This is post 1 of 12 of a series I’m doing this year reflecting back on some of my favorite plants from visiting the JC Raulston Arboretum while attending graduate school at NC State in Raleigh NC. Check back next month for more.
It has been seven years since I left graduate school in Raleigh NC. At the time it was a challenge living in an apartment without a garden. Even though I had 100+ plants on my balcony in containers, I missed being able to roam through a garden and observe the minutiae of the day-to-day happenings in the plant world.
The JC Raulston Arboretum became a garden away from my home garden for me. It was started as in 1976 by the late Dr. JC Raulston as a living laboratory for students and the North Carolina nursery industry, and it has blossomed into one of the top university botanic gardens in the United States. (If you want to learn more, read Chlorophyll in His Veins by Bobby Ward). I visited countless times and amassed probably over 10,000 photographs over my time there. So, in what has started as another sedentary year for us with no travel in sight, I’ve decided to plunge into my photographs to share some of my favorite plants each month from this incredible place.
One of my most memorable experiences visiting the arboretum was my first winter in Raleigh. When I left Tennessee to head to North Carolina, I assumed that I would never see snow again. But, in early 2009, 3–7 inches fell on a Tuesday. My official measurement at the arboretum with a ruler was 4 inches.
I remember the day vividly because that Tuesday was January 20, 2009, and Barack Obama was being sworn in as president. Being an independent and political junkie, I had the news going on in the background as I labored on graduate school projects. My desk was right against the window so I would shift screens between the TV, the computer, and glancing up to see the snow flying outside my window. Thinking back now, it was nice to see so much white and peace in a world where red and blue seem to dominate.
Around lunch I headed over to the arboretum once the snow had abated to enjoy the winter wonderland, and I spent at least two hours roaming the collections. Below are some of my favorite photographs and plants of the day.
I loved seeing the screen garden with where the leaves on Agave and Yucca became needles emerging from white pincushions.
You can really appreciate how well the Agave captured snow on this Agave parryi ssp. parryi var. truncata J.C. Raulston’.
I loved seeing how each blade of these Yucca aloifolia were laden with the snow.
The snow highlighted structure of trees. One that was particularly striking was Firmiana simplex. The dull viridian trunk resembled a dinosaur leg.
And, how can you not love this cinnamon-colored bark on Stewartia sinensis var. sinensis?
One plant that I fell in love with the first winter was Salix ‘Flame’, and it is still at the top of my list of favorite plants. I find myself gravitating to colorful stems for winter color, and this orange-twig willow had such a rich, warm hue.
Going through these photographs I realized I had forgotten about Acer negundo ‘White Lightning’! Most consider boxelders trash trees, but wowzer, these stems shine against the white and brown of winter.
And, one cannot forget about the finicky red-twig dogwoods. Here the thin twigs of Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’ glow bright.
In the Japanese garden the black lines of Phyllostachys nigra pop against the white.
The snow adds another dimension to this Tsuga canadensis ‘Curley’. The laden branches look die cut.
The needles of Pinus virginiana ‘Wates Golden’ glow with the afternoon sun.
Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ was one of my favorite broadleaf evergreens in the garden. The sun-splashed foliage was particularly effective in the winter.
And, then of course were the flowering plants on my snowy visit. Another winter favorite I learned about at the JC Raulston Arboretum was Edgeworthia chrysantha ‘Winter Gold’. At the time paperbushes were fairly unknown, but I would say that their popularity has really grown in the past 10 to 15 years. You can see some flowers opening yellow in this image.
Many members of the witchhazel family flower in winter. Here the buds on the interesting hybrid ×Sycoparrotia semidecidua begin to pop. They are small, but they somewhat resemble exploding figs.
Hamamelis vernalis was also in full bloom on this snowy day and their sweet smell—though some say sickly sweet—perfumed the air.
Looking back I realize just how many of my winter favorites I learned from this garden. Here is Chimonanthus praecox ‘Luteus’. It, too, has an incredible sweet fragrance that can travel far in the garden. Often I smell this shrub before I see it.
Growing up, I always admired the deciduous hollies on the fencerows back in Tennessee. I think they look best with some snowy adornments.
I was tickled pink seeing just how colorful these Symphoricarpos × doorenbosii Magic Berry were.
It is always fun to see how seedheads interact with snow. Here Rudbeckia fulgida ‘Viettes Little Suzi’ appears to be wearing white toboggans.
Serendipity. The syncarps on Liquidambar styraciflua ‘Frosty’ look a little… well… frosty. In case you’re curious about the cultivar name, this selection has variegated leaves.
Even the fading flowers of Schizophragma hydrangeoides ‘Moonlight’ were effective snowcatchers.
Yes, it was a truly memorable day walking through the JC Raulston Arboretum after a good snow. One last photo of the White Garden covered in white. Little did I know at the time that Karen and I would get married here in seven years.
