Gimghoul Road, the Twin Sisters' Garden, Hickerson House and the NC Botanical Garden

Continuing from my last post, when we went to Chapel Hill in April... after wandering around the Coker Arboretum we made the short hike over to Gimghoul Road.

On the way from Coker Arboretum to Gimghoul Road.

We walked the loop in the Gimghoul neighborhood. I liked the look of this little car in front of this house, which used to be quite small but like many houses in the neighborhood, it has been expanded.

I have always loved tri and multi-colored violas in these soft shades of lilac purple and lavender, but can never find any local to my area. I need to hit up some of the nurseries in Chapel Hill next fall.

I wish I knew the identity of this lavender azalea! I don't really want to get any more evergreen azaleas (all I have now are 5 Encore azaleas) because the deer like them so much, but I would make an exception for this one. I absolutely love the color.

It's gorgeous with Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight' and pink tulips.

Azalea 'George Taber'

April in NC wouldn't be complete without pink and white dogwoods and pink and cherry red azaleas.

Easter weekend at the twin sisters' garden. They are 101 years old now! Relatives and
volunteers help with much of the gardening chores in recent years, although they have
long gotten help from students who hung out in the garden. The sisters put them to work.

Dutch iris

The other side of the front yard in the sisters' garden

On the way back to Franklin Street we stopped to see the rose and iris next to Hickerson House on the UNC campus.


Rose 'Fun Jwan Lo' and Iris 'Crimson King'. CK has a delicious fragrance as well as the most beautiful vibrant purple color. Someone told me that 'Fun Jwan Lo' isn't really worth growing because it's prone to mildew. Because it's so vigorous it's often used as understock. However, it has an excellent rating on helpmefind and the flowers are gorgeous. And obviously the rose is vigorous. This is most likely what is left after the graft died. One of 'Fun Jwan Lo's parents is thought to be Rosa odorata var. gigantea, a somewhat tender very vigorous and disease resistant climber and once bloomer with single white to pale yellow flowers.

Then we drove over the NC Botanical Garden before heading home. Most of these pictures are from the medicinal plants section of the garden, which features many exotic plants.

Dame's rocket in the NC Botanical Garden

Culinary sage

Alkanet

Alkanet and pinks

I didn't even know lily-of-the-valley grew in central NC until I saw it in a bouquet in one of the buildings at the Garden and then later in the garden itself. It grew like a weed in my grandfather's garden and I always thought of it as a cold weather plant. Central Indiana is zone 6b or something insane like that.

I wish this China/gallica hybrid had a name, but apparently there are many purple roses whose origins are shrouded in mystery. Its gallica heritage is belied by its many spidery stems. It's a true purple (more of a bluish purple than it appears in this picture) with a fragrance like old rose plus peppery spice.

Mexican feather grass and pinks (Dianthus)

Rose 'Old Blush' in the background.