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JC Raulston Arboretum “Gala in the Garden” tickets now on sale

Media contact: Anne Porter, director of development for the JC Raulston Arboretum, 919-513-3826

Delectable food, musical entertainment and a silent auction featuring unusual plants and an eclectic array of gift items will be showcased at the annual Gala in the Garden at North Carolina State University’s JC Raulston Arboretum. The public event will take place on April 28 from 3:30 to 7 p.m.

Tickets are $90, of which $30 is considered a tax-deductible donation. Sponsorships also are available. The JC Raulston Arboretum is located at 4415 Beryl Road in Raleigh, two blocks from the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. To purchase tickets or inquire about sponsorships, call 919-513-0264 or visit www.ncsu.edu/jcraulstonarboretum/gala.

Set in the arboretum’s beautiful springtime gardens, this year’s gala, “An Asian Reflection,” will transport guests to the magic of the Orient. Upon entering the grounds of the arboretum, guests will wind their way through the new pathways of the Asian Valley, the Japanese Garden and the Lath House with collections of more than 700 plants, including many newcomers from Asia. From there guests will continue to the gala’s main event area for music, gourmet food and signature drinks, along with the highlight of the event—a silent auction where guests can bid on items from gardening gifts to one-of-a-kind plants.

The annual Gala in the Garden has been a Raleigh garden party experience since 1991 and is the arboretum’s major fund-raising event of the year with proceeds supporting its daily operations, plant collections and educational programs.

“Our Gala in the Garden has become a harbinger of summer gardening,” said Dr. Ted Bilderback, director of the JC Raulston Arboretum. “Gardeners from throughout the community gather to enjoy the arboretum, visit with friends and, of course, bid on gardening gifts and unique plants donated from some of the finest nurseries in the country.”

The JC Raulston Arboretum is a nationally acclaimed garden with the most diverse collection of cold hardy temperate zone plants in the southeastern United States. Admission to the arboretum is free, and it is open to the public 365 days of the year. As a part of the NC State Department of Horticultural Science, the arboretum is a working research and teaching garden that focuses on the evaluation, selection and display of plant material gathered from around the world. Plants especially adapted to Piedmont North Carolina conditions are identified in an effort to find better plants for southern landscapes. The arboretum is named in honor of its late director Dr. J. C. Raulston, who founded the arboretum in 1976.

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