Friends of the Arboretum Newsletter
Spring 2008 – Volume 12, Number 1
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Words from the Director
Director's Letter
Greetings from the JC Raulston Arboretum. I am composing this piece several weeks after the wonderful rainfall that graced many parts of North Carolina in late October and again in December. The Arboretum received over 5" of rain over a three-day period in October and a few more inches in December. Although we are still in the grips of a very serious drought, and much more rain is needed, this rainfall should carry our plants through dormancy, and hopefully 2008 will not present the weather challenges that we all faced in 2007. Here's hoping that the current drought conditions will force our complacent society to address the serious issues regarding water use and misuse, and promote conservation measures and practices that are employed at all times. Unfortunately, history shows that when normal rainfall resumes, conservation initiatives quickly become forgotten. I am concerned that in times of drought and water shortages, government is too quick to target water use in gardens as the first mechanism to reduce consumption, while not addressing the root causes of water shortages such as unrestrained growth, unregulated watering of turf, and lack of year-round conservation measures at the individual and commercial level. Yes, gardeners should and will take measures to be part of the solution. However, the pursuit of gardening, one of man's oldest and most fundamental pursuits, enhances the quality of life of all who engage in it. I'm afraid that government officials who place emphasis only on allocating water to sustain economic interests are not at all considering the role of gardening as a quality-of-life pursuit. Gardeners, rise up and be counted, and make your voice heard that water for gardening purposes is just as important as water for economic interests.
Last summer and fall's drought was tough on the collections at the JCRA. We have limited staff and irrigation infrastructure to adequately water all of the collections on a timely basis, so we resorted to the use of moveable sprinklers, spot watering, Gator Bags, and lots of dedicated assistance from volunteers. Thanks to our garden staff, summer interns, and our wonderful volunteers who so faithfully came in to assist our staff to water our collections. Unfortunately, the JCRA is totally dependent on the City of Raleigh for its water, and it is critical that other water source alternatives be pursued, such as wells and reuse water. We want to do our part to reduce our impact on the municipal water supply, and to have other water alternatives during times of drought.
I am pleased to share that the JC Raulston Arboretum's Endowment for Excellence fund has now passed the $100,000.00 level. This endowment fund generates yearly income that can be used for any worthy purpose at the JCRA. One of the most serious challenges the JCRA faces is the lack of recurring yearly revenue from endowment funding. Many botanical gardens and arboreta benefit from significant yearly endowment fund revenue to sustain operations, but we do not have that luxury at the JCRA. One of my goals as director is to build our endowment funding to ensure a more dependable cash flow for the JCRA in the future. As a consequence of your generous contributions, we have made significant progress in the past two years growing the endowment fund. Continuing the tradition initiated by previous director Bob Lyons, I routinely invest $10,000.00 to $15,000.00 of yearly Gala income into the general endowment fund. If you are considering a gift to the JCRA in the near future, please consider making a contribution to the JCRA Endowment for Excellence. By doing so, you can take satisfaction that your contribution will generate recurring yearly income to sustain the operations of the JCRA.
I hope you had an opportunity to participate in some of the recent JCRA educational programs. Our recent Friends of the Arboretum Lectures have been well attended, and remember, if you miss a lecture, view it online through our members only link. Mark Weathington, our new assistant director and curator of collections, has resumed our historically popular Plantsmen's Tours on the first or second Tuesday afternoon of the month. These, too, are recorded and made available online for member viewing.
In the garden, plants in the renovated rooftop gardens and the newly installed summer Geophyte Border grew well last year. Geophytes include true bulbs and other plants with specialized underground structures such as corms, rhizomes, and tubers. The Geophyte Border was installed to demonstrate the remarkable biological diversity and ornamental beauty in this plant group, and to demonstrate the ability of geophytes to perform well even in times of drought stress. Little did we know that such a wonderful opportunity to demonstrate the drought tolerance of geophytes would present itself last summer. The Geophyte Border contains many rain-lily cultivars and species, and as one might predict, the rain-lilies had little to get excited about. However, a 2" rain event in late September that followed months of virtually no significant rainfall resulted in a rain-lily celebration (those rain-lilies can really party!) and flowering explosion, with over 30 different taxa in full flower just three days after the rain event. Events like these reaffirm the joy of gardening! Speaking of celebrations, we are celebrating the slow but steady assault and removal of most of the English ivy, Hedera sp., from the JCRA. Eradication efforts last past spring resulted in significant progress, and efforts will continue next spring. Over the years, English ivy has become pervasive in some areas of the JCRA, visually impacting display of our collections, and competing with desirable plants. We have commenced renovation of the beds in and around the Southwestern Garden, and hope to have renovation and planting completed by next spring. The garden will still house many southwestern U.S. taxa, but we will broaden the scope of the new garden to include a diversity of drought tolerant herbaceous and woody taxa, including a collection of cold-hardy palms.
The JCRA has made significant efforts to partner and develop synergistic relationships with other organizations in order to better fulfill and broaden our educational and outreach mission. We had the pleasure of partnering with the Triangle Chapter of the North Carolina Association of Landscape Architects (NCASLA) by offering a series of quarterly lunch hour seminars and JCRA tours. In late November, the North Carolina Nursery and Landscape Association (NCNLA) had their 2007 NCNLA Excellence in the Landscape Awards program at the JCRA. Historically, this awards program has been held at the association's Green and Growin' winter trade show, but NCNLA partnered with the JCRA in 2007 in order to reach a broader audience. We are pleased to be a partner.
Although the JCRA has a healthy population of wild bumblebees (Bumbus sp.) working in our collections, I have noted the general absence of honeybee activity (Apis mellifera) since my arrival. As many of you are aware, wild honeybee populations are few, and managed hives have been negatively impacted by a number of pests and stresses, including mites, beetles, and pesticides. Thanks to the generosity and interest of Charles Heatherly, president of the North Carolina Beekeepers Association, three healthy hives of honeybees were placed at the JCRA in late October. Already, one can see significant numbers of honeybees working in the JCRA collections. If I were a honeybee, I couldn't think of any better place to be. Something's in flower every day of the year. Charles tells me that the bees in these hives are derived from the Minnesota Hygienic stock that was developed by Marla Spivak, Ph.D., at the University of Minnesota a few years ago. Her main objective was to develop a mite resistant bee that would enable beekeepers to keep their colonies alive with a minimum use of miticides. In addition, Minnesota Hygienic stock bees are known for their docile behavior.
In late October, the JCRA had the pleasure of partnering with Horticulture in presenting a symposium entitled "Smaller Garden/Big Ideas." About 180 registrants were entertained and educated by five incredible speakers who shared their ideas for creating wonderful gardens in limited space. We plan to partner with Horticulture in offering future symposia. Looking ahead later this year, please "save the date" for the JCRA fall 2008 symposium on September 26-28. The 2008 symposium, entitled "Surround Yourself with Shady Characters" (the title courtesy of the fertile imagination of Tony Avent) will focus on trees for urban landscapes, gardening in a woodland environment, and biogeography of trees. We again have an exciting line-up of speakers (listed later in the newsletter). Please plan on joining other shady characters and attend our fall symposium.
Bobby Ward, Ph.D., represented the JCRA at the Southeastern
Flower Show in Atlanta on January 29, where he accepted the Robert McGee
Balentine Horticulture Award that was awarded posthumously to J.
C. Raulston. The award is given annually to the individual who
has made the greatest contribution to the field of horticulture in the
southeastern United States. This was the first time the award was granted
posthumously. Previous recipients include Dick Bir, Alan
Armitage, Don Shadow, Ozzie Johnson,
and Ron Determan.
As always, thank you for your support, and please visit your JC Raulston Arboretum.
Denny Werner, Director
Words from the Director | 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, March 2008