Become a Duke Gardens member and join us for the Members-Only Fall Plant Sale on Friday, September 25! You’ll find an array of plants ideal for this region, including Duke Gardens plants, trees, shrubs, vines and bulbs, as well as expert gardening advice from Duke Gardens’ staff and volunteers. Attendees must become Duke Gardens members ahead of the sale. Spaces are limited, and advance registration for the sale is required.
This workshop with Brittaney Whitenhill of Our-Backyard.org invites participants to explore the multifaceted world of herbs. Discover their medicinal properties, aromatic benefits and creative uses beyond cooking. This workshop offers practical insights into growing, harvesting and integrating herbs into everyday wellness routines, fostering a deeper connection to nature's remedies. Participants will make an herbal tea blend to take home.
Join horticulture staff and experienced 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.
Plan your visit to include a stop in the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden for this special opportunity to meet the keepers of the bees, chickens and incredible edible plants in this garden area beloved by learners of all ages. Look for horticulture staff or volunteers in Duke Gardens shirts and feel free to ask what they are doing. Drop-in activity for all ages. Adult chaperone required for minors.
Experience tea as a social beverage and cultural tradition on this seasonal sensory journey with Violet Yang of Forest Well Tea. Participants will taste four different Chinese loose-leaf teas and be guided through experiencing the aromas, colors, textures and evolving flavors. Together, you’ll explore the plant, history, processing methods, regional origins, brewing techniques and cultural stories behind each tea. Designed to be approachable, sensory and educational, this session offers a quiet moment to slow down, connect and discover the depth of tea through taste and story.
In this community journaling in nature workshop, explore ways that gardens and stories can heal our minds and bodies. On a guided, meditative stroll amongst the grand and small sights, sounds and smells of Duke Gardens, you will be invited to notice, feel and remember. Dr. Zelda Lockhart, author, expressive arts therapist and Fullbright Specialist, will offer prompts to journal, draw and reconnect to each other and the natural ecology of the living and the dead. This workshop will offer activities that can be integrated as daily practice wherever you live and wherever you go, toward the goal of individual, ancestral and community healing.
Join tea master Chizuko Sueyoshi and members of the Japanese Tea Practitioners of Durham for a moment of respite in the Duke Gardens teahouse, where you will experience the centering calm of a Japanese tea gathering in the Urasenke tradition. Enjoy the aesthetics, poetry and serenity of this rich tradition over an enticing bowl of whisked green tea and a Japanese confection. Guests will be escorted on a 15-minute walk to the teahouse, where seating is on the floor unless a chair is requested upon registration by emailing GardensEducation@duke.edu. For ages 12 and up.
Join tea master Chizuko Sueyoshi and members of the Japanese Tea Practitioners of Durham for a moment of respite in the Duke Gardens teahouse, where you will experience the centering calm of a Japanese tea gathering in the Urasenke tradition. Enjoy the aesthetics, poetry and serenity of this rich tradition over an enticing bowl of whisked green tea and a Japanese confection. Guests will be escorted on a 15-minute walk to the teahouse, where seating is on the floor unless a chair is requested upon registration by emailing GardensEducation@duke.edu. For ages 12 and up.
Plan your visit to include a stop in the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden for this special opportunity to meet the keepers of the bees, chickens and incredible edible plants in this garden area beloved by learners of all ages. Look for horticulture staff or volunteers in Duke Gardens shirts and feel free to ask what they are doing. Drop-in activity for all ages. Adult chaperone required for minors.
University), Dr. Nathaniel Tarshish (Harvard University) and Dr. Andrew Williams (Princeton University), to explore the known and unknown of climate science with a brief presentation and plenty of time for questions and discussion. Climate Up Close is a group of climate scientists committed to making the essentials of climate science accessible to a broad audience. They share what they know to equip Americans to reach their own judgments about climate science by seeing the evidence for themselves and putting their questions directly to climate scientists. Climate Up Close is non-partisan and non-prescriptive. Free to attend, and registration is encouraged.
Enter the remarkable world of carnivorous plants with Alec Motten, professor emeritus, Duke University Department of Biology. Start in the classroom with an overview of the impressive array of structures that make carnivory possible—from digestive glands and sticky traps to slippery pitfalls, trap doors and snap-shut jaws. Look closely at these structures under a microscope, then venture outside to meet specimens living in the garden. Whether you're captivated by the iconic Venus flytrap's sudden snap, the drowning pools and pit-fall traps of pitcher plants or the elegant patience of a sundew's glistening tentacles, this program will forever change the way you think about what plants are capable of. Pair this class with a tour of the Duke Research Greenhouse’s teaching collection, which includes an impressive collection of carnivorous plants, on Saturday, November 21 (register separately).
Plan your visit to include a stop in the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden for this special opportunity to meet the keepers of the bees, chickens and incredible edible plants in this garden area beloved by learners of all ages. Look for horticulture staff or volunteers in Duke Gardens shirts and feel free to ask what they are doing. Drop-in activity for all ages. Adult chaperone required for minors.
Whether you've been nervously eyeing an overgrown branch or just want to keep your trees healthy and beautiful for years to come, this practical pruning workshop with Bobby Mottern, director of horticulture at Duke Gardens, gives you the knowledge and confidence to pick up your pruners. You’ll start indoors with a slide presentation on pruning principles, you'll learn why trees need pruning — and what happens when they don't get it; when is the best time to prune for tree health; what to remove — and just as importantly, what to leave alone; how to make clean, proper cuts that help trees heal; and which tools to use, how to maintain them and how to stay safe on the job. Then head outside into the garden, where you'll see techniques demonstrated and get the chance to try them yourself. You'll leave with practical skills and the confidence to approach pruning in your garden.