Traditional botanical illustration was relied on to record and share the identification of plants through accurate representation. Botany for the Artist is a practical course which hopes to encourage the inquisitive artist to understand, interpret and improve their botanical knowledge by reinforcing terminology, observing and notating plant structure and practicing identification with the taxonomic keys. The four lessons—Habitat, Flower Parts, Leaf Comparison, and Fruit Structure—will culminate with the students drawing a graphite work representing a specimen identified at the NCBG.

In this class, students are introduced to watercolor and learn basics techniques such as flat and graded washes. Students learn to paint various simple shapes (spheres and cylinders) and a small botanical subject.

Conservation Gardening 101: Landscaping with Native Plants is a certificate series designed to provide home gardeners and emerging landscape professionals with foundational concepts of landscape design, native species selection, implementation and maintenance of compellingly beautiful and ecologically productive native plant gardens based on conservation principles. This program will cover six conservation gardening topics through lectures, handouts, and instructor-led treks through the Garden. Participants who attend all six sessions and complete a final evaluation will receive a Certificate of Participation from the Garden. Conservation gardening topics included in this series are Landscape Design Principles, Native Plant Selection - Perennials, Native Plant Selection – Shrubs and Trees, Weeding, Mulching, and Seasonal Maintenance, Landscape Installation, and Pruning and Long-Term Maintenance of Woody Plants.

This class is designed to increase your skills and confidence in the use of the various art media taught at the Garden. The instructor demonstrates techniques to combine watercolor, ink and colored pencils to create vibrant botanical paintings. Students receive one-on-one instruction to evolve their own unique drawing and painting.

This course is intended for an experienced audience and introduces the principles of biodiversity and conservation. Students learn about rare plants, conservation genetics, ecological restoration, conservation landscaping, and preserve design.

This course is intended for a broad audience. Through classroom and field demonstrations, students learn the tools and methods needed to identify invasive species and effectively remove them. We'll discuss the most prominent invasive plants in North Carolina and how to identify them by habit and growth form. Then, we'll cover integrated methods for controlling invasive plants on multiple scales.

Have you ever wanted to loosely capture what you see in a sketch while out on a hike or sitting in your own backyard?
In this class, the North Carolina Botanical Garden will become our classroom as we experience the healing benefits of sketching while out in nature. You can lower your stress levels and promote mental calmness as we sketch the landscape before us. This class is about loosely capturing the essence of the natural world, so don’t worry if you don’t have a lot of drawing experience as we won’t be focusing on all the little details. This class is for all skill levels.