by The Duke Gardens in Durham, N.C., consist of 55 acres of landscaped and wooded areas. They are free to enter, though cheap parking must be paid.
There were a couple of areas of absolute “wow” in the gardens surrounded by a lot of areas of “eh.” To be fair, some of the “eh” would most likely be due to the flowers in that section not being in season. I walked all over the gardens, though, so I did give it a fairly thorough evaluation.
The gardens began in 1934 when Sarah P. Duke was persuaded to donate $20,000 to plant flowers in an area where a previous project had been started and abandoned.
Within a year, there were more than 100 beds containing 75,000 irises, daffodils, and other flowers.
Unfortunately, heavy summer rains that year completely washed everything away, and the gardens were totally destroyed.
Sarah’s daughter Mary was persuaded to try again as a memorial to her mother, this time building on higher ground and hiring a landscape designer.
The iconic Italianate-style Terrace Gardens were finished in 1939, and are considered to be one of Ellen Biddle Shipman’s greatest works. These were, admittedly, spectacular – absolutely stuffed and bursting with color. However, it was hard to get a good overview of them, in spite of walking up to the “overlook”.
Enjoy these photos from my visit!
