Duke Gardens Article Index for
Duke
Website Links For
Duke
 

Information About

Duke Gardens




The Duke Farms and Gardens were originally constructed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as part of a 2,700-acre estate built by James Buchanan Duke , founder of the American Tobacco Company . As the estate was landscaped, over two million shrubs and specimen trees were planted.

Currently only the 11 display Greenhouse s are open to the public. Each is a full-scale re-creation of a garden theme, country or period. Greenhouse restoration began in 1958 under the guidance of Doris Duke , James Duke's only child, inspired by DuPont's Longwood Gardens . In 1960 she donated eleven acres of her estate, including the greenhouses, to the Gardens Foundation. The greenhouses opened to the public in 1964.

The greenhouse gardens currently include:




  • English Gardens - five miniature gardens, including a Topiary ; a Rock Garden and herbaceous borders; an Elizabethan Knot Garden of the 16th and 17th centuries; and an 18th century succulent garden.



  • French Parterre - flowers planted in a geometric Parterre .


  • Indo-Persian Garden - water course, fountains, and carved marble screens, with Orange Tree s, Mediterranean Cyprus , and a Persian Rose garden.


  • Italian courtyard - statues amid lush plantings.


  • Japanese Garden - tea house with Bonsai trees, red Maple s, etc.


  • Semi-Tropical Garden - Papyrus , fiddlehead Fern s, Bird of Paradise, etc.


  • Tropical House - tropical trees and vines.



SEE ALSO