Only a couple of weeks remain, before we kick off the 2026 Southeastern Plant Symposium in Raleigh, NC. For our 8th year, we celebrate two milestone birthdays, the 50th anniversary of the JC Raulston Arboretum, along with the 40th anniversary of Juniper Level Botanic Garden. Both Mark Weathington and I will be giving presentations on
Southeastern Plant Symposium 2026…Coming Soon Read More »
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
It’s Time for D.O.G. Support Read More »
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
Self Preservation Read More »
We wanted to remind you of a couple of immenent deadlines. The first is our on-site class this Saturday at PDN/JLBG, about Understanding Soils in the Garden, from 10-noon. This annual class for the last 30 years, is chance to take a deep dive into understanding the importance of garden soils, and how to manage
Don’t Miss Deadlines Read More »
Kit Kat and I were having a heart to heart conversation in my office last week. As hard as we’ve tried to encourage her to strike out on her own innovative life path, she’s opted to take the simpler, less stressful route of just being a copy cat.
It’s that time of year when we open the gardens and nursery once again, so visitors can see what’s possible in the garden during the summer months. From July 11-13 and 18-20, the JLBG and PDN plant experts will be here to answer your garden questions or just talk plants. If you’ve got plants or
Time to Visit…Summer Public Open Garden and Nursery Read More »
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 »
After a winter where our temperatures drop below 15 degrees F, all the foliage on our cycad fry. We wait until 1 month before last frost (around March 15) to remove the old foliage, which you can see in the photo below. One month later, on April 15, the new fronds are emerging. A month
It’s Aliiive! Cycas Rebirth 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 »
Here are a few photos from the front garden, around Anita and I’s home this week. There’s nothing quite like waking up and watching the garden wake up as well. Below is a photo of the same spot, ten years earlier, when it was a horse farm. The Cryptomeria japonica ‘Yoshino’ is the only plant
There’s No Place like Home, There’s No Place like Home Read More »
