We’ve made it to the end of another calendar year, which, with the financial business challenges of the last two years, is indeed a feat that didn’t come easy. 2026 marks our 40th year as both a botanical garden and nursery. It’s been a fascinating journey, which now has many more years behind us, than
We’re only a couple of weeks away from the 2025 Southeastern Plant Symposium, co-hosted by the JC Raulston Arboretum and Juniper Level Botanic Garden. Our goal each year is to bring in the top horticultural speakers from around the world, to share their knowledge about plants that are growable in the Southeastern US region. We
Southeastern Plant Symposium 2025 Read More »
Hello friends of JLBG! Alycia Thornton here—Director of Philanthropy, occasional plant punner, and your guest narrator for a very special blog takeover. I’m commandeering the JLBG blog today with some exciting news that’s as rare as an Amorphophallus titanum blooming on a Tuesday. Tony Avent—yes, our Tony Avent—has been awarded the Veitch Memorial Medal by
JLBG Blog Takeover: 🌿 Holy Hosta! Tony Avent Wins Big—Come Celebrate With Us! Read More »
We’ve long admired the weeping elm at the JC Raulston Arboretum, and the specimen at JLBG (below) was rooted as a cutting in 2018 from their plant, which has long been labeled Ulmus minor var. minor ‘Pendula’. When we starting digging deeper on its background, we became even more confused. First, the plant is not
Crying over Weeping Elms Read More »
Passion drives everything at NC State — the donors’ passions fuel our students’ passions, and our students’ passions inspire our donors’ passions. NC State University is hosting their annual Day of Giving on Wednesday, March 26, 2025. Please consider donating in support of Juniper Level Botanic Garden to preserve this world-class resource for future generations. You can
Passion Inspired, Donor Fueled Read More »
Looking great in the garden in early March is Cornus officinalis ‘Spring Glow’. I remember when the late J.C. Raulston first planted this in the 1980s at the arboretum that now bears his name. It elicited so many comments, that he finally named and introduced it to commercial horticulture. As it did over forty years
Spring Glow – No Mas Read More »
Here are three of the more unusual mahonias in our collection that are looking good currently. Mahonia oiwakensis hails from Taiwan, and three adjacent mainland Chinese provinces. The foliage is narrower than Mahonia lomarifolia, and the winter hardiness seems better also. We’ve never seen a cultivated plant more than 7′ tall, but in the wild, it
One of our favorite evergreen trees is the little-known, Trochodendron aralioides. I first met the wheel tree at the JC Raulston Arboretum back in the 1980s, quickly falling in love with the fascinating foliage, which is arranged at the branch tips, like spokes on a wheel. As the curator of the Arboretum’s Lath House, I
Driving the Wheel Tree Renaissance Read More »
We’re just over a week away from the amazing Southeastern Plant Symposium. If you aren’t signed up yet, we hope you’ll still join us for the 6th annual version of this amazing gardening event. So, who should attend? Anyone who has a true passion for both plants and in depth knowledge about them. Our symposium,
Southeastern Plant Symposium – Last Call Read More »
NC State University is hosting their annual Day of Giving on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. Please consider donating in support of Juniper Level Botanic Garden to preserve this world-class resource for future generations. You can help preserve and shape the future of horticulture! Please consider making your tax-deductible donation today. Here is a bit of the garden’s history
NCSU Day of Giving March 20 Read More »
