North
Carolina Gardens - An Historical Vignette
North Carolina
flora forms the progression between the northern, eastern,
and southern botanical districts of the United States.
The savannas are true wild-flower gardens in the spring.
You will also find many insectivorous plants including
the Venus's-flytrap, Dionaea muscipula, once called "the
most wonderful plant in the world." The Venus's-flytrap
is indigenous to an area including a radius of about 100
miles from Wilmington, North Carolina.
Lamb's Nursery,
Fayetteville, and Audubon Nursery, Wilmington, were among
the first nurseries in the state. The Nurseries in eastern
North Carolina began by selling fruit trees. Their agents
traveled door to door by horse-and-buggy, bringing bundles
of trees and bare roots. For a purchase of a dozen trees,
a rosebush was thrown in for the lady of the house.
The 1852 catalogue from Josiah Lindley's Pomological Garden,
near Greensboro, lists fifteen kinds of apple trees, ten
cents each. This nursery later introduced the pink dogwood,
the double white dogwood, and the Greensboro peach, among
many other plants.
Bibliography
and Acknowledgments
Shown: American Dogwood ( Cornus
florida )
