Today, Wednesday, March 25, is the NC State University Day of Giving (DOG). A decade ago, the University accepted our gift of JLBG and Plant Delights Nursery, for long term preservation. The easy part was to preserve the 28 acres on which JLBG sits. The more difficult task was to raise funds for a long term operational endowment. For the last 40 years, Plant Delights Nursery has completely funded the creation and maintainence of JLBG. Because of Tony’s advanced age, and the current economic conditions, this can’t continue for much longer.
To keep the garden fuctioning, once ownership has officially transferred, the University set up a 501-C-3 operational endowment fund. Once the endowment is fully funded, N.C. State will take over the garden, and the 4% return on the endowment funds, will be the operational budget, which covers staff salaries and other expenses involved with running a botanical garden. Whether Plant Delights, and Juniper Level Botanic Garden survives is solely dependant on how soon the Operational Endowment is fully funded. In an ideal world, once the endowment is fully funded, the nursery would continue to make plants available on-site, but shipping would only be available to garden members.
To date, we have raised almost $6.5 million for the NC State Endowment, for which we are deeply indebted. Of that total, however, just over $1 million is in cash. The remainder of the funds raised are in life estates/wills, which will eventually turn into cash, but that’s likely to happen long after Tony is gone. Consequently, the urgency is to raise the remainder of the endowment asap, including as many cash donations as possible.
So, the reality is that Plant Delights would not survive should something happen to Tony, before the endowment is fully funded. Most of the plant collections also would likely not survive. Simply put, gardens require regular maintenance, and the intricate plant collections at JLBG require something higher than a basic level of plant maintenance. With the current cash endowment level, we would only be able to hire a single employee. This is why we desperately need your help asap. All it takes is one million people donating $20 each…or 2,000 people gifting $10,000 each. If you’ve reach that magical age of 73, when you are required to start taking withdrawals from your IRA, the Development team at NC State College of AgLife Science can help you set that up, so that the transfers are tax free. Feel free to reach out to Alycia Thornton at NC State for assistance with this or larger gifts, including wills and estates.
If you’d like to see JLBG preserved, please also help us spread the word, so that the gardens and plants, many of which exist only here, can be preserved, both for the enjoyment, and use (research, horticultural, and medicinal) of future generations. We hope you’ll take time during the 2026 Day of Giving to pledge your support for the preservation of Juniper Level Botanic Garden. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your support!