)
Thursday, May 26 – 9:30 AM

Online Class Followed by an In-person Photography Session

Gardens provide great subjects for those who like a romantic, painterly, soft glow look to their photographs. In this two-session Photography Walk, Mary Louise will discuss two approaches to achieving this look: 1) using a specialty Lensbaby Velvet lens 2) using a regular lens together with a multiple exposure soft glow shooting technique. In the first session on Tuesday, May 24, which will be held online, Mary Louise will explain the key principles behind the two approaches and her step-by-step approach to each. In the second in-person session on Thursday, May 26, participants will join Mary Louise at Duke University's Sarah P. Duke Gardens where she'll guide them in hands-on photography in the garden using the two approaches.

Propagation Workshops
JCRA Staff
Saturday, May 28 – 9:00 AM
Saturday, June 4 – 9:00 AM
In Person

Join JCRA staff in these hands-on workshops (May 28 and June 4) and learn how to asexually propagate some of your favorite plants at the Arboretum. Participants go home with a greater knowledge of plant propagation and with many freshly propagated plants. Participants choose which plants they want to propagate from the JCRA's collection of over 6,000 taxa (few exceptions apply, though). Techniques discussed can be done at home. These workshops are open to all knowledge/experience levels.

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.

A Garden of Words – Journaling Your Garden and Creative Garden Writing
Helen Yoest, Garden Writer
Saturday, June 25 – 9:30 AM
In Person and Online

Let Helen ignite your inner creative juices to give your garden a description it deserves. Don't think you're creative? Think again! Helen can help you find it. This course also includes homework to write 300 words about one of the Arboretum's beds. The following week or sometime thereafter, Helen will review your work and give pointers on how to enhance it, if necessary.

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.

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

Before You Plant

By Douglas Ruhren, Gardens Manager

There are things one must know about a plant before one decides where to plant it. Most gardeners, even novice ones, understand that one must match the cultural requirements of a plant with the growing conditions of the site; that for instance, a sun loving plant goes in a sunny site and shade lovers in shade; that one needing moisture goes in a moist site, etc. Another thing that one needs to know before planting is the mature size of that plant, both its height and width at maturity. Far too often, it seems, this was not determined before the planting of a new addition to a garden.

The size of a plant at the time of planting matters very little, perhaps not at all. What matters is its mature size. That adorable little foot-tall oak seedling in time will be a 100' tall and perhaps 60' wide. And this applies to all plants, not just trees. If those tiny annuals sold in cell-packs grow 3’ wide, then they need to be planted 3’ apart, regardless of their tiny size at the time of planting.

Why does this matter? Plants planted too close to walks, drives, or roads might block access and require removal or restraining of the plants, both of which would be unnecessary if they had been sited properly. Plants planted too close to other plants end up compromising each other. Plants that get too tall can block windows, provide more shade than desired, or grow into overhead telephone wires; all situations that could have been avoided if the right plant was selected for that site. Much garden maintenance could be avoided if in selecting plants, one selects plants that mature at a size appropriate to the location. And when plants don't need to be hacked back to keep them from blocking walkways and windows, they are able to exhibit their beautiful natural form.

Do your research before you plant. Plant labels often indicate mature size or recommended spacing. On larger, especially slower growing plants, the size on a label might be the size in ten years so further research would be a good idea to determine its ultimate size. Public gardens can be a great place to see how big a plant gets. A little research before purchasing a plant or at least before planting it will eliminate unnecessary maintenance and allow the plant to reach its full potential. Both you and the plant will be happier for it.

Upcoming Events, Programs, and Sales

Plant Buggy Sales
Daily at the Bobby G. Wilder Visitor Center
Monday–Friday: 9:00 AM–4:30 PM
Saturday and Sunday: 10:00 AM–6:00 PM
In Person

Open Garden Day at Juniper Level Botanic Garden
Sunday, May 1 – 1:00 PM–5:00 PM
Friday, May 6 – 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
Saturday, May 7 – 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
Sunday, May 8 – 1:00 PM–5:00 PM
In Person

Gardens of Portugal and Spain
Saturday, May 1 through Saturday, May 14
In Person

Plant-lover's Tour
"The Finley-Nottingham Rose Garden"
Douglas Ruhren, Gardens Manager
Tuesday, May 3 – 9:00 AM
In Person

Gardening 101
"Planting a Tropical Garden"
Tim Alderton, Research Technician
Wednesday, May 4 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

Garden Storytime✽
Friday, May 6 – 10:00 AM
In Person
Full—Join the Waitlist

Fanciful Flowers✽
Badge Workshop for Junior Girl Scouts
Saturday, May 7 – 10:00 AM
In Person
Register

Evening Garden Stroll
Tuesday, May 10 – 4:30 PM
In Person

Spring Cottage Foodscape Tour
Brie Arthur, Author, Horticulturist, and Lifelong Home Gardener
Tuesday, May 10 – 6:00 PM
In Person
Register

Midweek with Doug
"Summer Bulbs"
Douglas Ruhren, Gardens Manager
Wednesday, May 11 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

Creating and Managing Bird-friendly Landscapes
Barbara Driscoll, New Hope Audubon Society, and Preston Montague, M.L.A.
Wednesdays, May 11 and 18 and June 1 – 6:30 PM
In Person and Online
Register (in-person and online participation)

Herbaceous Perennials Propagation Class and Demonstration
Douglas Ruhren, Gardens Manager
Saturday, May 14 – 9:00 AM
In Person and Online
Register (in-person and online participation)

Deeper in the Garden
"Rain Gardens"
Douglas Ruhren, Gardens Manager
Wednesday, May 18 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

Photography Walk
"Garden Photography at the Juniper Level Botanic Garden"
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella VIsta Photograpy
Thursday, May 19 – 9:00 AM
In Person
Register

Garden Storytime✽
Friday, May 20 – 10:00 AM
In Person
Register

Recreational Tree Climbing at the JCRA
Open to Youths and Adults
Patrick Brandt, Piedmont Tree Climbing
Saturday, May 21 – 10:00 AM, 11:00 AM, 12:30 PM, 1:30 PM, 2:30 PM, 3:30 PM, and 4:30 PM
In Person
Register

Gardening Adventures with Extension Master Gardener Volunteers
"Backyard Composting: The Magic of the Microbes"
Monica Gaal, Extension Master Gardener Volunteer of Wake County
Monday, May 23 – 10:00 AM
In Person and Online
Register

Photography Walk
"Get Your Glow on—Garden Photography with a Romantic Glowing Style"
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography
Tuesday, May 24 – 7:00 PM (meets online)
Thursday, May 26 – 9:30 AM
In Person
Register

Plant-lover's Tour
"The Finley-Nottingham Rose Garden"
Douglas Ruhren, Gardens Manager
Wednesday, May 25 – 3:00 PM
Online
Register

Propagation Workshop
Tim Alderton, Reserach Technician, and Christopher Todd Glenn, Programs and Education Coordinator
Saturday, May 28 – 9:00 AM
In Person
Register

✽Denotes a children's program.

Many programs require advance registration. Please register early to reserve your spot.

Christopher Todd Glenn
Programs and Education Coordinator
NC State University
Campus Box 7522
Raleigh, NC 27695-7522
(919) 513-7005
chris_glenn@ncsu.edu

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