A Garden Festival for All Ages Returns to the JC Raulston Arboretum April 11
Residents from across the Triangle can celebrate the return of spring in a big way at the third annual Raulston Blooms!, Raleigh’s only festival celebrating gardens and gardening. The event will be held on Saturday, April 11, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Last year, more than a thousand people attended the event held in the springtime gardens of the JC Raulston Arboretum (JCRA) at NC State University in Raleigh. This year’s Raulston Blooms! promises an even larger turnout. After a long, cold winter, the festival is a great way to experience JCRA’s beautiful gardens, learn about gardening and celebrate spring’s return.
The arboretum will swing open its garden gates for families and children by offering a day that’s packed with garden and nature programs, outdoor activities, shopping for plants, garden décor from North Carolina artists and vendors, and more. Gourmet treats will be available for purchase from some of the city’s popular food trucks — plus NC State’s famous Howling Cow ice cream will be served.
At the festival, adults can get great ideas for their home landscape and learn from expert demonstrations on a variety of home gardening topics: container gardening, pruning, fairy gardening, DIY terrarium building, growing edibles in a small garden and more. For children there will be fun activities, story time and plenty of hands-on learning.
The JCRA’s annual Spring Plant Sale and the 15th Annual Birdhouse Competition and Show will also be part of the festivities.
Hard-to-find plants selected by JCRA staff members for the Triangle climate will be for sale. The Birdhouse Competition and Show has categories from youth to adult, is inspiring, fanciful, and fun. It’s a perennial hit with everyone from serious bird watchers and nature photographers to families, school classes and scouts.
The star of Raulston Blooms! will be the JC Raulston Arboretum.
As one of the top teaching gardens in the Southeast, the JCRA is well known among horticulture professionals, plant collectors and the green industry. Through events like Raulston Blooms!, the JCRA is extending its reach into the community, helping home gardeners of all ages and making the world a more beautiful place.
Raulston Blooms! A Garden Festival for all Ages
Date: Saturday April 11, 2015 Time: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: $10 per family, $5 per individual. Free to Arboretum Members and Birdhouse competitors.
Location: 4415 Beryl Road • Raleigh, NC. Parking is free.
For more information: jcra.ncsu.edu/raulston-blooms/ or 919-513-7010 Raulston Blooms!
About the JC Raulston Arboretum:
- Founded in 1976, the Arboretum is named in honor of the late Dr. J. C. Raulston, who is credited with introducing more plants to the U.S. nursery industry than anyone else in modern history.
- JCRA is part of the Horticultural Science Department at NC State University. It is a working research and teaching garden with an international reputation among plant professionals.
- The garden focuses on finding new and improved plants for southern landscapes by collecting, evaluating and displaying selections from around the world.
- JCRA is staffed by nationally recognized professional staff who are authorities on gardening in the Southeast and speak with authority on a variety of topics across the spectrum of horticulture.
- The JC Raulston Arboretum is free and open to the public 365 days of the year, and there is always something in bloom.
