Spring at the JC Raulston Arboretum

It's always nice to look back at the spring season and look forward to planning for the next spring. These pictures are from the JC Raulston Arboretum taken in a previous year, before it was temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For over ten years I have forgotten to plant pansies in the fall so that they can get a foothold for a good display in the spring.

Purple foliage looks so beautiful when it unfurls in the spring but tends to revert to green or look muddy when exposed to our heat during the summer.

I love to look at plantings of iris because what I can grow in my garden seems to be somewhat limited. They need to be very vigorous and not prone to melting down. I have found a ridge next to our neighbor's pasture that they like, but voles are an issue too. I have planted all of my iris over wire mesh in the hope that if the voles can't get to the rhizomes they will leave the roots alone.

An Arilbred iris probably wouldn't be a good candidate in my garden unless it was in a raised sandy bed, but it certainly is beautiful to look at. I first read about Arilbreds in Scott Odgen's book Garden Bulbs for the South. Arilbreds are crosses between German bearded iris and the mourning iris (I. susiana), a desert species from the Middle East grows where summers have little to no rain. Ogden writes that "Its globular blooms bear heavily veined and stippled patterns. The background color of the rounded falls is a light cream, but the markings themselves are a dark brownish purple. The beard and standards verge on black." Here's a link if you want to see it. Arilbreds are characterized by a dark thumbprint at the top of the falls and/or extensive veining.

I have grown Camassia in the past, but one by one the bulbs disappeared. If I can find some mesh that's large enough for the stems to get out of the ground but not big enough for the voles to get through, or put them in tall pots. It'd be worth it because the flowers are lovely and unique in the spring landscape.

The Arboretum has a scree garden on a bridge over part of the garden. I think that's our native prickly pear that grows all over the Sandhills area, along with a tall beautiful dianthus.

Prunus 'Ukon', green flowering cherry, is a large tree, on par with a weeping cherry. The flowers are pale green when they open and change to cream tinged with pink and green.

The White Garden, not green but white in April, is the sight of many photo shoots and weddings.

You can see why this Japanese maple cultivar is called 'Dissectum'. Our plants professor told us that this tree was donated as a mature tree but managed to survive the move and thrive. Staff likely used a giant spade to move the tree; the prof also told us that a giant spade is used to move plants from the campus to the Arborbetum and vice versa.

I googled Rosa 'Hermone' and didn't come up with anything, so I take it this is a found rose, a tea is my guess.

I don't have any Heucherellas in my garden but I do have a Heuchera which I enjoy for the foliage. I should probably amend that. The purple silvery foliage is so beautiful and unique. I also appreciate the delicious sounding names of the Heucherellas: Sugar Plum, Pumpkin Spice, Sweet Tea, Mint Julep, Birthday Cake, Chocolate Lace, Caramel, Berry Smoothie.