Winter Symposium and Rare & Unusual Plant Auction

Plants with Benefits: Plotting a Purposeful Garden

Saturday, January 25, 2025 – 9:00 am–12:30 pm

Create a garden with more benefits than just beauty!

Are you looking for ways to make your garden both beautiful and practical? Whether you're a beginner gardener or an experienced horticulturist, this winter gardening symposium at the JC Raulston Arboretum is for anyone who wants to go beyond aesthetics and design a garden with purpose.

Transform Your Garden with Functional Plants

The addition of trees, shrubs, and ornamental plants can do more than beautify your space. With careful planning and creative plant choices, your garden can reduce energy costs, provide fresh fruit, and support a more sustainable, eco-friendly landscape. Imagine using shade trees to lower your heating and cooling bills, or planting fruit trees that give you a harvest every season.

This symposium will teach you how to make your landscape work harder and smarter, combining beauty with practical benefits.

Expert Presentations on Sustainable Landscaping

Join us for an inspiring morning with two expert speakers:

Dr. Barb Fair, a leader in sustainable landscaping, will show you how to reduce utility costs and support the environment through intentional plantings.

Sam Hubert from One Green World Nursery in Portland, OR, will introduce you to a wide variety of fruiting plants for zone 8 gardeners, giving you the tools to start growing your own edible landscape.

Whether you're one flannel shirt away from turning your backyard into a permaculture garden or you simply want to make your ornamental garden more sustainable, the Winter Symposium at the JCRA will equip you with the knowledge and inspiration you need to create a garden that gives back.

Why Attend the Winter Symposium?

• Learn how to make your ornamental garden more sustainable and energy-efficient
• Discover practical solutions for growing fruiting plants and edible landscaping
• Get expert advice from Dr. Barb Fair and Sam Hubert on designing a functional landscape
• Network with fellow gardening enthusiasts and horticulturists
• Enjoy a morning filled with inspiration and actionable tips for your garden

Reserve Your Spot Today!

Space is limited, so don’t miss out on this unique opportunity to transform your garden into a functional, beautiful, and sustainable space. Attend the Winter Symposium in person at the JC Raulston Arboretum or join us online via Zoom from anywhere. Plus, all participants will receive recordings of the presentations to watch at your convenience. Register now to secure your spot!

Saturday, January 25, 2025

8:30 am

Check-in

9:00 am

Welcome
Mark Weathington, JC Raulston Arboretum

9:30 am

"Taking Trees with Benefits to the Next Level"
Barb Fair, Ph.D., Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University

10:30 am

Break

11:00 am

"Exploring Unusual Fruits and Cultivars for Zone 8 Gardens"
Sam Hubert, Nursery Manager, One Green World Nursery

12:00 pm

Questions & Answers with Presenters

12:30 pm

Conclusion

12:30 pm

Rare & Unusual Plant Auction closes

12:45 pm

Auction checkout

"Taking Trees with Benefits to the Next Level"
Barb Fair, Ph.D., Department of Horticultural Science, NC State University

Learn the science behind the benefits trees and other woody plants offer humans, other animals, and the environment, and how to make them work for you. We will discuss some specific tree options, where to plant them and how to maintain them to maximize the benefits they offer.

Barbara Fair is an Associate Professor in the Department of Horticultural Science and the Landscape Specialist for North Carolina. She provides expertise to extension faculty and the green industry, focusing extensively on issues of landscape sustainability and arboriculture. In addition, Barbara teaches various horticulture courses at NC State relating to her expertise. She is a certified arborist with an extensive arboriculture and urban forestry background.

Barbara earned her Bachelor’s and Master’s from Penn State University and obtained her PhD from Ohio State University.

"Exploring Unusual Fruits and Cultivars for Zone 8 Gardens"
Sam Hubert, Nursery Manager, One Green World Nursery

Gardens in USDA Zone 8 are exploding with often untapped possibilities. Though the climates of Oregon and North Carolina are very different, they share similar average low winter temperatures as well as ample chill hours for growing many different fruiting plants. We'll take a deep dive into some of the fruiting species and better adapted cultivars that Sam and One Green World have been trialing in their nursery and trial gardens around Portland, Oregon.

Sam Hubert is the nursery manager at One Green World Nursery, a retail and mail order nursery based in Portland, Oregon that specializes in fruiting trees and shrubs, perennial vegetables, and Mediterranean plants from around the globe. His interest is primarily on low water, low input perennial plants that are well adapted to the West Coast with a focus on figs, olives, pomegranates and cold hardy citrus.

Sam loves experimenting with new varieties that show potential for the home gardener and commercial orchardist and are resilient in an increasingly chaotic climate. Aside from growing fruiting plants, he enjoys combining West Coast and Mediterranean shrubs into edible landscape designs to add year round interest and habitat for pollinators and wildlife.

This program is available both in person and online. Recordings of the presentations and supplemental materials provided by the speakers will be made available to all participants.

• Early Registration (ends Sunday, January 5, 2025): $50.00 for members, $65.00 for nonmembers.
• Regular Registration (Monday, January 6 through Monday, January 20, 2025): $65.00 for members, $80.00 for nonmembers.
• Late Registration (Tuesday, January 21 through Friday, January 24, 2025): $75.00 for members, $90.00 for nonmembers.

Advance registration is required. Registration is available for in-person, on-site attendance or online attendance.

Registration is considered complete when payment is received. You will receive a confirmation receipt from notify@cashnet.com when registered.

Cancellation

Program cancellations can be made up to two weeks before the program's start date. No refunds will be made after this time. A 15% cancellation fee applies.

Continuing Education Credits

This program has been approved for 2.00 hours of Landscape credit through the NC Landscape Contractors' Licensing Board.

This program has also been approved for 3 hours of continuing education credits by the NC Board of Landscape Architects.

It's that time once again when the JCRA team pulls out all the stops and raids our own nursery collection plants to share in the Winter Auction. As always, we have some exceptionally cool plants.

No matter how jaded a plant lover you might be, there is sure to be something on the list to get your blood pumping and your temperature rising—the perfect antidote to the winter blues.

Auction Opens 3:00 pm et, Wednesday, January 22, 2025 and closes 12:30 pm et, Saturday, January 25, 2025. Times will be scheduled for auction winners to pick up plants from the JCRA.

All proceeds from the plant auction benefit the daily operations of the JC Raulston Arboretum. All funds raised from the plant auction are collected and managed by the North Carolina Agricultural Foundation, Inc., a 501(c)3 nonprofit (tax ID 56-6049304).

Location

Online and in person at the Ruby C. McSwain Education Center, JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University, 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC 27606.

Directions

Need directions? Click here.

Parking

Free parking is available at the JC Raulston Arboretum and along Beryl Road.

Questions

Contact the JCRA Education Team at jcraprograms@ncsu.edu for more information about this program.