JC Raulston Annual Plant Distribution

The Annual Plant Distribution is like getting an annual dividend on your stock. If you are a member, once a year you get the greenhouse excess. It’s wonderful. The “grab” is broken up into four rounds. During the first three rounds, each member can grab three plants. A list of plants are pre-published and numbered with at least four of each available. There are also tons of plants not numbered, and some are real stunners. The fourth round is a free-for-all with the only rule being, “no plants left behind”. Members come with wagons, plan lists and their own game plan.

This was our second year as members, and so it was our second time going to the annual plant distribution. We didn’t plan out a strategy other than printing out the list and circling a few of the plants that sounded interesting and could possibly fit into our crowded landscape. I told Joe that I only had one plant I’d like to make sure to grab (a fatsia), but otherwise if we saw something cool that didn’t have a number, we should grab it while it was available. We knocked off 9 out of 12 items circled, and picked up 10 others, some of which were published ahead of time and some which were surprises. I specifically told Joe, “Don’t get the Creeping Jenny” because we have so much around the pond. He got the Creeping Jenny, which now our neighbor has. He also grabbed something I’m excited about, known as the “Hurricane Katrina Rose” or Rosa ‘Peggy Martin’, a thornless climbing rose. I grabbed a beautiful Yucca from the bonus plants in the first round that I knew wouldn’t last long.

Plant List

If you are local to Raleigh and love plants, whether or not you know the scientific names, an annual membership pays for itself at this one event. The next event I’ve already purchased tickets for is Moonlight in the Garden. It has been a couple years since we attended this, and I can’t wait to go this November and listen to the music, eat from the food trucks and explore the garden under seasonal lights. Members have the benefit of being allowed to purchase “anytime” tickets so that they aren’t locked in to a specific day or time.