Spring Plant Sale Preview: Herb Garden in a Box

We’re excited to continue our “in a box” plant sale feature that we launched at our fall sale, this time with an Herb Garden in a Box.

You can mix and match your favorite organic herbs to create a ready-to-go garden at $18 for 6 plants at our Spring Plant Sale on Saturday, April 1, 8 a.m. to noon. We’ll even have a few veggies eligible for the mix. How can you lose?

In addition, Gardens members get 10% off all plants — making the in-a-box feature an even bigger bargain! Members also get first dibs via our Member Preview Sale on Friday from 4 to 6 p.m. Urge your friends and family to join as well, so you can shop together! Learn more about the sale and membership here.

Need advice? Our expert horticulturists will be available to answer any questions you may have.


Here’s a sampling of what we’ll be offering:

bronze fennel
lemon verbena
mint 'Julep'
peppermint
mint 'Mojito'
golden oregano
rosemary 'Foxtail'
rosemary 'Gorizia'
tricolor sage
tarragon
English thyme
aloe vera
catnip
chives

Hope to see you at the sale!


SPRING PLANT SALE: Saturday, April 1, 8 a.m. to noon. Free admission & parking. Please bring wagons/carts and boxes if you have them.

MEMBER PREVIEW SALE: Friday, March 31, 4-6 p.m. Sign up or renew your membership online in advance or on site. Your support helps Duke Gardens preserve the Duke and Durham communities and visitors from around the world with educational programs and nationally acclaimed horticultural design. Thank you!

Photos by Cecilia Xie.

Vegetable Gardening Tips

Summer campers helped tend a
vegetable garden at Duke Gardens.
Let Duke Gardens help you grow
your own bountiful garden.

By Kate Blakely

Gardening tips always take on the perspective of the gardener. What the gardener cares about intimately shapes the information he or she is sharing. Vegetable gardening is no different. Amidst all the wonderful info about growing veggies, it’s the intent that makes each tip unique and special.

Vegetable gardener Andy Currin has lots of tips to share. Currin will teach a Spring Vegetable Gardening class that begins Thursday, March 22, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. and runs for three weeks. It’s part of Duke Gardens’ Vegetable Gardening through the Year series. Currin shared some tips for how to grow vegetables in a healthy, sustainable way.

Watch when you water. “Of all points of sustainability, the main component is efficient water use,” Currin said. A lot of folks will water their gardens, their lawns and their flowers during the heat of the day, when the sun is working hardest. “You lose more water to evaporation than will actually get to the plants to be useful to them,” said Currin. The best planet-friendly practice is to water in the early morning or after the sun starts going down.

If you want to eat organic, start organically. If you want to grow organic vegetables, you must be vigilant about everything involved, from soil to seeds. “Some of the seeds, if they’re not labeled as organic, could contain seed treatments that would be systemic,” Currin noted. This means that chemical compounds in the seeds will be found throughout the plant. “And that would be included in the vegetables that you’ll be eating. You really have to start with the seed, any soil amendments, anything like that. Everything has to be organic approved.”

Watch (and help) the right bugs. Pollinators and predatory insects are the most beneficial. Currin has a “good list” and “bad list” of insects. At the top of the good list? Hoverflies. They are both a pollinator and a predatory insect, Currin said. Native bees also help out. The orchard mason bee, the bumblebee and the leaf cutter bee work to pollinate plants. Praying mantis, ladybugs and green lacewings also help. “They eat the bad guys,” said Currin. The bad guys? Aphids, thrips and squash bugs.

As part of your organic practices, make sure to complete any pest treatments around dusk, when the beneficial insects are not going to be out and about. That makes the least impact on the beneficial insect population. “Even organic treatments don’t really discriminate; they just take out everything,” Currin said.

Learn more: Want to know more? Consider taking Currin’s vegetable gardening classes at Duke Gardens. The class costs $75; $60 for Gardens members. If you can’t take the spring class (or in addition to it), consider the fall series, which runs from Sept. 20 to Oct. 4, also from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Please call 919-668-1707 to register. Please see our website for more information about classes and other public events at Duke Gardens.

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.

Kate Blakely is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens.

Spring Plant Sale Preview

Plants from Duke Gardens are always
popular at the Spring Plant Sale

By Kate Blakely

Springtime is a lovely mix of old and new. Old favorite bulbs are sprouting. And gardeners begin scouting out new possibilities for that extra special spot in the garden. Whether you’ve made a tradition of it or it’s your first time visiting us, the Duke Gardens Spring Plant Sale is always a wonderful opportunity to celebrate spring.

Every year Duke Gardens gathers a great variety of plants to offer for sale. This year, the sale will be Saturday, March 31, 8 a.m. to noon, with a preview sale for Gardens members Friday, March 30, from 5 to 7 p.m. (you can join on site).

Many of the featured plants have been propagated by volunteers on the Gardens’ propagation team. Gardens staff members, volunteers and members of the Durham Master Gardeners will be on hand and love to answer questions and provide advice for all your gardening needs.

Here’s a preview of some of the new and old favorites you’ll be able to find at the sale this year.

Purple-leaved smoke bush (Cotinus coggygria 'Royal Purple'): This is an unusual plant of Chinese origin, and it sells out almost every year. The multi-stem shrub can grow up to 12 feet high. Its new growth and foliage provides a splash of purple or burgundy color in the garden.

“They produce flowers in a large panicle that’s open and fluffy,” says Jason Holmes, curator of the Doris Duke Center Gardens. “That’s what gives them the appearance of smoke in the distance. It’s a real unique oddity that would fit well into a woodland landscape.”

Hostas: Hostas always generate interest in the garden, and you’ll see some new varieties at the sale, including ‘Autumn Frost’ and ‘Heat Wave’.

“ ‘Autumn Frost’ is a uniquely blue-foliaged hosta with an awesome variegation through the mid-vein,” says Holmes.

‘Heat Wave’ is certainly the best way to describe our southern summers. During the spring, this hosta has chartreuse centers with blue margins; then in summer the center brightens to gold and the edges turn blue-green.

“If deer are a problem and you love hostas,” Holmes says, “I would try them in a container on your deck or close to the house.”

Roses: If you’re looking for a hardy rose, don’t miss the Rosa chinensis ‘Mutabilis.’ This no-spray rose is a very heat-tolerant cultivar, said Holmes. It also stands up very well against insects and doesn’t appear to get diseases. It will bloom from the beginning of May through November, and you won’t even have to deadhead it. The Rosa chinensis will respond well to a little pruning during the winter months. All in all, it’s an easy-care favorite.

The sale will also feature a wonderful variety of herbs and vegetables, including squash, zucchini, fennel, dill and peppers, as well as heirloom tomatoes. It won’t include craft vendors, but it will feature additional plant vendors, with diverse offerings and areas of expertise. (See more info on our plant sale page.)

At the sale, plants will be marked with signs noting whether they’re drought- or deer-resistant. The Duke Gardens-propagated plants will also be marked; you may want to head there first, as people love bringing a little piece of Duke Gardens home to their own gardens.

A final thing to keep in mind is that because the sale is earlier this year than previous years, you should refrain from heading home and planting right away. Keep your new plants indoors until the last frost date, April 15.

For more information about the plant sale, Gardens membership or other Duke Gardens classes and public events, please go to gardens.duke.edu. To join Friends of Duke Gardens in order to attend the preview sale, please call 668-1711.

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.

Kate Blakely is a graduate student at Duke Divinity School and a work-study assistant at Duke Gardens. This column first appeared in the March 17 Durham Herald-Sun.