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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 to the Piedmont Prairie Classroom and the Bird Viewing Shelter.

Enjoy these Blomquist Garden highlights, 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 201. Learn More >

A wooden garden gatehouse with pink flowering shrubs around it.

Blomquist Gatehouse

Gardens Map 202

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

Blomquist Pavilion & Millstone Pond

Gardens Map 203

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

Blomquist South Entrance

Gardens Map 204. Learn more >

A close-up image of a group of pitcher plants

Carnivorous & Coastal Plain Plant Collection

Gardens Map 205. Learn more >

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

Fern Ravine & Edwin F. Steffek Jr. Bridge

Gardens Map 206

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 207

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

Piedmont Prairie & Classroom

Gardens Map 208.  Learn More >

A close-up image of the torreya evergreen plant

Steve Church Endangered Species Garden

Gardens Map 209

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

36th Parallel Marker

Near Gardens Map 205

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

Trillium Walk

Gardens Map 210

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 211. Learn more >

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 201. Learn More >

A wooden garden gatehouse with pink flowering shrubs around it.

Blomquist Gatehouse

Gardens Map 202

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

Blomquist Pavilion & Millstone Pond

Gardens Map 203

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

Blomquist South Entrance

Gardens Map 204

A close-up image of a group of pitcher plants

Sunny Pond & Carnivorous Plant Collection

Gardens Map 205

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 206

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 207

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

Piedmont Prairie & Classroom

Gardens Map 208.  Learn More >

A close-up image of the torreya evergreen plant

Steve Church Endangered Species Garden

Gardens Map 209

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

36th Parallel Marker

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

Trillium Walk

Gardens Map 210

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 211

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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Columbine flower
Columbine
Aquilegia canadensis
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Red coral honeysuckle flowers
Coral Honeysuckle
Lonicera sempervirens
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Cutleaf toothwort flowers
Cut-leafed Toothwort
Cardamine concatenata
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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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False rue-anemone flowers
False Rue-Anemone
Enemion biternatum
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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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Pink Joe-pye weed flowers
Joe-Pye Weed
Eutrochium spp.
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Red sessile trillium
Little sweet betsy
Trillium cuneatum
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Tuft of longleaf pine needles
Longleaf Pine
Pinus palustris
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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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Parrot pitcher plant
Parrot Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia psittacina
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Yellow flowers of partridge pea
Partridge pea
Chamaecrista fasciculata
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Close-up of red pawpaw flower.
Pawpaw
Asimina trilobata
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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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Purple pitcher plant
Purple Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia purpurea
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Close-up of delicate river oat grasses with a soft-focus background.
River Oats
Chasmanthium latifolium
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Green oak leaves
Scarlet Oak
Quercus coccinea
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Pink seashore mallow flowers
Seashore Mallow
Kosteletzkya virginica
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Shagbark hickory trunk
Shagbark Hickory
Carya ovata
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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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Close-up of spotted geranium flower.
Spotted Geranium
Geranium maculatum
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Canopy of a swamp chestnut oak viewed from below
Swamp Chestnut Oak
Quercus michauxii
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Venus Flytrap
Dionaea muscipula
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White hawthorn blossoms and green leaves.
Washington Hawthorn
Crataegus phaenopyrum
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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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Yellow Pitcher Plant
Sarracenia flava
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Questions about the Blomquist Garden of Native Plants?

Please contact us at gardens@duke.edu.