In 2013 the Sarah P. Duke garden on the campus of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, received Horticulture Magazine’s award for Public Garden’s excellence. It recognized how Duke has focused on conservation, collection management, education, and display, as well as always being true to Ellen Biddle Shipman’s original garden design.
In the early 1930s, Dr Frederic Hanes, a Medical School faculty member at Duke and an avid gardener, envisioned a garden to showcase his favorite flower the iris. Sarah Duke, the widow of one of the university’s founders, provided a generous donation.
Later on, the original flower beds were destroyed by flooding. Hanes then convinced the daughter of Sarah Duke to create a new garden on higher ground as a memorial to her mother. This was dedicated in 1939. Nowadays the funding comes from both the University and from donors.
Visitors are not charged to see the 55 acres of gorgeous organic plantings in the heart of this major research university. Five miles of walking paths wind through the various sections containing breathtaking collections of plants, in addition to the original irises. The Doris Duke center is used for events and the White garden is popular for weddings, It is a wonderful garden to visit.
This is Moya Andrews, and today we focused on the Duke Gardens.
