Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Durham

Walt and Julia

Whenever we travel, I like to scope out some of the gardens in the area, and we have been very lucky to be able to visit the Sarah P. Duke Gardens when we have been in Chapel Hill. We have been there in the spring and I wanted to see it in the fall too. I had also hoped to visit Montrose Gardens, Nancy Goodwin's garden in Hillsborough, NC, but it is only open by appointment and it just didn't work out this time. Anne Raver had a great article about Montrose in the New York Times last spring, which really made me want to visit.  Maybe next time! North Carolina has a lot of good gardens, I would also like to see Elizabeth Lawrence's garden in Charlotte.

The Sarah P. Duke Gardens are named after the wife of Benjamin Duke, one of Duke University's founders, and were designed by Ellen Shipman, a pioneer in American landscape design. There are more than 55 acres of landscaped and wooded areas and five miles of pathways, allees, and walkways. The gardens are divided into four areas, the Historic Core and Terraces, the H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants, the William Louis Culberson Asiatic Arboretum,  and the Doris Duke Center Gardens (including the Page-Rollins White Garden). We were there in late afternoon/early evening and there were a lot of people walking around, picnicking, and playing on the grassy areas. It is so nice to see beautiful gardens being used.

Beautiful fall color

These are truly beautiful gardens and well worth a visit. It's interesting to see it in different seasons. In the spring the colors were all pinks and purples and whites--gorgeous foxgloves, hydrangeas, roses,  and iris. This time the color were all oranges and reds, the colors of fall.

I would like this bench please

Vine covered gazebo