2004 Plant Delights Nursery December Newsletter

2004 is nearly history as we prepare for the upcoming new year. The 2005 catalog has finally gone to the printer and will be mailed at the end of December. The catalog preparatory process, which starts in earnest in late September, takes about 2 ” months from start to finish. It would be fun to share the intricacies of catalog prep…perhaps a new web project…stay tuned.

We’ve recently installed the Plant Delights Shipping Cam, which will now allow you to watch your order being boxed live from your home computer. The link automatically refreshes every 15 seconds. For now, the link to shipping cam is on the homepage, but it will be moved to the Shipping Division section when that section is complete this fall.

We have also recently posted several new Plant Delights job openings, so if you are anyone you know is interested, please pass along our vacancies. We always hate to lose key employees, but we can soften the blow by bringing in equally qualified candidates. Your help would be most appreciated in spreading the word. Thanks.

We’d like to welcome two new staff members that have recently joined our ranks. June Brotherton has joined us as our Administrative Assistant for Horticulture. June coordinates anything horticultural, from inventory control, to tours, to catalog production. Becky Skinner joins our customer service staff after having spent the spring season with our shipping division. Be sure to give ’em both a phone welcome when you call.

We are also saddened to announce that Dr. Bob Lyons of the JC Raulston Arboretum is leaving this month to become the Graduate Coordinator for the Longwood Gardens program. Bob has been great to work with during his tenure at the JCRA, and we wish him the best of luck in his new career. Of course, this means that we are now looking for a replacement for Bob. This is a PhD faculty position at NCSU and obviously a very influential position in the NC gardening community. The position will be advertised shortly, so if you know anyone who might be interested, please encourage them to contact the NCSU Horticulture Department at 919.515.3132.

Get well soon wishes to another NC horticultural stalwart, Dick Bir, who recently underwent a 7-bypass heart surgery…guess that’s possible with a really big heart. Dick promises to be back on the speaking circuit by spring.

Back at PDN, work is continuing in the display gardens as we finish renovating the section as you enter the main driveway to the left. What was certainly the most boring section in the garden went from being a flat area with primarily older woody plantings to a 2-3′ deep sunken rock garden. Planting is nearly 80% complete, and this area should be a real showplace for many new treasures by the time of spring open house.

Our research staff has also been quite busy as we expand our trial beds which we also use for field productions. Fall projects include expanding our area for fern and epimedium trials, and trillium, Solomon’s seal, and miscellaneous bulb production. -tony

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