Visit to Plant Delights Nursery and Juniper Level Botanic Garden: Shade & bog gardens
Juniper Level Botanic Garden, a 5-acre display garden at Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh, N.C., is roughly divided in two parts: the sunny, newer gardens surrounding owner Tony Avent’s house, and the shady, older gardens surrounding the house in which the business is run. In this post I’ll show you the shade garden, which we wisely toured after the sunnier gardens; the sun was getting hot, and the shade was welcome.
A lot of trees were planted in the garden’s early days, and over time they created a shady wood. Paths are mulch and leaf litter and broad enough for two to stroll abreast.
Shade gardens are all about foliage, but this pretty combo also boasts flowers: oakleaf hydrangea and hosta. Hostas, along with agaves, are one of Plant Delights’ specialties. I admired them in passing, but since they do poorly in Austin I didn’t linger over them. (I do envy those of you who can grow them.)
Nice texture and shades of green
A wider view
The hosta garden
A sunny glade opens at the bottom of a slight slope to reveal a bog garden. At one end grow numerous carnivorous pitcher plants—wish I’d gotten a photo.
Flowers make an appearance here.
In the dappled light, a Florida-esque vignette of tea-colored water and palmettos
A strip of garden along the driveway entrance reveals more of the design strategy of using berms for drainage, better soil, and plant elevation. Paths naturally run between the long berms, with the effect for the visitor of strolling along a streambed.
Hydrangeas
A smile-inducing monster made of construction barrels seems to roar goodbye as you head back to your car. Plant Delights is well named, and I really enjoyed my visit to its display gardens. If you’re ever in the Raleigh area, it’s well worth a visit. Be sure to arrange one in advance through their website, as the gardens are not open to the public except through prior appointment or scheduled open houses.
For a look back at Plant Delights’ southwestern garden and agave collection, click here. For a look at P.D.’s hardy tropicals and pond gardens, click here.
All material © 2006-2011 by Pam Penick for Digging. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited.
What a beautiful place this is. And how lucky you are to be able to enjoy those shady paths.
What a delight indeed. I wish I could grow that maiden hair fern. I think it is so pretty. I have tried two varieties but neither took. Boooo Thanks for the tour Pam.
I really would like an Oakleaf Hydangea. I’m thinking one might work here. Just have to find it.
Thanks for a great tour of a great nursery and garden.
By the way…we got 1.22 inches of rain, last night!
Congrats on the rainfall total, Linda. Only an inch here, but I’ll take it. Last month I saw oakleaf hydrangeas for sale at Shoal Creek Nursery in Austin. —Pam
The gardens are as wonderful as their catalog. Thanks for taking us on such a great tour.
Look forward to seeing what you have for us next!
The Florida-like scene so nice – Avent must be an inspired person into inspiring. Such are crucial to having a great place, whether individual property or city.
The hosta in your 3rd picture is so gorgeous I can’t stop looking at. The leaves look almost polished!
What a fabulous tour it’s been, Pam. And I swear you and Tony are in cahoots! Notice of PD’s 20 percent off sale arrived via email this morning!
Ha! Not so, but I do wish the sale had been in effect while I was visiting. —Pam
Thank you for the wonderful tour. I used to have many hostas on wooded acres in the Chapel Hill NC area. Now in Florida I have those palmettos and miss the hostas — like your Texas climate, they will not grow here near the beach.
It’s funny you mention agaves and Plant Delights because I believe Plant Delights is affiliated with Yucca-Do which is right near here. I have also been to Plant Delights randomly while in North Carolina, and it just about made me broke! The open houses are EVIL because you can buy it right there rather than sitting on the idea like you can do with mail order.
Anyway, lovely photos! I never managed to take a tour of the grounds, but I’ll definitely have to now!
What a treat you had with your plant delights visit. So many wonderful places. Could do with some of that shade right now. better not grumble though. After all we did get rain.
Thank you for the great tour. It has been years since I have been, and your posts make we want to change that.
Pam,
Thank you for sharing your beautiful photographs of the gardens. Very Inspiring! The mix of Red Monarda with the Verbena bonariensis captured my eye. Do you think they planted the long stemed Verbena with iris to help support the flowers? Fennel grows well in North Texas and overwinters well. I have tried to imagine the perfume of the Monarda mixed with the fennel. I would love to try that combination.
Good luck with the Verbena!
Hi, Jeanette. I bet you’re talking about the verbena/monarda combo in Freda Cameron’s garden. Does Verbena bonariensis generally need support? I haven’t been successful with it yet so don’t know. Thanks for the good luck wishes. I WILL get it to grow for me. —Pam