Happy New Year! Like many of you, we’re busily taking down all of our holiday decorations and boxing them up for this year- Wait what?! Wildly enough, Candlelight decorations start being created in less than 5 months from now!
Our weather has been all over the place, especially with a VERY windy and cold end of December, leaving us with lots of work on clearing our gardens from spent perennials and fallen leaves. Our gardens are budding with excitement at this warmer weather which makes us hold our breath a little since we're still probably due a frost or two- the flowering apricots seem particularly determined in the Carraway Garden. The gardens this time of year are a great reminder of the excitement to come and the beauty of the present gardens- more textures of green with pops of color from berries and hellebores! The underground perennials and bulbs are as busy working as the buds above surface- a lovely reminder that progress isn't always so obvious at first.
If you're looking for a way to get out of the weather for a little bit while still having gardens on the mind- we have the answer for you! We kick off our 2023 Garden Lecture Series, Saturday January 14th, with a showing of FIVE SEASONS: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf. The documentary, FIVE SEASONS: The Gardens of Piet Oudolf, immerses viewers in Oudolf’s work and takes us inside his creative process, from his beautifully abstract sketches, to theories on beauty, to the ecological implications of his ideas. This movie showing begins at 10:30 a.m. in Cullman Performance Hall at the North Carolina History Center. Suggested Donation of $3.
We've also got a new short run floral exhibit, History in Bloom, going on in the NC History Center January 21 & 22, inspired from pieces in our collection. For more info- visit here.
If you’re looking for a New Year’s Resolution, consider joining us as a garden volunteer! We are looking for Master Gardeners, Horticulturists, Garden Enthusiasts, General Yard Workers, and Carpenters. Some background in gardening is great but none is necessary, just a willingness to learn. We are looking for volunteers for raking, mulching, weeding, fence and trellis repair and MORE! If that sounds like your cup of tea, please contact me at hadley.cheris@ncdcr.gov.
We hope to see you soon! Happy Gardening,
Hadley Cheris, Tryon Palace Gardens and Greenhouse Manager
Annuals
- Artemisia Sea Salt
- Batchelor’s Buttons (Centaurea cyanus) blue, black, purple
- Dianthus- Super Parfait Raspberry, Zing Rose; Jolt Pink Magic; Jolt Cherry
- Dusty Miller ‘Silver Dust’
- Flowering Kale “Redbor” “Crane Red” “Black Magic"
- Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor) purple and yellow
- Mustard “Japanese Giant Red” (Brassica juncea)
- Snapdragons (Antirrhinum majus) Snaptastic Mix- various; Opus™ III Early Bronze- orange
- Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus): Telstar Mix; Sweet White, Sweet Black Cherry
- Violas: Frizzle Sizzle Mini Mix; Sorbet XP Spring Select
Perennials
- Algerian Iris (Iris ungularia) blue
- Bachelor’s Button (Centaurea montana)
- Bath’s Pink (Dianthus gratianopolitanus) pink
- Bearded Iris "Immortality" white, reblooming
- Bears foot Hellebore (Helleborus foetidus) yellowish
- Bleeding Heart (Dicentra eximia) pink/white
- Bog Sage (Salvia uliginosa) light blue
- Candytuft (Iberis sempervirens) white
- Carnation (Dianthus sp.) various
- Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia numularia) yellow foliage
- Creeping Veronica (Veronica umbrosa) blue
- Daffodils, Jonquils (Narcissus sp.) yellow, white
- Hellebore (Helleborus X orientalis) pink, white
- Ornamental Grasses (Various)
- Paperwhite Narcissus (Narcissus papyraceus) white
- Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemes) orange berries
- Sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) red, white, pink
- Yarrow (Achillea millifolieum) white, pastels
Vines
- Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) native, red and yellow
Trees and Shrubs
- Beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) purple berries on bare stems
- Camellia (Camellia japonica) cultivars:
‘Pink Perfection’ pink, double
‘Professor Sargent’ deep rose, double
‘Debutante’ clear, light pink
‘Lady Clare’ carmine rose, semi-double
‘Alba plena’ white with pink cast
‘Lovely Surprise’ pink
‘Dr. Tinsley’ pink, semi-double
- Camellia (Camellia sasanqua sp.) white & pink
- Camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Setsugekka’) white
- Camellia (Camellia sasanqua ‘Yuletide’) red
- Chinese Mahonia (Mahonia fortunei) yellow
- Fatsia (Fatsia japonica) berries
- First Breath of Spring or Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) white
- Flowering Apricot (Prunus mume) pink
- Fragrant Osmanthus (Osmanthus fragrans) yellow **Smells AMAZING**
- Fragrant Wintersweet (Chimonanthus nitens) cream
- Fragrant Winter Sweet (Chimonanthus praecox) yellow
- Himalayan Sweetbox (Sarcococca hookerana) white, black drupe
- Leatherleaf Viburnum (Viburnum rhytidophyllum) white
- Laurustinus (Viburnum tinus) pink to white
- Tea plant (Camellia sinenses) white/yellow
- Winter Jasmine (Jasminum nudiflorium) yellow
- Winter Honeysuckle (Lonicera fragrantissima) white
- Witch-hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) yellow to reddish brown
Bird Food (Seeds and Berries)
- Hollies (Ilex sp.): Yaupon (I. vomitoria) red, yellow; Winterberry (I. verticillata) red; Dahoon (I. cassine) red; Dwarf Burford Holly (I. cornuta) red berries
- Nandina (Nandina domestica) red, yellow
- Japanese Fatsia (Fatsia japonica) green to black
- Poet’s Laurel (Danae racemosa) orange-red
Kitchen Garden:
- Beets, carrots, lettuce, mustards, kale, parsley, Swiss chard, spinach, arugula, fava beans, leeks, artichoke, cardoon, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, collards, mints, oregano, thyme, salad burnet, yarrow
- Cover crops for overwintering.