• Garden,  Local

    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…

  • Garden

    Pi Alpha Xi Plant Sale Spring 2018

    My oldest and I went to the NC State Pi Alpha Xi plant sale at the NC Museum of Art Saturday morning. The plant list was shared earlier in the week, and I looked up all the native plants and boxed the ones I hoped to pick up. Without going to a specialty nursery, it can be difficult to find native plants, so this sale is a goldmine in that there are plenty plants clearly marked as native (and many are pollinator friendly), and there are expert students ready to answer questions about specific plants. One student saw me carrying yellowroot and was downright giddy with excitement. It seems that…