Raulston Blooms!
Every year on the last Saturday in April, our gardens come alive, and between the blossoms, the birds, and the beautiful weather, you won't want to miss when Raulston Blooms!
Enjoy
- JCRA Spring Plant Sale – access to exceptional unusual plants
- Annual Birdhouse Competition
- Makers Market with artists and crafters
- Gardening talks – learn from the experts
- Educational displays and demonstrations
- Hands-on fun for children and families
- Food trucks and NC State Howling Cow ice cream cups
- Used gardening book sale
Raulston Blooms! is the annual spring festival, plant sale, and birdhouse building competition we hold every year on the last Saturday in April at the JC Raulston Arboretum. Everyone is invited to come experience the garden in all its vernal glory, while enjoying food trucks, craft vendors, and fun for the whole family. We pack our garden so full of things to see, do and enjoy, you'll want to be here right when the gates open at 10 so you have plenty of time to experience it all.
For starters you don't want to miss the plant sale out on our Great Lawn that day. Our plant sales have a reputation for including hot new introductions, hard to find specialty plants, and our favorite reliable performers. For Raulston Blooms! we have all of that AND we invite spectacular local nurseries, many of whom are normally wholesale-only growers, making this a unique opportunity to find special plants that may be otherwise hard to come by. Members of our Arboretum are invited to the garden the day before the festival to get priority access to the plant sales and first dibs on all the good stuff (hint, hint; become a member today!).
You'll be tempted to just spend the day buying plants and hauling them back to your car (and why not when there are so many on offer as well as volunteers on hand to help lighten your load!), but you don’t want to miss the educational displays and demonstrations out in the garden. We invite prominent local horticulturists to give exciting talks about gardening and plant care at our Speaker's Tent throughout the day. We also invite local plant societies, wildlife organizations, and NC State student organizations to set up booths and displays sharing their passion and knowledge about nature, ecology, and plants. Our Education Yurt and its adjacent gardens also have games and activities for families to enjoy with their children, so there's really something for everyone.
And not to bury the lead, but we've even got a little something special for the birds during this wonderful celebration of spring. Raulston Blooms! also means our legendary annual Birdhouse Competition will be on display in our Education Center. There is serious competition amongst our birdhouse builders and they bar no holds when it comes to creativity. There are entry categories for every age and ability level as well, with less serious competition but just as much creativity to show off and celebrate. You'll see amazing & functional works of art that blow your mind, and you'll see cute & charming birdhouses that warm your heart. Every entrant can enter as many birdhouses as they'd like, so start building yours today!
Between the plants, the food trucks, the artists, the plants, the educational opportunities, the plants, the family fun, and the plants, there's too much going on at Raulston Blooms! for you to miss it. Be sure to block off the last Saturday in April on your calendar from here to perpetuity so you'll be in the garden with us when Raulston Blooms!