Last weekend I had the pleasure of visiting the
Juniper Level Botanical Garden and adjacent
Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh.
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| Agave ovatifolia makes a dramatic statement. |
The gardens, established by the horticulturalist and plant explorer
Tony Avent, serve as a research and trial field as well as a display area for new perennials.
The gardens and nursery are known for their hosta breeding program, having introduced many new cultivars. They also have an extraordinary collection of agave, crinum, hardy elephant ear, trillium, and much more. Plant Delights Nursery is a mail-order nursery which is open to the public four times a year and helps fund the research and the botanical garden.
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| Hosta Seedling Evaluation field |
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| Colocasia esculenta 'Black Marble' |
The Botanical Garden has several different areas filled with plants including a hardy tropical garden, a rock garden, a sunken aquatic garden, and an alpine garden. According to their brochure, in total it contains over 17,000 different plant specimens!
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| Hibiscus 'Summer Storm' overlooking the Aquatic Garden. |
I'm not even sure if I saw all of the parts of the garden - I think I got lost wandering around the many winding pathways...
I did enjoy the unexpected pieces of art that popped up occasionally.
After wandering the gardens, the real fun began - plant shopping!
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| One of the greenhouses with plants for sale at Plant Delights Nursery |
According to their brochure, Plant Delights Nursery offers around 1600 different plants for sale at any one time in several large greenhouses. It might be good to browse the catalog ahead of time! Here you can find many plants that you can't find anywhere else - but beware, they don't come cheap.
I managed to escape with only five plants by avoiding some of the greenhouses. There might be a little drool left on a certain $28 hosta though... Good thing this nursery is only open to the public four times a year!
