JC Raulston Arboretum e-Update
January 2023

Your Monthly News and Updates

There is no better way to beat the NC summer heat than with a summer camp in the gardens! Our campers fill the yurt and gardens with laughter, energy and creativity for 8 weeks of the summer. You don't want to miss out on this fun.

Camps range from half-day options for preschoolers to full day camps for rising 1st to 8th graders. Each week brings a new camp theme for a different age group packed full of fun garden science based activities.

Family/Dual or above level members, take advantage of your two weeks of early registration. Mark your calendars! Set a reminder! Member registration opens at 9:00 AM on Monday, January 30. Our camp sizes allow for each camper be part of the fun, and therefore we have limited spaces. Many of the camps will fill on the first day of member registration, so really - make sure your membership is up to date and set that alarm!

If you have questions about camp, try our Frequently Asked Questions page or contact Elizabeth Overcash, children's program coordinator at elizabeth_overcash@ncsu.edu.

Don't have campers at home? Tell a friend. Share the Arboretum and our programs with your family and friends!

Say Cheese!
By Dennis Carey, Curator

As a follow-up on my series about JCRA volunteers, this month I’d like to highlight the efforts of the current JCRA photography volunteers. The JC Raulston Arboretum photo collection consists of over 350,000 images taken over the last 70 years. Some of the earliest images were old family photos of JC Raulston as a child. But the majority of the collection consists of plant photos taken by staff and volunteers.

Our photography volunteers fall into two camps…those who take the photos and those who process the photos. The ‘artists’ and the ‘recorders’.

As you can see from our website, the JCRA has a huge number of artists who have submitted photos to our collection over the years. The most prolific photographers for 2022 were Ira Tucker, Don Chernoff and Nancy Doubrava each of whom regularly submitted photos during the course of the year. But we also have several volunteers who contributed occasionally in 2022 including husband and wife team Alexander & Carol Lawrence, Jeanne Wilkerson, John Bigliardi, Sandy Harwood, Suzanne Edney, Ralph Parker, and my wife, Eileen Carey. Our staff have contributed lots of photos too, notably Tim Alderton and Mark Weathington with over 50,000 photo credits each. The all-time record goes to JC Raulston who submitted over 80,000 photos to the collection!

On the back-end, we have two hard-working recorders, volunteer Susan Chappell and staff member Blake Wentley who process all new photos into the database. These folks are the most vital members of the photography team because without them the photo collection would be just a folder of unorganized digital photos instead of a curated collection. Recording is a huge job, but a fun one that involves inserting the photos into the database, generating thumbnails for the website, extracting and recording the EXIF data from the photo (file name, date, dimensions, GPS coordinates, etc.), recording the location where the photo was taken, recording the name of the photographer, the names of any people in the photo and the names of any plants in the photo, generating keywords about the photo and recording which event the photo was taken for. Furthermore, all plant photos are keyed to indicate what plant part the photo focuses on…flowers, fruit, foliage, form, bark, etc. That’s a lot of things that need to be done for each and every photo that the artists submit! Whew!

Our photography volunteer team could always use more recorders as we have a backlog of several thousand photos to process. If you are interested in recording photos with Susan and Blake, please get in touch with our volunteer coordinator, Kathryn Wall, and she will arrange for you to join the team.

Also, I want to put out a call for a special photography project. The JCRA just received the entire photo collection of famed garden-writer Pamela Harper. We now have around 50,000 old Kodachrome-style slides that need to be digitized and recorded into the photo database. If you are interested in becoming a plant recorder for this project, please reach out to Kathryn Wall.

My sincere thanks go out to all the photography volunteers for their hard work and dedication.

JCRA 2023 Winter Symposium: "Tossing the Turf"
February 18, 9:00 AM–12:30 PM
In Person and Online

Have you reserved your spot for our annual JCRA Winter Symposium "Tossing the Turf"? This morning symposium will feature topics on how to reduce turf in your home landscape. Don't procrastinate! We're offering a early registration rate through January 20.

Speakers
This year's winter symposium features Preston Montague, Dr. Mike Richardson, and Mark Weathington

Mark Weathington, Director, JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University
"From Flat to Fabulous: Creating No-Grass Flowering Lawns"

Mark Weathington is the director of the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University where he is passionate in his work to connect plants to people. Mark travels extensively searching for new plants to diversify the American landscape. His explorations have taken him to China, Taiwan, Japan, Ecuador, Europe, Mexico, New Zealand, and throughout the United States. He writes for Fine Gardening, Horticulture, and other national magazines and is the author of Gardening in the South: The Complete Homeowner’s Guide.

For more information about the Winter Symposium, visit the JCRA's Web site or write to jcraprograms@ncsu.edu.

*The in-person option is open to new gardeners and gardeners new to the Triangle while the online option is open to everyone.

Educational Program Highlights

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

Photography Walk: "Kaleidoscopic Digital Art"
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography
Friday, January 20 – 10:00 AM–12:00 PM

In this session you'll learn how to create kaleidoscopic digital art from your photographs using a free online photo editor. A variety of photographs can work well for this process, for example flower closeups, small scenes, larger landscape shots, etc.

Garden Inspired Floral Knitting Workshop
Amy Wentley, Chai Knuckles Knitting
Thursday, February 16 – 10:00 AM–1:00 PM

Knitting can be a great way to get through the winter months while waiting to get back to the gardens you love. Join with fellow knitting gardeners to learn botanical inspired themes to incorporate into your next knitting project. This workshop, led by Amy Wentley, will show you various knitting techniques to create flowers, leaves, stems and branches. Amy will provide knitting patterns, and each participant will work on two knitted blocks during the workshop and take home pattern ideas for more knitting projects!

Photography Walk: "Close-Up Flower Photography in Your DIY Home Studio"
Mary Louise Ravese, Bella Vista Photography
Friday, February 24 – 10:00 AM–12:00 PM

In this session you'll see how you can use readily available items to create a simple DIY setup for table top flower photography. While a macro lens is often an ideal choice for close-up photography, you'll learn how there are other less expensive photo accessory options to enable you to photograph close-up.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT IN DECEMBER!
Spots still remain in these January classes:

What’s in a Name: Plant Classification for the Home Gardener
Bryce Lane, NC State University
Mondays, January 23 through March 20 – 6:30 PM
(No class on February 13)
In Person and Online

Did you know that most plants have two to three different kinds of names? That can lead to tremendous uncertainty and confusion. In this eight-week class, home gardeners will learn how plants are organized, classified, and named. All too often we don't know much about the plants we select for our home gardens. When we understand plant taxonomy and nomenclature, we are better equipped to select and care for the plants we grow. In this class, we will learn and use the botanical knowledge about plant classification and naming to improve our gardening activities!

Garden Soils Class
"If You Build It, They Will Come: Understanding and Improving Garden Soils"
Bryce Lane, NC State University

Saturday, January 28 – 8:30 AM
In Person and Online

Gardeners spend most of our time thinking about what happens to our plants "above ground." In this workshop, get a better understanding of what happens below ground in the soil we keep our precious plants in. Bryce Lane will help us learn about basic soil principles and how we can use that understanding to maximize our garden to its full potential. Register and take your gardening to the next level!

Propagation Workshops
"Beginner Hardwood Cuttings"
Sophia McCusker, Nursery Technician, JC Raulston Arboretum
Offered on two different days (only sign up for one)
Friday, January 27 – 9:00 AM or
Saturday, January 28 – 1:30 PM
In Person

Propagation Workshops
"Advanced Hardwood Cuttings"
Tim Alderton, Research Technician, JC Raulston Arboretum
Saturday, January 28 – 9:00 AM–12:30 PM
In Person

✽ Denotes a children's program.

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

Other Important Dates to Remember

variegated winter daphne

Chaenomeles japonica 'Atsuya Hamada'
Japanese flowering quince

magnolia

Hamamelis mollis 'Wisley Supreme'
Chinese witch hazel

Camellia japonica 'Tama Peacock'
picotee Japanese camellia

Chiomanthus praecox 'Luteus'
wintersweet

snowdrop

YouTube Channel Update

Four programs were recorded in December. These videos were all 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.