Friends of the Arboretum Newsletter
Summer 2007 – Volume 11, Number 1
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Words from the Director
Director's Letter
By Denny Werner, Ph.D., Director
Welcome from the JC Raulston Arboretum. I'm writing this message in early May, unfortunately a few days after Chris Glenn's deadline for submission. But what's he going to do, fire me?! In the tradition of JCRA newsletters, this one is being prepared and delivered much later than we had hoped. In part, this was a function of the time and effort devoted to preparing our first JCRA Annual Report, which required more time than we had anticipated. We hope you enjoyed our Annual Report.
Lots of activities, progress, and changes here at the JCRA since our last newsletter hit your mailbox. I've now been at the helm over one year, and I'm pleased with the progress we have made programmatically and in the garden. Our 30th anniversary symposium held last September was a great success, and it was wonderful to be a part of all of the excitement and camaraderie. Thanks to all of our wonderful speakers, and to all of those that attended, for making this such a special and memorable event. We're already making plans for the fall 2008 symposium, and have a great keynote speaker lined up. For those of you that plan your life waaaaay far ahead, please put September 26-28 on your 2008 calendar. Of course, more details will be forthcoming.
During the weekend of the 30th anniversary symposium, six gracious Raleigh families opened their beautiful gardens to visitors as part of the Garden Conservancy Open Days Program. A portion of the proceeds from the Open Days was donated to the JCRA. A heartfelt thank you to Helen Yoest and Anne Porter for their efforts in coordinating and promoting this event, and to Sylvia Redwine, Linda and Tommy Bunn, Helen Yoest and David Philbrook, Dave and Cyndy Allison, Mary and Bill Joslin, and Lacy and Carol Reeves for sharing their beautiful gardens.
On the garden front here, the bed near the entrance to the Ruby C. McSwain Education Center, featuring a dynamic mix of woody and herbaceous plants, continues to develop. If you haven't been by the JCRA since September 2006, please go to the west side of the McSwain Center and enjoy our new Scree Garden. This planting features a wide diversity of xeric plants from the southwestern United States, Mexico, South Africa, and other similar habitats. Also in the West Arboretum, we are in the process of renovating the area adjacent to the Southwestern Garden, so keep your eyes open for new plantings in this area.
Take a walk up to the roof of the McSwain Center, and you'll note we've completely renovated the plantings. Our goal was to transition the past green roof to a more inspirational and dynamic rooftop garden. Tim Alderton, research technician, compiled the list of plants for the new planting, so look forward to the dramatic changes made "up on the roof" (with apologies to Gerry Coffin, Carole King, and the Drifters).
Heading east, you will note the old icon of the Arboretum, the "old brick house" has finally been brought down and hauled off. A sad and nostalgic event in some regards, but something that needed to be done to move forward. It will take some time to renovate and make this site suitable for planting, but the removal of the old house and tractor shed has dramatically improved the nature and spirit of this space. Closer to the Visitor Center, guests can now better enjoy the splendor and majesty of our magnificent crepe myrtles by walking on the new paths and sitting in the area adjacent to these award-winning trees. Throughout the Arboretum, we continue to assess the collections, and cull and install new plants.
On the personnel front, one employee has left the JCRA to pursue other opportunities. Horticultural assistant James Lail departed to take a position in the nursery industry. James was with us since his first internship experience as a student at NC State University, and we'll miss him and all of the great contributions he made to the garden. Best wishes, James.
After over two years of being vacant, I am pleased to announce that the JCRA assistant director position has been filled. By the time you receive this newsletter, Mark Weathington, currently the director of horticulture at the Norfolk Botanical Garden, will be on board. We are very excited about Mark's arrival, and the contributions he will make to the JCRA. Please read more about Mark's background and experiences on page 4. A sincere thank you is extended to the administration of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at NC State University for providing the funding for this critical position, and for their overall support.
We are pleased to welcome two new members to the JCRA Board of Advisors, Mike Worthington from Ballards Crossroads, North Carolina, and Bob Rossier of Charlotte, North Carolina. The JCRA thanks them for their personal commitment and dedication as they serve in this important role. A sincere thank you also to past Board members Linda Lawson and Rick Crowder whose terms expired at the end of 2006. Thank you for sharing your time, talents, and wisdom, and for your dedication to the JCRA.
I also want to take this opportunity to recognize and thank Pam Baggett for her many years of providing and installing the beautiful tropicals and perennials in our Entry Garden. Pam decided to relinquish her curatorial position after many years of designing traffic-stopping, crash-causing, mouth-dropping (I know, enough!) plant combinations at our Beryl Road parking lot entrance. Pam, all the best in your new pursuits.
The JCRA Grass-roots Master Plan committee has worked very hard during the past year and has completed the physical master plan for the JCRA. The final plan is displayed on the walls in the McSwain Center, and has generated lots of positive feedback. I am so pleased that the JCRA now has a cohesive and exciting plan for future development of the gardens. Our goal is to create a network of paths and special garden spaces in the Arboretum to create a more effective presentation of our diverse collections, and one that will enhance accessibility, educational interpretation of our collections, and the overall visitor experience. A thank you to committee co-chairs Harriett Bellerjeau and Suzanne Edney, and committee members Richard Boggs, Jeff Evans, Robert Mackintosh, Matt Roberts, and Beth Jimenez, for their incredible efforts and dedication.
It is always a pleasure to host so many special groups who visit the JCRA. We were honored to welcome the Kew Garden Guild group in October 2006. On a day that can only be described as magical, their visit occurred on a beautiful, warm autumn day when the gardens were graced with hundreds of monarch butterflies. Of course, it's an insect that those of us in the States take for granted, but one that many of the English visitors had never seen before, particularly in such abundance. As our guests walked the gardens and enjoyed the beauty of the butterflies and plants, I was again reminded of the important role of the Arboretum as a special space where guests can reconnect with nature. Later on that same autumn day as I was walking the Arboretum, I came upon a guest in reflective pose under the beautiful Japanese crepe myrtle in the Japanese Garden. As we exchanged glances, he said to me, "I come here to soak up the spirit of the place." In my mind, that says it all.
Take care, and please come visit your JC Raulston Arboretum.
Werner's Wanderings
By Denny Werner, Ph.D., Director
New Books of Interest
Texas plantsman Scott Ogden has written a new edition of his Garden Bulbs for the South. This book on Southern bulbs was recently released by Timber Press. I haven't yet had the opportunity to read this second edition, but the first edition has always been the first source I turn to for information on the culture of Southern bulbs, and the fascinating horticultural history of this great group of garden plants. I'm certain the second edition will be a great resource.
This past summer, I had the opportunity to meet John Grimshaw when he spent a few days at the JCRA studying our collections for a new book he is writing. John is the gardens manager at Colesbourne Park in England, and is also a committed "galanthophile" (galanthus nut!). John coauthored a 2002 book with Matt Bishop and Aaron Davis entitled Snowdrops: A Monograph of Cultivated Galanthus. Out of print for a few years, it has now been reprinted by Griffin Press.
Closer to home, JCRA Board of Advisor member Ann Armstrong of Charlotte, North Carolina, co-edited a new book, with Lindie Wilson, entitled Beautiful at All Seasons: Southern Gardening and Beyond with Elizabeth Lawrence. A great addition to the other texts on the writings of Elizabeth Lawrence, this new contribution presents 132 columns Elizabeth Lawrence wrote for the Charlotte Observer over 14 years.
It's hard to believe that I've been teaching my undergraduate herbaceous perennials class for ten years. What started out as an experimental class taught to about 20 students in 1997 has ballooned to 90 students this spring semester. I'm thinking these students must be desperate for entertainment! Finding an appropriate textbook for this class has always been difficult. This semester, I chose the new text entitled Encyclopedia of Perennials: The Definitive Illustrated Guide, edited by Graham Rice and Kurt Bluemel, and published by the American Horticultural Society. I am very impressed with the amount and quality of information in this book, and the vast number of excellent color photographs provided. Almost 500 pages long, this text is an excellent and up-to-date resource for anybody passionate about herbaceous perennials. In addition to the abundant information provided on 2,000 perennial species, and thousands of cultivars, the text is replete with interesting features on diseases, breeding history, propagation, design considerations for numerous species, etc.
The writings of Wendell Berry have always been thought-provoking and a source of inspiration to me. His earlier books, particularly The Gift of the Good Land and The Unsettling of America, speak with clarity and eloquence on the issues of community, respect for the land, and agricultural and environmental stewardship. I just recently obtained his most recent book, The Way of Ignorance, in which Wendell, now 73 years old, presents a series of short essays expressing his concerns about the state of our environment, farms, communities, economy, and society. It's a thoughtful and sobering book in many ways, but one which I believe you will enjoy reading. As an aside, he often refers to the writings of and his friendship with Wes Jackson, Ph.D., founder of the Land Institute in Kansas. Wes is an alumnus of NC State University, having received his Ph.D. in genetics in the 1960s. He is a brilliant and remarkable man, and you may wish to explore some of his books, which I am certain will be of interest to many of you. Wes' positions on current agricultural systems and the role of land grant universities in promoting "industrial agriculture" are often controversial and at odds with the thinking of many scientists who work in land grants, but I find his thoughts and ideas very interesting. He's a past recipient of a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.
Scent and Memory
Scientists have long proposed that our sense of smell is the sense most associated with memory. In a new plant-related twist on the relationship of scent and memory, a recent study in Science reported that exposure to the scent of a rose during sleep improved performance on a subsequent short-term memory test by almost 15%. I can see it now – rooms of undergraduate students brimming with stems of fragrant roses during finals week! To read more about this interesting research, go to the New York Times' Web site at http://www.nytimes.com/ and search for the article by its title: "Study Uncovers Memory Aid: A Scent During Sleep."
Flora of China
China has about twice the number of plant species as the continental United States, and one-eighth of the world's total. Access to English language descriptions of the vascular plant species of China is problematic. The Flora of China is a new ongoing effort that will describe and document the approximately 31,000 plant species in the botanically rich country of China. More than 600 scientists from throughout the world are cooperating on this project. To access this remarkable database, go to http://flora.huh.harvard.edu/china/. It's interesting to browse this site. In doing so, one gets an appreciation for the incredible diversity of plants in China, and for the number of Chinese genera that also are represented in North America.
Words from the Director | Staff Notes | Horticulture | Development | Volunteering
Formatted into HTML by Christopher
Todd Glenn
Programs and Education Coordinator
JC Raulston Arboretum
Department of Horticultural Science
North Carolina State University
Raleigh, NC 27695-7522
© The JC Raulston Arboretum, July 2007