Sarah P. Duke Gardens among region's finest
Japanese irises in June bloom in the Sarah P. Duke Gardens' Culberson Asiatic Arboretum. It's one reason the 55-acre garden was honored recently by 'Southern Living.'
We North Carolinians know we have great public gardens. One of them, Sarah P. Duke Gardens in Durham, was named one of the top 10 public gardens in “Southern Living” magazine's Readers' Choice Awards. It and Asheville's Biltmore Gardens were the only gardens in the state included on the list, which appears in the magazine's January issue.
The 55-acre Duke Gardens, at Duke University, includes an Asiatic arboretum, a garden of native plants and other attractions. A new children's garden is also planned.
More than 41,000 readers participated in the 13th annual Readers Choice Awards, voting for more than 500 public gardens from 17 Southern states and the District of Columbia.
Other gardens on the list are Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, Ga.; Bellingrath Gardens, Theodore, Ala.; Brookgreen Gardens, Murrells Inlet, S.C.; Atlanta Botanical Garden; Dallas Arboretum, Texas; Birmingham Botanical Gardens, Ala.; Garvin Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs, Ark.; and Cheekwood Botanical Garden, Nashville, Tenn.