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Blomquist Garden of Native Plants

The rolling woodland terrain of the 6.5-acre H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants is filled with more than 900 plant taxa, most of them species from the Southeastern U.S. 

Dedicated in 1968, the garden honors Professor Hugo L. Blomquist, the first chair of Duke University’s Department of Botany and an authority on Southeastern flora. Throughout the garden there are several stunning structures to enjoy, from the Edwin F. Steffek Jr. Bridge overlooking the Fern Ravine Boardwalk to the Piedmont Prairie Classroom and the Bird Viewing Shelter.

Enjoy these Blomquist Garden highlights, which are featured on the Gardens map below.

A couple sits together in a wooden pavilion; an example of the formal portraiture covered by Duke Gardens' photography policies.

Bird Viewing Shelter

Gardens Map B1. Learn More >

A wooden garden gatehouse with pink flowering shrubs around it.

Blomquist Gatehouse

Gardens Map B2

A wooden pavilion with a stone staircase leading to a reflective pond, and surrounded by lush green foliage

Blomquist Pavilion & Millstone Pond

Gardens Map B3

A Japanese garden pavilion with a wooden wall and circular window with purple and green shrubs around it.

Blomquist South Entrance

Gardens Map B4

A ravine filled with ferns and other lush green plants, with a wooden boardwalk running down the center and an iron bridge in the background

Edwin F. Steffek Jr. Bridge & Fern Ravine Boardwalk

Gardens Map B5

An arched red bridge with a reflection in a large pond, with trees all around and a Japanese lantern sculpture to the left of the bridge.

McNabb Family Bridge & Stream

Gardens Map B6

A close-up image of pink peony flowers in full bloom

Piedmont Prairie & Classroom

Gardens Map B7.  Learn More >

A close-up image of the torreya evergreen plant

Steve Church Endangered Species Garden

Gardens Map B8

A close-up image of a group of pitcher plants

Sunny Pond & Carnivorous Plant Collection

Gardens Map B9

A gravel garden path that turns at a low stone wall, with tall wispy hot pink wildflowers in the foreground

36th Parallel Marker

Gardens Map B10

A close-up image of a trillium plant with three variegated leaves and a red center

Trillium Walk

Gardens Map B11

A stone garden patio with two Adirondack chairs, a wooden trellis with climbing clematis flowers and a small stone garden fountain in the distance.

Wildlife Garden

Gardens Map B12

Duke Gardens map with the Blomquist Garden highlighted in green

The rolling woodland terrain of the 6.5-acre H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants is filled with more than 900 plant taxa, most of them species from the Southeastern U.S. 

Dedicated in 1968, the garden honors Professor Hugo L. Blomquist, the first chair of Duke University’s Department of Botany and an authority on Southeastern flora. Throughout the garden there are several stunning structures to enjoy, from the Edwin F. Steffek Jr. Bridge overlooking the Fern Ravine Boardwalk to the Piedmont Prairie Classroom and the Bird Viewing Shelter.

Enjoy these Blomquist Garden highlights, which are featured on the Gardens map below.

A wooden garden building that resembles a birdhouse

Bird Viewing Shelter

Gardens Map B1. Learn More >

A wooden garden gatehouse with pink flowering shrubs around it.

Blomquist Gatehouse

Gardens Map B2

A wooden pavilion with a stone staircase leading to a reflective pond, and surrounded by lush green foliage

Blomquist Pavilion & Millstone Pond

Gardens Map B3

A Japanese garden pavilion with a wooden wall and circular window with purple and green shrubs around it.

Blomquist South Entrance

Gardens Map B4

A ravine filled with ferns and other lush green plants, with a wooden boardwalk running down the center and an iron bridge in the background

Edwin F. Steffek Jr. Bridge & Fern Ravine Boardwalk

Gardens Map B5

An arched red bridge with a reflection in a large pond, with trees all around and a Japanese lantern sculpture to the left of the bridge.

McNabb Family Bridge & Stream

Gardens Map B6

A close-up image of pink peony flowers in full bloom

Piedmont Prairie & Classroom

Gardens Map B7.  Learn More >

A close-up image of the torreya evergreen plant

Steve Church Endangered Species Garden

Gardens Map B8

A close-up image of a group of pitcher plants

Sunny Pond & Carnivorous Plant Collection

Gardens Map B9

A gravel garden path that turns at a low stone wall, with tall wispy hot pink wildflowers in the foreground

36th Parallel Marker

Gardens Map B10

A close-up image of a trillium plant with three variegated leaves and a red center

Trillium Walk

Gardens Map B11

A stone garden patio with two Adirondack chairs, a wooden trellis with climbing clematis flowers and a small stone garden fountain in the distance.

Wildlife Garden

Gardens Map B12

Duke Gardens map with the Blomquist Garden highlighted in green

Click map to enlarge

See the Blomquist Garden and learn about the importance of native plants in UNC-TV’s “Exploring North Carolina” episode, “Native Intelligence.”

Watch Now ›

Plant Highlights in the Blomquist

 

Close-up of four white bloodroot flowers with yellow centers, amid brown pine straw and fallen brown leaves.
Bloodroot
Sanguinaria canadensis
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Yellow flowers of Brown-eyed Susan
Brown-eyed Susan
Rudbeckia triloba
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Close-up of multi-toned pink rhododendron flowers with green leaves and a green soft-focus background.
Catawba Rhododendron
Rhododendron catawbiense
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Low-growing clumps of Cherokee sedge in a woodland setting.
Cherokee Sedge
Carex cherokeensis
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Five medium green fern plants with brown leaves and pine straw in the background.
Christmas Fern
Polystichum acrostichoides
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Red coral honeysuckle flowers
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
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Devil's walking stick
Devil’s walking stick
Aralia spinosa
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Close-up of a delicate bright yellow flower with green speckled leaves, surrounded by brown leaves and pine straw.
Dimpled Trout-lily
Erythronium umbilicatum
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A fan-shaped array of long deep green leaves with frozen dewdrops on them and a soft-focus background.
Dwarf Palmetto
Sabal minor
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Eastern redbud flowers.
Eastern Redbud
Cercis candensis
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Flowering dogwood blooms.
Flowering Dogwood
Cornus florida
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Close-up of delicate yellow flowers on a shrub, with green leaves and more shrubs in the background.
Goldenrod
Solidago
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Close-up of orange flowers with delicate, stringy petals, on a slim branch with a soft focus background that includes more of the same flowers.
Ozark Witch Hazel
Hamamelis vernalis
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Yellow flowers of partridge pea
Partridge pea
Chamaecrista fasciculata
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A bridge with arches and ferns in the side metalwork, and a shrub in the foreground with orange flowers
Plumleaf azalea
Rhododendron prunifolium
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Close-up of delicate river oat grasses with a soft-focus background.
River Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
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Pink seashore mallow flowers
Seashore Mallow
Kosteletzkya virginica
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close-up of two white camellia flowers with red centers, surrounded by leaves.
Silky Camellia
Stewartia malacodendron
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A close-up of white hydrangea flowers in partial bloom, with a green soft-focus background.
Silverleaf Hydrangea
Hydrangea radiata
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Close-up of a branch of a shrub with dark green leaves and deep blue-purple berries.
Southern Wax Myrtle
Morella cerifera
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Pink, white and green pitcher plants amid grasses in a garden
White-topped pitcher plant
Sarracenia leucophylla
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Woodland pinkroot flowers
Woodland Pinkroot
Spigelia marilandica
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Questions about the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants?

Please contact us at gardens@duke.edu.