10th ANNIVERSARY ARBORETUM TOUR

Thursday, November 1st will begin the 10th Year Celebration of the Pitt County Arboretum.  You are invited to come out and tour the gardens with Danny Lauderdale and the Extension Master Gardeners.  Bring your gardening questions, cameras, friends, neighbors, and family for an informative walking tour.

FREE

WALKING TOUR

PITT COUNTY ARBORETUM

403 GOVERNMENT CIRCLE, GREENVILLE, NC

MAP

10:00 AM

MEET UNDER THE SHELTER

IN FRONT OF THE AG CENTER

Call 252-902-1709 for more information.

PUMPKINS

This post is a slight departure from usual items posted about the Arboretum, but you may enjoy this video: THE GREAT PUMPKIN from NC Produce Lady (you see her on TV and can follow her at The Produce Lady).  She gives great tips on pumpkin growing in North Carolina, preserving them and cooking with them.

OUR ARBORETUM BRIDE

We Master Gardeners are used to seeing photographers among our blooms, but today we had a special treat to see a beautiful bride being photographed next to the muhly grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris) by the Children's Garden.  We got their permission to post these pictures (thanks, CT).  It was a lovely, blue sky, fall day with lots of flowering plant choices to pose by.  Our best wishes to the bride.  Maybe someday we can see the professional shots.

Photos by CT

The Arboretum is free and open 7 days a week, dawn to dusk.

Come, bring your cameras!

MULCH

MULCH MOUNTAIN

Master Gardener Volunteers are muscling their way though a mountain of mulch this week.  They are spreading the mulch in the paths winding through the Pitt County Arboretum and in some of the planting areas.  The mulch used is from the Pitt County Transfer Station which is available for all residents.  Call 902-3350, Option #1 for the Scale House to find out availability and hours of loading.   The cost is now $5.00 a load - quite the bargain.  Remember to take a tarp to cover your mulch before leaving the Transfer Station.  To read more about mulch and compost,  the how and why and when, click COMPOST AND MULCH for links to all this information and more.

THE MERRY MULCHERS!

Oh so pretty!

EVERGREEN GROUNDCOVER

Origanum vulgare - Oregano

Oregano in bloom

Looking for an evergreen groundcover or a perfect "spiller" plant for your containers?  Look no further than the Herb Section in your local garden center.  Oregano is a perennial herb.  It will blend in nicely with flowering plants as well as mixed with other herbs in a separate herb garden like ours at the Arboretum.  You can easily keep it in bounds by snipping the ends and using it in your cooking.  Its summer blooms will attract our pollinating bees and butterflies.

Here is a link to a general fact sheet on 

GROWING HERBS IN NORTH CAROLINA