Welcome


Iris ensata 'Variegata'
Welcome to the website of the Culberson Asiatic Arboretum. Although technically this template has been designed by Google to serve bloggers, our intention is to take advantage of the user friendly options and provide information about the Arboretum and, through images and slideshows, portray some of the people, places and activities we're involved with. Feedback is easy; anyone with observations about the Arboretum, or public gardening in general, is encouraged to submit their thoughts and we'll be happy to dialog. This is a site under construction-- a playground of sorts, so redundancies, discrepancies, errors and omissions are likely. We don't mind being corrected, especially where plant i.d. is concerned, so please dialog with us.

Introduction



The William Louis Culberson Asiatic Arboretum is a featured collection of Duke University's Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Located in Durham, North Carolina, the Garden is situated in the Piedmont physiographic region of the southeastern United States at about 550 feet (168m) elevation. The climate is warm temperate with four distinct seasons. Summers are hot and humid with high temperatures frequently rising into the mid and upper 90's F (34-36C),....lows at night... winter minimums typically are around 10F (-12C), or USDA Hardiness Zone 7B. Precipitation occurs throughout the year but is heaviest in the summer months, in the form of afternoon storms, and least in the autumn. The Arboretum was established in 1984 and today is home to 2000 ornamental and botanically interesting Asian species and selections.



Mission

The Arboretum's vision and collections statement can be found under Labels on the sidebar.

Staff

Curator: Paul Jones
Horticulturists: Michelle Stay, Michael Patrick
Garden Assistant: Sally Boesch
Volunteers: General Horticulture-- Margaret McCotter, Betsy Brawley, Lois Ballen, Debbie Schwartz, Tina Godwin, Mary Dawson, Brian and Aneila Avery-Jones; Moss Gardener-- Barbara Kremen; Nursery-- Joe Rees
Student Asistant, Kim Le


(photos TBA in Staff slideshow)



Thursday, June 18, 2009

Platycrater arguta


Strolling around the Gardens nursery this morning I happened upon this exciting new shrub-- new to me anyway, Platycrater arguta. Platycrater is in the Saxifrage family, and as you can see from the image it's flowers resemble those of Deutzia and Philadelphus, two other shrubby saxifrags. Can't claim to know a lot about this shrub, seeing as how I just discovered it myself, but from various websites I glean that: it's native to Japan and several provinces in eastern China; it's certainly hardy in central North Carolina (JCRaulston Arboretum website has images of a beautiful specimen in their Raleigh garden; it's easy to grow; and it's awfully cute. Looks to mature around 3-5 feet in height. If you want one, Platycrater seems to be around and available, heck it may even be common. I picked up my little gem from Scott McMahan, a friend and owner of McMahan's Nursery in Clermont, GA. I noticed that Asiatica Nursery also lists it, and Arrowhead Alpines. The only common name I've come across is Tea-of-Heaven-- apparently the leaves can be used to make a tea-like brew. Hydrangea serrata, a relative of Platycrater, is also sometimes referred to as "tea of heaven". Plant diversity, isn't it great!