Garden Talk Index

Duke Gardens periodically spotlights specific plants that are found in our 55-acre living collection, and related topics. This week, marketing and communications assistant Katherine Hale explains the science behind pollen season. Read more here.

Photo by Karen Webbink.

More Garden Talk highlights:

2024:
Jan. 10: Chinese windmill palm
Jan. 22: overwintering for native wildlife
Feb. 2: cast iron plant
Feb. 12: Brassica plants
Feb. 14: Chinese cornel dogwood
Feb. 19: Ozark witch hazel
March 1: "What Kind of Tree Is That?" with Leaf & Limb
March 14: Preventing soil compaction
March 22: Chinese fringe flower
April 1: Pollen Season
April 26: California poppy

2023:
Jan. 9: dawn redwood
Jan. 20: Persian ironwood
Feb. 8: flowering plum
Feb. 9: tree care with Leaf & Limb
Feb. 20: coast redwood
Feb. 27: Cherokee sedge
Feb. 28: Loebner magnolia
March 7: dwarf Fuji cherry
March 16: The Women of Duke Gardens
April 10: koi
April 18: pollinator syndromes
April 20: Japanese roof iris
May 3: Try This, Not That: Aquatic Plants & Water Features
May 11: The Blomquist Garden, Rare Plants and Dogs
May 19: Southern magnolia
May 22: Bringing the Prairie to the People
June 1: Try This, Not That: Crevice & Rock Gardening
June 7: China fir
June 26: okra
July 3: daylilies
Aug. 2: powdery alligator-flag
Aug. 8: chocolate mint
Aug. 14: dwarf tigertail spruce
Aug. 24: woodland pinkroot
Sept. 11: river oats
Sept. 22: determining a tree's age
Nov. 3: blackstem bamboo in bloom
Nov. 8: low-resource groundcovers
Nov. 9: Blomquist carnivorous plant bog
Nov. 20: fall foliage highlights
Dec. 11: winter tree identification
Dec. 20: 'Little Missy' boxwood

2022:
Jan. 24: hybrid hellebores
Feb. 2: corkscrew hazel
Feb. 4: Asiatic Arboretum pond improvement project
Feb. 24: winter fragrance
March 2: saucer magnolia
March 4: spring bulbs
March 16: 'Daybreak' Yoshino cherry trees
March 28: spring ephemerals
April 5: eastern redbud
April 15: flowering dogwood
May 6: common duckweed
June 7: coral honeysuckle
June 14: beebalm
July 6: weeping bald cypress
July 13: pattypan squash
July 19: mountain mint
July 29: 'Natchez' crapemyrtle
Aug. 2: sensitive plant
Aug. 17: sweet basil
Aug. 25: leopard plant
Aug. 29: eggplants
Sept. 20: Japanese anemone
Oct. 5: tea camellia
Oct. 14: Tatarian aster
Oct. 20: The Wonderful World of Chrysanthemums
Oct. 22: Japanese garden design
Nov. 2: The Virtues of a Messy Garden
Nov. 9: Survive vs. Thrive
Dec. 12: A Diversity of Christmas Trees
Dec. 14: rosemary

2021:
Feb. 1: kale
Feb. 10: 'Autumn Frost' butternut squash
March 26: Deer in Duke Gardens
July 28: Summer in the Vegetable Garden
August 25: hot peppers
Sept 15: obedient plant
Sept. 27: anise-scented sage
Nov. 10: fall color change
Nov. 24: southern wax myrtle
Dec. 8: Gardening for Wildlife with Wild Fruits
Dec. 15: Duke Gardens plum yew
Dec. 23: Christmas fern

2020:
Jan. 31: 'Tama-no-Ura' camellia
Feb. 3: shagbark hickory
Feb. 26: winter daphne
Mar. 3: lilac daphne
Mar. 11: weeping peach
March 21: End of the Winter Garden
April 7: epimedium 'Amber Queen'
April 14: 'Dojean' tree peony
April 22: native hedgerows
June 22: Build a Pollinator House
June 24: Aechmaea 'Yellow Berries'
June 29: Water, Water, Everywhere
July 15: blackberry lily
July 20: Japanese black pine
July 24: lavender 'Phenomenal'
Aug. 6: purple coneflower
Sept. 9: 'Moon and Stars' watermelon
Sept. 21: seashore mallow
Oct. 30: ginkgo tree
Nov. 13: native spices
Nov. 25: Letting Leaves Lie
Dec. 14: Making Compost

2019:
Jan. 3: Algerian Iris
Jan. 7: eastern white pine
Jan. 14: wintersweet
Jan. 21: variegated butterbur
Jan. 28: hazel alder
Feb. 4: dwarf palmetto
Feb. 11: magnolia pruning+tree removal
Feb. 18: giant snowdrop
Feb. 25: split corona daffodil
March 4: fairy wings
March 19: trout lily
April 9: pawpaw
April 16: Blomquist spring ephemerals
May 1: columbine
May 17: hosta 'Kiwi Full Monty'
May 22: catmint
May 31: clary sage
June 4: Disease in the Rose Garden
June 17: National Pollinator Week
July 11: feather cactus
July 22: plumleaf azalea
July 29: honey extraction
Sept. 3: surprise lily
Sept. 21: plant sale preview - ginger lily
Sept. 25: plant sale preview - pink banana
Oct. 10: Conservation horticulture + Blomquist south entrance
Oct. 14: Fall Harvest Season + Harvest Fest
Oct.20: weeping rostrinucula
Oct. 29: spiders
Oct. 30: chrysanthemums + Festival of Fabulous Mums
Nov. 25: climbing aster
Nov. 29: winter bird feeding
Dec. 16: Japanese sacred lily
Dec. 23: hollies and holiday evergreens