Sarah P. Duke Gardens
Institution Code: DUKE
BGCI Member: Yes
About the Sarah P. Duke Gardens
Sarah P. Duke Gardens consist of 55 acres of landscaped and wooded areas on Duke University’s West Campus in Durham, North Carolina. Five miles of allées, walks and pathways provide easy access to all areas of the Gardens. Both formal and informal design elements are blended to create settings of inspiration and beauty. Duke Gardens is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Pearson Angier Duke, the first Gardens’ benefactor and widow of Benjamin N. Duke, one of Duke University’s founders.
The historic Terrace Gardens was designed by noted landscape architect Elizabeth Biddle Shipman in 1937 and remain the iconic core of Duke Gardens following a decade of major restoration efforts between 2004 and 2014. The Terraces replaced an earlier garden of iris and perennial beds that had been initiated in 1934.
In 1968, the H.L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants opened to the public. Named for the first chairman of the Duke University Botany Department, it contains over 900 species that grow in the region from Virginia to Florida and west to Texas. The Piedmont Prairie, a half-acre native wildflower meadow planted with locally sourced seed was added to the Blomquist Garden in 2015.
The William Louis Culberson Asiatic Arboretum was initiated in 1984. It features a collection of plants of Asian origin, designed to reflect the similarities between the climates of southeast Asia and the southeastern United States. The Arboretum is entered through a Japanese-style gate and contains a large pond with Asian waterfowl. Elsewhere in the Arboretum stands a Japanese-style arched bridge, a zigzag bridge and several majestic pieces of oriental garden ornament including a Tea House and the Pine Clouds Mountain Stream, a Japanese style garden completed in 2015.
In 2001, The Doris Duke Center, housing administrative offices, classrooms and other public spaces, and the surrounding gardens were dedicated. The Doris Duke Center Gardens include the Page-Rollins White Garden, the Charlotte Brody Discovery Garden, the Spring Woodland, the Angle Amphitheater and the Virtue Peace Pond.
The Gardens has been listed among the best public gardens in the United States and received the 2013 Award for Garden Excellence from Horticulture Magazine.
Main Address:
Sarah P. Duke Gardens
Duke University, 420 Anderson Street
P.O. Box 90341
Durham
North Carolina 27708-0341 United States of America
Telephone: (919) 684-3698
Fax: (919) 684-8861
URL: http://gardens.duke.edu/
Primary Email: elisabeth.hall@duke.edu