Category: Home & Garden

A little spot of her own

by Jesma Reynolds photographs by Catherine Nguyen A Cameron Park homeowner with a gypsy spirit and eastern North Carolina roots lives an artful and enchanted bungalow life  If it’s true that the supreme art is the art of living, then Cameron Park is…

That’s some asparagus: Rohdea japonica

by Tony Avent illustration by Ippy Patterson I first became enamored with Rohdea japonica back around the time President Richard Nixon uttered that immortal line, “I am not a crook.”  As I was always on the lookout for new plants…

Southern maidenhair fern

by Tony Avent illustration by Ippy Patterson I’m not sure why gardeners are so attracted to maidenhair ferns, but odds are the plant’s romantic common name – which aptly describes its dainty foliage – has something to do with it….

Gingerbread cottage

by Jesma Reynolds photographs by Mark Petko Christmas is a big deal in the White household. Living in what is commonly known as “the gingerbread cottage” on White Oak Road, John and Ashley White and their sons John and Jack…

Wings of a fairy, horns of a goat

by Tony Avent illustration by Ippy Patterson Epimediums, or fairy wings, are perennial members of the barberry family, which have been popular since at least the mid-1700s. This woodland shade perennial flowers in early spring, and can trace its popularity to an…

Behind the wall: A secret garden blooms in Raleigh

And the secret garden bloomed and bloomed and every morning revealed new miracles. -Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden by Jesma Reynolds photographs by Catherine Nguyen For more than two decades, Greyson and Garland Tucker have been working together to…

Historic Oakwood: A storied past, a storied present

by Ann Brooke Raynal Visitors walking the streets of Historic Oakwood on a chilly December night may think they have been transported back to the 19th century. Candles burn in the windows, garlands of greenery grace the exteriors of Queen…

North Carolina’s Executive Mansion

by Liza Roberts photographs by Catherine Nguyen Living above the store is a good way to ensure working around the clock. Even when “the store” is a gorgeous 1891 Queen Anne Victorian mansion set on nearly five lush acres, there’s an…

Henry’s Stone Oak: Lithocarpus henryi

by Tony Avent  illustration by Ippy Patterson Since Raleigh is known as the City of Oaks, most residents like to think they can identify oak trees, but when I show Henry’s oak to garden visitors, their jaws drop to an unnatural…

Economies of scale

photographs by Nick Pironio When Kim Shirley and her husband Graham decided to move out of Five Points to build a house on a spacious corner lot in West Raleigh, they wanted light, efficiency, and a home better suited to…

Alabama wild ginger

by Tony Avent I grew up in a wooded section of west Raleigh. As a shy kid, I spent most of my spare time roaming through the woods along Crabtree Creek, where Crabtree Valley shopping center would eventually sprout. One of…

A bouquet of silver

by Tony Avent illustration by Ippy Patterson Pulmonarias, or lungworts as they are commonly called, are bold-textured, clumping woodland perennials, prized for their unique silver-spotted, deer-resistant foliage. Long a favorite of shade gardeners in temperate climates, Pulmonarias flower in late winter…

Glad for my purple prince

by Tony Avent illustration by Ippy Patterson Growing up in North Carolina, it’s not uncommon to see gladiolus growing along country roads through older rural communities. For that reason, I could never reconcile why all the gladiolus I ordered from mail-order…

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