Adult Programs

Join horticulture staff and volunteers on a walk around the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants to learn about connections between people, plants and place. Each month will feature a different seasonal topic related to gardening with native plants.

Bitters have been used for centuries as aperitifs or digestifs (think Cynar or Campari) and classic bitters such as Angostura are often dashed into our cocktails. Because our bodies co-evolved with wild bitter foods, the bitter flavor is also very important to our health. In this interactive workshop, learn from clinical herbalist Kelly Owensby of West of the Moon about the history of bitters and the fascinating health impact of bitter herbs in our body. Participants will experiment with 29 different herbal flavor profiles, learn the impact of different herbs and take home a custom crafted herbal bitters tincture to spritz into bubbly water as a summer survival strategy.

Late summer is peak time for beautiful produce in the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden. Join horticulture staff on a walk to delight your senses and boost your gardening skills. Learn how this garden area is maintained by prioritizing sustainability and using different methods for growing edible plants while also supporting native wildlife.

Piedmont prairies are grassland ecosystems that once covered a substantial part of the rolling landscape of the Piedmont region that stretches from New Jersey to central Alabama, covering an area of approximately 80,000 square miles. This ecosystem, maintained through grazing and the controlled use of fire by the many Indigenous groups, began to vanish with the arrival of Europeans. Join Blomquist Garden of Native Plants curator Annabel Renwick to learn how widespread conservation efforts are now recognizing Indigenous wisdom in maintaining this ecosystem and how Annabel has rebuilt this prairie landscape at Duke Gardens with native ecotype wildflowers and grasses.