Today we’re visiting some public gardens with Jordan Foreman.

Rutgers Gardens inspired my passion for public gardens and is the garden that I call home. Longwood Gardens taught me the meaning of horticulture and turned me into an aspiring plant geek. I believe gardens are incredibly important for inspiration and quality of life, and I plan to visit gardens for as long as I’m able.

Jordan now lives in North Carolina, and though he doesn’t have a garden of his own, he visits public and private gardens to enjoy the beauty. Gardening is for everyone. Even if you aren’t in a place in your life to have your own garden, public garden spaces can be enjoyed and enrich your life.

A shot from the gardens at The Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. You can tour the enormous house when you visit, but I’d say the gardens are the best part.

Set on the grounds of Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, Duke Gardens covers 55 acres, and all of it is open to the public. In this garden, tender succulents spend the summer outside in pots to create the effect of a much drier, warmer climate.

This view from Duke Gardens shows off one of the more naturalistic parts of the garden.

Hardy succulents grow in the ground at Juniper Level Botanic Garden in Raleigh, North Carolina. This garden is the creation of Plant Delights Nursery and is only open to the public on specific days throughout the year.

Another view from Juniper Level Botanic Garden shows the beautiful Iris unguicularis (Zones 7–9). Irises are always beautiful, but this species is unusual for blooming incredibly early in the spring or even late winter. Where it is hardy, it can be blooming as early as February.

Toad lily (Tricyrtis hirta, Zones 4–8) is one of Jordan’s favorite plants despite the fact that the smell of the flowers is as terrible as their appearance is beautiful.

A beautiful moon gate at the UNC Charlotte Botanic Garden in Charlotte, North Carolina.

If you want to see more of Jordan’s garden visits, check out his instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanm4lik/

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.

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