Join us for a conversational stroll in the garden that deepens your relationship with plants. Swap plant stories, dig into horticultural history, question what you know and practice multisensory observation on a playful amble through the Gardens that delights and disrupts your understanding of what a garden can be. Expect to learn from each other, share what you know and leave with more questions than you started with.
Whether or not it feels like it in February, spring is just around the corner. Join Horticulturist Martin Jahn for a workshop on how to prepare yourself and your garden for the upcoming season. Together you will consider the different tasks to get done before the big bloom begins. Participants will learn how and when to fertilize, crop planning and rotation, irrigation systems from ancient cultures to modern classics and how to garden smoothly through the busy growing season that lies ahead.
This interactive program will combine the scientific and artistic aspects of plant specimen preservation. Participants will learn the process of creating herbarium specimens, from plant collection and pressing to proper mounting techniques, including exploration of historical practices. Through hands-on activities, attendees will gain an appreciation for both the scientific and aesthetic value of preserved plant specimens in museum collections and everyone will leave with a prepared plant specimen from the Duke Gardens plant collection.
Build your bird observation skills on a slow stroll through Duke Gardens as you gather a list of different birds that use the Gardens, just in time to participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count taking place Feb. 14-17. If you have ever found yourself wondering about the birds that are flying or singing around you, bring those questions with you to learn together as a group. Bring your own binoculars if you have them (not required) and a sense of curiosity.
Stay connected to the most recent garden updates and seasonal highlights by learning directly from Duke Gardens staff on a casual stroll. While construction for the transformative Garden Gateway Project is underway, enjoy exclusive access on this monthly walk. Use your members free code or become a member today! The February Walk will focus on the fragrant and colorful blooms and other winter delights in the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum.
Bearing Witness Gaza is an ongoing creative grief-processing practice combining art and elements of nature. Please come share virtual space with us at a challenging time for our joint humanity and hear from a local artist about her practice. To process and cope with the immense emotions that arose as a response to the escalating civilian suffering in Gaza, she turned to nature and the technique of chlorophyll printing. She will share how applying the images of Gaza to fresh leaves has allowed her to process and find her own humanity and resilience amid her grief and sorrow. Look for a hands-on chlorophyll printing workshop on May 17 led by the same artist.
Pruning can help minimize disease, direct growth and lessen future problems. Horticulture director Bobby Mottern will discuss goals, methods and timing while demonstrating proper pruning techniques on several shrubs. You will see demonstrations of structural pruning techniques, renewal pruning and hedging methods, along with tool and safety reviews.