Annual Jenny Elder Fitch Memorial Lecture: What We Sow in Cultivating Our Places – How a Garden Culture of Care Grows Places and Their People

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

In her presentation, Jennifer Jewell will explore the philosophy of Cultivating Place, her national, award winning-public radio program and international podcast, based on the belief that gardens/gardeners are powerful agents and spaces for potentially positive change in our world, helping to address challenges as wide ranging as climate change, habitat loss, cultural polarization, and individual and communal health and being.

She will walk audiences through how this power of gardens and gardeners is exemplified in not only her weekly program, but very specifically in her the subjects of her three books: the horticultural women in leadership roles in the award-wining The Earth in Her Hands (2020); the beautiful and innovative place-based gardens that celebrate western landscapes in?Under Western Skies; Visionary Gardens from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast (2021) - with amazing photography by Caitlin Atkinson; and, finally in What We Sow, On the Personal, Ecological, and Cultural Significance of Seeds (2023).

All together, these stories, garden and gardener inspirations tending to a culture of care are blue-prints guiding us in ways we can all grow our world better: more beautiful and brave.

Exhibit Reception: No Thought of Time | Susan Fecho

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Meet the artist and enjoy light refreshments at the reception celebrating No Thought of Time, an exhibit of artwork by Susan Fecho. In No Thought of Time, Susan has worked from collected specimens – fragments of nature and found objects – to produce landscapes that simultaneously celebrate nature and reference civilization. Progressing from realism to...

Free

NatureFest – for families!

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Join us for a family-friendly celebration of our native plants and animals! From carnivorous plants to live animal encounters, native bees to potting a seed, birdwatching to nature crafts and games, explore the wonders of nature through a variety of engaging outdoor activity stations. Locopops available for purchase. This event is designed for families with children up to age 10. Children must be accompanied by adult.

Free

Hybrid Lunchbox Talk: An Oasis of Health and Healing

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

On January 18, 2018, Urban Community AgriNomics (UCAN) embarked on a journey to increase food security through the reclaiming of an old neglected dilapidated farmstead in northern Durham County. This former plantation now boasts a 47 bed raised community garden, youth garden, bees, chickens, ducks, a small orchard, walking trail and more. With a focus on conservation and a holistic approach to land stewardship, UCAN has created a place where humans, animals, and nature can thrive and heal: the Catawba Trail Farm.

Hybrid Lunchbox Talk – Connectivity Conservation in the Triangle: Collaboration, Planning, and Community Engagement

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Wildlife populations and natural communities need diverse, healthy, and connected habitats to survive, thrive, and persist. Keeping the natural landscape connected is essential for conserving biodiversity and ensuring resilience of our natural and human communities to environmental change. Join Ramona McGee, David Miller, and Julie Tuttle to learn how a shared vision, local and regional collaboration, and community engagement are advancing connectivity conservation in the NC Triangle. This talk will share recent work by the Triangle Connectivity Collaborative and the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) to incorporate landscape connectivity into conservation, land use, and transportation planning. We will highlight how the MPO's groundbreaking plan to enhance wildlife road crossings in our area will support landscape habitat connectivity and improved road safety – and we'll share how you can help improve the plan through public input.

Event Series Twilight Thursday

Twilight Thursday

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Every Thursday from August 15 to September 19, we’re staying open until 7 p.m. so you can enjoy our display gardens in the evening. Our exhibit hall and Garden Shop will be open, and you’re welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outdoors – we have lots of benches and picnic tables, plus open lawn...

Swift Night Out at the Davie Poplar

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

This historic tree is located on the campus grounds between the Old Well and McCorkle Place. This is the only known tree roost in NC. Swifts can be seen in mass circling over the grounds before entering the tree. Parking is available at parking decks around campus and Morehead Planetarium.

Sculpture in the Garden Preview Party

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Join us for a soirée celebrating the opening of the 36th annual Sculpture in the Garden! At the Preview Party on Saturday, September 14, you'll meet the artists and enjoy beverages and hors d'oeuvres. You'll also have the first opportunity to purchase sculptures! This year's jurist will announce the winners of Best in Show and...

$40
Event Series Twilight Thursday

Twilight Thursday

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Every Thursday from August 15 to September 19, we’re staying open until 7 p.m. so you can enjoy our display gardens in the evening. Our exhibit hall and Garden Shop will be open, and you’re welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outdoors – we have lots of benches and picnic tables, plus open lawn...

Hybrid Lunchbox Talk: Native Ferns: Diversity, Identification, and Use in the Garden

North Carolina Botanical Garden 100 Old Mason Farm Road, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

North Carolina is home to many species of ferns that are found in a diversity of habitats across the state. Accurate identification of ferns requires understanding their distinctive morphological features, which are quite different from the more familiar structures found in flowering plants. This lecture will provide an overview of fern biology, morphology and diversity, provide techniques and tools for identifying ferns, including FloraQuest, developed by the Southeastern Flora Team at the NC Botanical Garden. We’ll also explore some of the best species for home gardens.