Last week, we took a trip down to Lake City, SC, population 7,000. Hidden in this small town is a 600 acre plot of repurposed farm land known as Moore Farms. What was once fields of corn, sorghum, and wheat, now holds a bog garden, beautiful flowers, and a handful of fish-filled ponds. We received a tour of the garden our first night there, spent the second day planting moss in the bog (shown below), and before departing got to meet Pearl Fryar, a topiary legend. Take a look!
These photos depict what was probably the most difficult part of the yurt construction, aside for my inability to put screws in straight (Justin can attest to this).
The yurt roof was a light insulation layer, followed by a 400lb weather-proof canvas. While Justin and Patrick stood on the scaffolding inside the yurt, holding the canvas; Lizzi and I stood on ladders pulling he heavy tarp around the entire circumference of the yurt.
We worked up quite a sweat in the cool of the morning, but were nicely rewarded with tremendous satisfaction and bacon, after the fact.
If you hang around NC State’s campus frequently, especially in the Horticulture department, you may have spotted some flyers for “Black Coffee Walks” at the JCRA. If not, don’t worry, I am about to share our magical Thursday mornings with you all.
Although our days as interns at the arboretum are filled with sweat, dirt, and sometimes cleaning out frog infested ponds; our Thursday mornings are quite peaceful. At 6:30am, upon our arrival at work, Lizzi, myself, and the other interns, fill our coffee cups and head out into the still dew-ridden, hazy garden. We take our time to walk through the gardens, not checking for weeds or broken limbs, but simply taking in this amazing space which we have been given this summer. On occasion, it results in a delicious morning snack of figs, and it always ends with awesome photos.
This weekly experience, for me, has been a learning opportunity to try my hardest to learn as many plant names as Tim knows (folks, it’s impossible) and to spend a bit of time in my own thoughts. It has made me realize that the best time of day at the arboretum is the crack of dawn, and even if you are not a morning person, I promise it is worth it.
Here are some photos from these walks that I hope might inspire you all to enjoy the arboretum at a time when the birds are just getting up, you cannot hear cars roaring by on 440, and you have the time to take everything in.
Monday the Trachycarpus near the Rose Garden got a much needed pruning. Come find your own tree of paradise in the gardens today…
Sending a big shout-out to JC Raulston Arboretum’s 2016 Summer Interns!
Back row: Kamen Dedmon (left) and Patrick Hamilton (right); Front row: Zoe Carmon-Rogers (left), Maddie Ciszewski ( middle), Tori Parker (right)
JC Raulston Arboretum 