Big weekend for Raleigh garden lovers

This Saturday afternoon, the Triangle Land Conservancy and the Reid Chapter of the N.C. Native Plants Society are holding a Raleigh Conservation Gardens Tour.

The gardens featured on the tour are the Margaret Reid Wild Flower Garden, a 1.5-acre woodland garden surrounding a home at the corner of Dixie Trail and Lewis Farm Road; the Joslin Garden, a 4-acre spread in the White Oak Road neighborhood; the Hooker/Myers Garden, a permaculture wonderland on a sixth of an acre in the Kirby Street neighborhood near N.C. State; the Kinney Garden, a 2-acre residential woodland garden overlooking Richland Creek on the edge of William B. Umstead State Park; and the Spearman Garden, which features a large sculpture collection and is located between Ridge Road and the Beltline. For details about the garden and the tour, click here.

And should you get inspired by the garden tour and find yourself lusting after a certain specimen, you might want to visit the Pi Alpha Xi plant sale set for this Saturday and Sunday at the J.C. Raulston Arboretum. For more information about the sale, including lists of available plants, click here.

NCCU hosts green jobs forum this week

The Grassroots Energy Alliance is holding a public forum in Durham this week spotlighting employment opportunities in the sustainable building industry. Titled "Green Jobs Now!," the event will take place on Thursday, April 10 from 6:30 to 9 p.m. at N.C. Central's Mary M. Townes Science Building.

The event will feature presentations on the outlook for green jobs in the state and a keynote by NCCU professor and landscape architect Yasmin Fozard, who specializes in the inner-city living environment. There will also be smaller discussion groups about meeting the growing demand for sustainability and the need for a new energy economy.

A coalition that includes the N.C. Waste Awareness & Reduction Network, Students United for a Responsible Global Environment, N.C. Fair Share and N.C. Interfaith Power & Light, the Alliance describes its mission as working with residents of Durham, Wake, Orange and Chatham counties

on positive programs and policy to counter the threat of climate change, to promote responsible energy efficiency and renewable energy programs for our region and the state, and to to improve the capacity of our region to harness the new green economy. To accomplish these goals, we put special emphasis on involving the voices and organizations of students, people of color, and people of faith.

For more details on the forum and directions, click here.

N.C. voter registration deadline this week

If you're planning to vote in next month's primary election here in North Carolina, now is the time to get your paperwork in order.

This Friday, April 11 is the registration deadline for the May 6 election -- though folks who miss that cutoff will still be able to register and vote on the same day at the state's early voting sites between April 17 and May 3. If you've moved since last registering, you'll need to register again.

To download an N.C. voter registration form and for instructions on where to send it, click here. For more details on same-day registration, click here.

Neuse River cleanup set for Saturday

Here's your chance to participate in the largest single river clean-up in North Carolina: The Neuse River Foundation's 6th Annual Neuse River Clean-Up will be held this Saturday, April 5 -- come rain or shine. Over the last five years, more than 1,000 volunteers have hauled some 75,000 pounds of trash out of the waterway. Everyone is welcome, no pre-registration is required, and free canoe loans will be available at several sites. For details, click here.

(UPDATE: The NRF had a successful clean-up Saturday despite the rain. Among the items hauled from the river were a recliner, five quarts of used motor oil, 100 baseballs, a skull -- and a beer bottle containing $600!)