Gardening in the Triangle (Raleigh, Asheville: chapel, house, neighborhoods)

[omamia]

With spring sprung, I'm wondering what gardening centers people recommend. Our new yard is in a terrible state and I'd love to find a garden center that I can rely on other than Lowes and Home Depot. I'm hoping to plant things that will be drought resistant and native to the region. Any suggestions or recommendations?

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by omamia

With spring sprung, I'm wondering what gardening centers people recommend. Our new yard is in a terrible state and I'd love to find a garden center that I can rely on other than Lowes and Home Depot. I'm hoping to plant things that will be drought resistant and native to the region. Any suggestions or recommendations?

nandina, winter honeysuckle, carolina jessamine, forsythia, crape myrtles, bazillions of hollies, wax myrtle,
You can get these about anywhere, and do all right.

But don't believe me.
I have decided in the future that rather than plant, I will dig a little deeper, give a decent burial, say a few words, mourn for 24-48 hours and go back to watching baseball...

[SP2SCV]

Family Home & Garden on highway 55 in Apex.

[seattlenextyear]

Nandia and honeysuckle (japanese version) are non-native and shouldn't be planted anywhere.

[MrsSteel]

Omamia, I've heard good things about Homewood Nursery. It's located in Raleigh, though, so it's a bit out of the way for you and me, but I'm thinking about checking them out sometime soon.
Homewood Nursery & Garden Center

[MikeJaquish]

Originally Posted by seattlenextyear

Nandia and honeysuckle (japanese version) are non-native and shouldn't be planted anywhere.

I interpreted the OP's request for information to be slanted towards durability, as much as a purist's requirement for native plants.

Lonicera fragrantissima,
Winter Honeysuckle, while related to L. japonica, is not nearly as rampant.
Sources vary as to the invasiveness of L. frangrantissima, and Duke and NCSU profiles do not offer warnings regarding its use.
Different sources mention L. mackii and L. morrowii as invasive.

The Arboreteum in Asheville has a gorgeous stand of L. Fragrantissima, 10-12 feet tall and pruned to allow one to walk under their arching boughs.

Southern Living Gardening recognizes L. Frangrantissima as a "Southern Heritage" plant. Seems fitting since it arrived here in the mid-1700's.
Works for me. Probably close enough for the OP's needs, I would say.

Nandina Domestica;
It is just about bullet-proof and likely will offer the OP success in xeriscaping. Again, a Southern Heritage Plant, i.e., been around a good while. Goes for decades without care or fertilizer, and will compete with tree shade and ground cover.
Pitt County*Center: News

If invasiveness was a concern, I would likely specify Firepower Nandina, since it doesn't do much other than grow into a ball and turn red.

[North_Raleigh_Guy]

Originally Posted by MikeJaquish

nandina, winter honeysuckle, carolina jessamine, forsythia, crape myrtles, bazillions of hollies, wax myrtle,
You can get these about anywhere, and do all right.

Agreed! I see these plants all over in older neighborhoods ITB in Raleigh. You have suggested these to me in the past I believe. My discussions with local nursery gurus confirm that these plants do very well in this area just as you susggested.

FWIW, I am strongly considering adding a few trees to my landscape either this spring or in the cooler fall season. Some good tree candidates include:

Eastern Redbuds
Dogwoods
Magnolias

For non-big box store nurseries I like to go to Logan's in Downtown Raleigh and Atlantic Orchid and Nursery in North Raleigh. You will pay more at these locations, but they have healthy specimens and have some hard to find plants.

[Janecj]

Ditto.. I really like Homewood Nursery in N. Raleigh. They have what is called Bloomiing Bucks right now. Every $10 you spend, you get $1.00 back. And then in June or July - can't remember when - they will allow you to spend the blooming bucks you have on any of their merchandise - I always have quite a bit of blooming bucks. They are more expensive than Lowes & Home depot but I still like to stroll through their huge inventory of items and plants and pick up something new to try and plant.

Atlantic Orchid is also really good along with Logans Trading downtown. Atlantic has a lot more aquatic plants which I like. Another good plant would be the "Anise" bush/tree. I really like these as they stay green all year round, like shade, have white or red flowers in the Spring, and the deer don't like them (which is my main problem). They do tend to need water though, but I'm a bit tired of holly's and pines.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by omamia

With spring sprung, I'm wondering what gardening centers people recommend. Our new yard is in a terrible state and I'd love to find a garden center that I can rely on other than Lowes and Home Depot. I'm hoping to plant things that will be drought resistant and native to the region. Any suggestions or recommendations?

Omamia, I'm still learning what to plant here too. I was at Lowes last week and noticed they just got in some plants and they were labeled if they were "Water Wise" plants. I bet the local nurseries will have tags for identifying water needs as well.

I picked up a Butterfly Bush and some Lavender that were labeled "Water Wise". I have no idea how they will do here. But these are plants that remind me of my last few homes in Portland so I bought them. I'll let you know if in a few months I have to use the Mike method, and dig a deeper whole, and mourn.

[omamia]

Thanks for all the terrific suggestions....Happy city-data immediate feedback!

Does anyone have an opinion about grass seed? From what I've looked up it looks like Confederate Fescue has the best chances of surviving a drought and looking green in the winter.

I'm going to have to head on out to Homewood Nursery. With rain on the horizon, I was thinking that now might be a good time to actually put something in the ground and hope that it takes.

NRG, we planted a redbud tree at our old house and I loved it. The heart shaped leaves are quite attractive and it's lovely in the spring.

Mike, I'm loving all of the yellow forsythia bushes right now. We'll have to get cracking with one of those. It's hard to actually plan out a garden and not just be haphazard about the whole thing. I'll have to check out the Nandina.

PDXmom, I was thinking of getting some plants for nostalgia reasons too. I'm missing our old rhododendrons and I really loved my old peony.

I just discovered this website: Regional Plant List - North Carolina, NC, South Carolina, SC as well but I'm a plant newbie so it's like reading a different language.....like Latin The plantnative site also recommends:

Niche Gardens in Chapel Hill and
Plant Delights Nursery in Raleigh