Snowdrops (left) and purple irises (right) peek out from the frosty ground at Montrose in Hillsborough. photograph by Anna Routh Barzin
Nancy Goodwin’s garden blooms in every season, but nothing compares to winter. Pale yellow trumpet daffodils, primroses, hellebores, purple crocuses, camellias, and yellow wintersweet turn the 15-acre property alive with color. Montrose, which Goodwin has owned with her late husband since 1977, once belonged to Gov. William Alexander and his wife, Susannah. Goodwin credits the Alexanders for laying the groundwork for the gardens, adding that now, “it’s just my turn to take care of it.” — Isabella Reilly
Montrose offers guided garden tours twice a week from September to May and a biannual open house in May and October. Click here to read more about Nancy Goodwin’s garden.
320 Saint Mary’s Road
Hillsborough, NC 27278
montrosegarden.org
The plush petals of camellias offer a vibrant reminder that life abounds all winter long in North Carolina. photograph by Anna Routh Barzin
With their large, fluffy heads drooping from leafy branches, camellias are the season’s showstoppers. The feathery petals elicit exclamations of joy and awe over a lushness and brightness rarely seen this time of year. Flowers bloom in combinations of red, pink, and white, but North Carolinians take particular pride in the Greensboro Red — the official flower of the Piedmont city.
1105 Hobbs Road
(336) 373-2199
greensborobeautiful.org/gardens/tanger
The JC Raulston Arboretum collects plants that have adapted to conditions in the United States’ Southeastern growing seasons, including winter heath and Japanese flowering apricot. photograph by Charles Harris
With an entire section devoted to plants that thrive in the winter, the JC Raulston Arboretum shines precious rays on this underappreciated gardening season. Visitors walk the paths beneath towering magnolias, admiring flowering apricot and quince, golden paperbush, cyclamen, and variegated evergreens sheltered from winter’s winds by oaks and hollies.
4415 Beryl Road
(919) 515-3132
jcra.ncsu.edu
Clockwise from top left: magnolia, paperbush, and distylium bloom at the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens. photograph by Charles Harris
First, there was the Ebersole Holly Garden, whose initial 500 plants were transplanted from a private collection to establish the Sandhills Horticultural Gardens in 1978. All told, 28 species of holly — their winter berries bright against waxy, dark green leaves — now make up the largest accessible collection of the plants on the East Coast. Eventually, eight more year-round gardens were added, with paperbush, witch hazel, hellebores, and distylium brightening the winter landscape.
3245 Airport Road
(910) 692-6185
sandhills.edu/horticultural-gardens
Showy blooms like camellias and daffodils are some of the most eye-catching plants at the Pitt County Arboretum this time of year, but look a bit closer, and a variety of textures and colors reveal their subtler beauty. “There are so many plants that have visually interesting features that are not present or are obscured during other months that all of a sudden become visible during winter,” says Matt Stevens, Pitt County’s Extension director. “You’ll easily be able to find plants that are interesting and aesthetically pleasing
if you open your mind just a bit.”
403 Government Circle
(252) 902-1701
pittcountyarboretum.com
By paying close attention to the timing of various blooms, like crocuses, Celo Inn co-owner Kavita Hardy knows whether spring will come early or late, using that knowledge to plan her own garden. photograph by Tim Robison
In the woods around Burnsville, the earliest wildflowers of the year offer clues to the seasons to come. The blooms of wild crocuses are fleeting: Known as a spring ephemeral, they take advantage of February’s warming sun and the scant tree cover to poke their purple heads aboveground — sometimes even blooming, against all odds, through a dusting of snow or frost.
45 Seven-Mile Ridge Road
(828) 675-5132
celoinn.com
Moth (left) and Cooksbridge sunset orchids (right) are known to bloom in the winter, while other varieties might need a little persuasion this time of year. At Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, the warm and humid greenhouse coaxes out the blooms. photograph by Brian Gomsak
From the tiniest colored buds to dinner plate-size blooms cascading down long green stems, The William H. Williamson III Orchid Conservatory houses a rotating collection of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden’s more than 2,500 orchids. With glass walls reaching five stories high, the conservatory is a climate-controlled tropical oasis — complete with a waterfall — whose steamy warmth keeps plants (and humans) cozy throughout the coldest months. — Katie King
6500 South New Hope Road
(704) 825-4490
dsbg.org
This story was published on Jan 26, 2024
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