Field Trip! - JC Raulston Arboretum

The JC Raulston Arboretum is a serious contender for my favorite garden destination in the Triangle area of North Carolina. It's rather hard for me to pin down exactly why. Established in 1976, it's not the oldest. Occupying only 10 acres, it's far from the largest. But there's a ton of horticultural goodness crammed into that little space. Plants you've never heard of, plants you were sure could never be perennials in North America. No matter where you walk, there's a cool plant waiting to be discovered!

The essential information:

Name: JC Raulston Arboretum

Ownership: North Carolina State University - Maintained by the Department of Horticulture Science

Website: http://www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/index.php

Location: 4415 Beryl Road, Raleigh, NC 27606

Hours: 8AM - 8PM April through October; 8AM - 5PM November through March

Admission: FREE

When you first come to the Raulston Arboretum, the typical way to begin your tour is at the visitor's center. It's here you find maps, a small gift shop, and if you're lucky: the plant cart. This time we instead began our journey into the arboretum through it's considerable garden of succulents. Yucca, Aloe, Agave and other plants suitable for xeriscapes filled well-amended planting beds.

This is my poorly-stitched panoramic (sorry for the black squares!) aerial view of a portion of the garden.

What's most impressive about the garden is how natural it feels considering most of the plants are unnatural to the Carolinas.

This Agave was one of the larger plants present; each one of those leaves were about four to five feet long.

Agave 'Mr. Ripple'

Lest you should be temped to try incorporating similar plants in your own garden, be forewarned that these types of planting usually only look good when done large-scale. If you absolutely must have some Agaves or other plants in your landscape, you're better off with small groupings than a mass planting. 

The plant in the bottom right corner of that photo is Agave bracteosa 'Octopussy', and a rather old specimen at that. There was more to this plant than just a lump of foliage, however...

Can you see it? Look again...

That's right, this plant was particularly well suited as a hiding place for one of North Carlolina's native lizards, the Carolina Anole:

Anolis carolinensis

This fuzzy grass-like plant has a feathery prehistoric feel to it. Supposedly hardy to only 20-25°F, the grounds at the Raulston Arboretum are apparently warm enough to keep it around:

Rhodocoma capensis

A short distance down the path, I noticed a peculiar sight. What was it, a mushroom? 

After stopping to take a photo or two I noticed it: the odor. Not quite repulsive, but not pleasant either. There was a distinct aroma that can best be described as "wet feet and old sawdust". It really is as appealing as it sounds. Turns out these little guys are a species of miniature Arum, relatives to the Corpse Flower I missed seeing earlier this year.

Arum pictum

I want some! Sadly, it seems this plant is less than easy to track down. Forget about finding a live plant in a local garden center; you're better off with a merchant who deals in unusual bulbs.

Muhlenbergia 'Pink Flamingos' helps to add a nice Southwestern feel.

One of the things I haven't seen yet in any other arboretum is a rooftop garden. Constructed over a bank of meeting rooms, the garden illustrates the techniques that are prominent in modern urban construction. Just walking through it, you'd never realize you were on top of a building!

After seeing so many dwarf and colorful cultivars of Agave, I can see why people like them so much. Like so many other plants, I may have to try my hand at growing a few of these before too long. Time for a bigger yard!

Agave lophantha 'Splendida'

One of the cool things about the Raulston Arboretum is the prevalence of what I call "mini exhibits". There are informational displays set up all over the place. On the rooftop garden there were about a dozen planters set up to illustrate different of themes and plant ecotypes that can be used in planters. 

This planter is made from a material called hypertufa.

It's one of my short-term gardening goals to make some hypertufa planters. It's pretty simple, as outlined in this blog post: http://www.33shadesofgreen.com/2010/07/making-hypertufa-pots.html

Sedum 'Sweet Tea Mix'

One of the newest additions to the Raulston Arboretum is the rebuilt lath house, which houses all manner of rare, young shade plants. When the featured plants fill in a little more the area really will have a jungle-esque feel to it. 

As much of a self-professed plant geek I claim to be, I still hadn't heard of a lot of the plants in this garden. Take the one below, for example, I think it looks like a weed:

Acanthus sennii

So it still looks a little bit like a weed. A pretty, prickly weed, but still. This plant is native to Ethiopia and often grown in hedgerows. Small wonder!

Now would be a good time for a quick and dirty introduction to the term 'cultivar'. The simplest way that I can think to put it is this: Imagine you have a group of plants. Most plants reproduce via the process of flowering and seeding. Traits from two parent plants are passed down to the offspring. Occasionally, thanks to genetic variability, there will be an offspring plant that has significantly improved qualities when compared to the parent plants. Once this plant is identified and selected, it is propagated asexually, so as to preserve its desirable traits and eliminate genetic variability. This plant is then given a cultivar name and becomes known by its defining characteristics. 

Thus, we have a cultivar of Acanthus which is quite distinct from the species pictured above: 

Acanthus 'Morning Candle'

Gone is the sprawling, unkempt growth habit. It is replaced by tidy mounding foliage and attractive flower stalks. 

There was quite a bit more to see in the lath house than I was able to get photos of. 

But I just couldn't pass up an opportunity to photograph one of my favorite fall flowers: The Happy Little Trycyrtis, a.k.a. the Toad Lily. This is a variegated cultivar named 'Imperial Banner': 

While kind of interesting from a distance, the combination of foliage and flower is spectacular close up!

Who wouldn't like this? Really?

Thankfully, well-designed arboretums provide more than just pretty plants. They also offer ideas and inspiration for the rest of your garden as well.

So when you're at the NC State Fair sometime in the next two weeks, make some time to stop by the JC Raulston Arboretum. It's only about three minutes down the road!