Holiday Decorations with Help from Duke Gardens

With guidance in Duke Gardens' workshop,
you can make your own holiday swag, wreath or centerpiece.

Photo and article by Lauren Sims

Winter evergreens and berries present countless opportunities for indoor decoration during the holidays. But how do you get from a collection of stems and leaves to a cohesive arrangement? Jan Little, director of education and public programs at Sarah P. Duke Gardens, gives us some tips.

First, arrange plant materials into distinct piles, Little says. This will give you a better idea of the sizes and shapes you're working with. Next, find a container that suits the location and purpose of the finished arrangement. Set a piece of pre-soaked florist’s foam snugly in that container. As you begin, place your tallest stems in the foam first as a way of visually delineating the height and breadth of the arrangement.

Continue, varying heights and textures of evergreens, until the foam base is disguised. Little recommends turning the container regularly as you go in order to get an equal distribution of plants all the way around. Also, use as much of your natural materials as possible—even those small or unimpressive stems can help to fill out the container.

Once the foam is fully disguised, spend a minute locating those areas that need some extra pizzazz. Fill them in with flowers, berries and interesting leaves.

If you’d like some guidance, consider taking Duke Gardens’ “Holiday Decorations” class on Dec. 4 from 2-4 p.m. The class will include demonstrations of six to eight different types of arrangements with varying styles and ingredients, followed by help in making your own. The fee is $60, or $40 for members, and it includes plant materials & other supplies (but students should bring pruners and any embellishments they'd like to add besides the bow provided). Please e-mail or call 668-5309 for information or to register.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St.

Lauren Sims is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens. This article first appeared in the Herald-Sun's Homes & Garden section on Nov. 27.

Class: Landscape Plants for N.C. Gardens

Dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor)

Photo by Jason Holmes

By Lauren Sims

As the temperature falls and the leaves follow suit, area gardens are taking on a new feel.

“You see different things in the wintertime,” says Duke Gardens director of horticulture Bobby Mottern. “When deciduous trees and shrubs have shed their leaves you start to see shapes and form a lot more than you do during the other parts of the year when your eye is focused on other things. Evergreen material really does provide the show for the next four months around here.”

Evergreen trees and shrubs may not always flower heavily, but they create impact with form to the garden during the coldest months of the year, he says. Even when the brightly colored flowers of spring and summer have faded away, these hardy plants retain their structure, silhouette, and visual interest.

Many evergreen plants can add exciting outlines to the landscape during winter, for example, Mottern says. Hardy palms like the dwarf palmetto (Sabal minor) and needle palm (Rapidophylum hystrix) grow well in North Carolina and lend a hint of the tropics even in the middle of January. And the bright red berries of the deciduous winterberry (Ilex verticillata) not only provide rich color but also attract wildlife in the late winter.

“You really appreciate them when everything else has lost its leaves and that’s really all you have going on in the wintertime,” Mottern says of these cold-tolerant plants.

Mottern advises local gardeners to keep their planting options open in the coming months. Many people tend to think that they can’t plant during the winter, he says. In fact, with proper plant care and soil conditions, planting can continue this time of year as long as the ground is not frozen.

If you would like to learn more about winter gardens and planting, consider taking the Duke Gardens class “Landscape Plants for North Carolina Gardens.” Mottern teaches the three-class series, which runs Nov. 30 and Dec. 7 and 14 from 1 to 3:30 p.m. Mottern will teach students not only about the plants themselves but also where they can find them and how to utilize them in their own gardens.

For information about this class and other events in November & December, see our previous blog post or call 668-5309. Our Jan.-June schedule will also appear soon in the "news" section of our website, gardens.duke.edu.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St.

Lauren Sims is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens. This column first appeared in the Nov. 20 Homes & Garden section of The Herald-Sun.

Silhouette Photo Class

Do the dwindling flowers of the coming winter leave you lacking photo inspiration? Try our Silhouette photo class this Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m.-4 p.m. To register, call 919-668-5309. The cost is $180; $150 for Duke Gardens members. The class is open to photographers of all levels.

Here are some teaser photos by instructor Kevin Adams.










Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St. in Durham.

Duke Gardens: A Student's Eye View

Blooming Now at Sarah P. Duke Gardens

Photos and text by Lauren Sims

Duke Gardens Curators Jason Holmes and Mike Owens and horticulturist Tamara Kilbane all agree that the camellias are not to be missed right now at Duke Gardens. The “Maiden’s Blush” camellias that line the Perennial Allee are in full bloom. Their pale pink blossoms reach nearly 15 feet in height, and their spicy fragrance fills the air. It is a sight to behold!




In the next few days, you can also catch a glimpse of the ginkgo biloba in all its glory. Its leaves are a brilliant shade of yellow, which looks spectacular against a deep Carolina sky. But hurry on over to take your pictures—in just a matter of days the show will be over and it will drop all its leaves into a thick golden blanket on the grass.






Along with the ginkgo, you will want to wander around and take in the colors of the rest of the fall foliage, Jason says.

“We have a lot of the wonderful southern sugar maples, which are in full bright yellow-to-golden color right now," he says. "The sourwoods are a brilliant red, a lot of the red maples are really turning their fall colors, and the pin oaks are brilliant burgundy red right now.”
















The Gardens also boasts a wide variety of grasses and evergreens, as well as a lovely collection of pansies, which lend some deeper shades to the color palette. And as the leaves fade and fall, the new berries on the winter hollies will stand out even more.





Come visit us and enjoy the colors, and the brisk fall weather for yourself.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St. in Durham.

Lauren Sims is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens.

Duke Gardens craft sale preview

Our volunteer Garden Guild works tirelessly all year long making gift items for sale in the Terrace Shop and at our annual holiday craft sale. This year's sale is Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Doris Duke Center. Admission is free and parking is free until 1 p.m. Groups in buses are welcome. All proceeds from the sale go directly to Duke Gardens.

We hope you'll come and take a look at the sweets, ornaments, stationery, knitted items and other treasures they've made. Here's a preview for you.

gourd birdhouses

gourd ornaments

origami gift boxes

origami gift boxes made from recycled Gardens publications

woven reed ornaments

"goldfish" soap

sweet treats

decorative vases

cubby clocks

photo or note holders

floral fabric brooches

And a few more surprises, like this kitty gourd
who'll have his colorful painted coat by Saturday

Hope to see you here!

Duke Gardens class: Planning Your Garden

Article & sample design by Jan Little

Your personal garden should be a dream come true. It should charm you and improve your everyday life.

But how do you get there?

For some people a garden just happens. They buy plants and put them in the ground. Some seasons, they may move the plants from space to space until they and the plants are happy. And that process itself may the dream come true, a place to putter with their hands in the dirt, getting to know each plant through the seasons.

For others, the blank areas outside their doorways are just too big and overwhelming. They can’t seem to get started. That is when a landscape plan can make a difference.

Designing a landscape follows a process. The steps are not completely linear. Sometimes a step will cause you to loop back and reconsider an earlier decision. But with some effort, you will be able to complete a design.

The first rule of designing a landscape is to release yourself from needing to know what the end result will look like. Almost all creative processes require you to delay seeking a solution. That delay gives you the time to develop a sophisticated understanding of the challenges, and to set aside your preconceived notions. It also makes the end result more satisfying.

You do know what is in your landscape and your view right now, and that is the place to begin. Make a list or a scaled drawing that shows everything about your house and landscape. Include window locations and heights, doorways, walkways, driveways, patios, decks, water sources, trees and fences. It is often convenient to use the land survey that you received when your house was purchased as your base plan. List and evaluate existing conditions. Which do you like and which would you prefer to screen?

Next, you will put together a wish list. Just what do you want in your garden? A vegetable garden, a perennial border, a swing set, an ornamental pool, a shade garden, cutting flowers, fruit trees, a play space, patio or deck? Do you prefer low maintenance? What are your plant preferences? Bright, colorful flowers? Soothing tones of green? Fragrance? Consider your time budget and your financial budget as two line items on your list.

Now take your wish list and begin considering sizes. Should you plan for a 20-by-20-foot vegetable garden, or only 5-by-10? The more detailed your wish lists, the closer you will be able to approximate the sizes of different garden elements. For patios or decks, list the furniture you would like and that will help you estimate size.

Once you have the basic sizes, you can begin to shape how the garden will look. Using tracing paper over your base plan, begin to place your requirements on the paper. Further develop your plan by using some geometric shapes. Maybe the built elements are rectangular and the plant beds curvilinear. What happens when you turn the rectangles on a 45 degree angle? Perhaps that is more interesting.

Working on paper and using tracing paper helps you consider varied solutions. Making mistakes on paper is much easier that making them in the landscape itself.

Have fun with it. And if you could use more guidance, consider signing up for our “Design Your Home Landscape” four-week course beginning Nov. 18 from 6 to 9 p.m.

For information about this and other classes, please see our full schedule online at gardens.duke.edu or call 668-5309. You can see our full Nov.+Dec. schedule in this post.

Sarah P. Duke Gardens creates and nurtures an environment in the heart of Duke University for learning, inspiration and enjoyment through excellence in horticulture. The Gardens is at 420 Anderson St.

Jan Little is a landscape architect and the Gardens’ director of education and public programs. She will teach “Design Your Home Landscape.”

This column first appeared in the Herald-Sun's Homes & Garden section on Nov. 6.

A Student's Walk Through Duke Gardens

Text & photos by Lauren Sims (D'12)

This afternoon I took a stroll through Duke Gardens. I walk through these gardens almost every morning on my way to class, but I only rarely get the chance to stop and enjoy their beauty. The weather might be cooling down, but even in November there is still plenty to see around here.

Here’s a little pictorial tour, just in case you think the season for gawking is over:

As I headed down the Perennial Allee, I couldn’t help but notice the walls of camellias that line the walkway on both sides.


In the midst of the pale camellia blooms, the shocking shades of the azalea and salvia really pop!




Several species in the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants are sporting these bright berries right now. I suspect the birds will know exactly where to come to get their fill this winter.


Many of the colorful flowers from earlier in the year have disappeared. In their wake the greenery becomes much more prominent. The structural lines and silhouettes that you can see in November give the Gardens a whole different atmosphere.


The Terrace Gardens are currently being replanted, getting ready for their winter incarnation. The geometry of the new plantings is what catches the eye right now, but it just a few short weeks it will be in full bloom.




That's not to say that there's nothing blooming in the Terraces. These dianthus stopped me in my tracks.

Be sure to look up while you’re wandering the Gardens, too! Despite our recent wind and rain, there are still plenty of vibrant reds and golds to be seen in the trees.