Raleigh's Joslin Garden opens to the public this Saturday

William and Mary Coker Joslin invite the public to visit the extraordinary garden at their home in Raleigh's White Oak Road neighborhood this Saturday, March 29 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Their 4.5 acres include both formal and informal areas and a wide collection of native and exotic plants, many of which they acquired from local garden luminaries J.C. Raulston, William Lanier Hunt and D.R. Coker. The Joslins have established a conservation easement with the Triangle Land Conservancy, perpetually limiting the property's use for garden and horticultural purposes, and they have deeded the land to N.C. State University. For a map to 2431 West Lake Dr., click here. Free parking is available on West Lake Drive, but please park only on the west side of the street.

(Photo of the Joslin Garden from the J.C. Raulston Arboretum Web site)

North Carolina OKs gray water use

In a victory for common sense, North Carolina officials have decided it's OK for residents to water non-edible plants with gray water, the stuff left over after taking baths and washing dishes and clothes. Yay -- now we needn't feel like criminals for hauling buckets of bath water out to our thirsty trees!

One of the neatest gray water purification systems I've seen is at the Piedmont Biofuels co-op in Chatham County, where the oil-crop research farm is irrigated with process wastewater cleaned via an artificial wetlands system built from old bathtubs. In fact, the co-op's entire production process is ingeniously designed for maximum sustainability. You can read more about it here, or see for yourself by taking the free tour offered every Sunday at 1 p.m.