For many years I browsed Pinterest for ideas of which places I might like to go when we made our way to NC finally. I remember every year I would update my "NC Roadtrip 20__" to reflect the upcoming year.
One of the public gardens I was highly interested in was JC Raulston Arboretum. I had a whole day to dedicate to Raleigh, so I gladly chose to take a nice garden stroll there.
After stepping out of the car and making my way down a path, the first plants I noticed were Iris domestica (blackberry lily) and Eucomis 'Reuben' (a pineapple lily hybrid). Woah!
The Perrenial Border was abundant with colour and texture.
I don't remember where exactly I wandered for a bit, but I ended up with these views:
And eventually I made it to the Trial Garden area!
And then the Lath House:
This is where I started to really swoon: the Japanese Garden! Which then lead to the Asian Valley, where I sat a spell in the shade. A cool snail and cute pipevine swallowtail kept me company.
It felt magical to be sitting in a beautiful space dedicated to showcasing plants from the same places my ancestors came from. After a crazy year of anti-Asian terror that made me feel unsafe even in my favourite places, I felt a sense of peace and protection here.
I managed to find my way to the Xeric Garden and Scree Garden before I took another rest at the water feature.
I popped into the Visitor Center to purchase a JCRA shirt, a pin, a couple books, and snag a few of the free magazines and info pamphlets, then said my goodbye to this wonderful place at the beautiful gate.
After Steve picked me up, we grabbed a bite to eat at Jasmin and Olivz, then took the kids to the NC Museum of Natural Sciences. We really enjoyed the exhibits. I thought the blue bottle tree was cool!
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I have a few more posts for the NC trip. Our latest road trip was to Virginia. Hopefully it won't take me a year or two to get around to blogging about it!
As always, you can check out my microblogging on Instagram: @efflorescency!
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