WALKING TOUR OF PITT COUNTY ARBORETUM

BUTTERFLY  GARDENS

Photo by TAS

Join the Extension Master Gardeners 

for the next FREE WALKING TOUR

of the

PITT COUNTY ARBORETUM

403 Government Circle, Greenville, NC

June 6th, THURSDAY

 Starting at 9:00 AM

 

 The JUNE tour will focus on how to

attract butterflies to your gardens.

 Questions? Call (252) 902-1709

LAMB'S EAR

Our Children's Garden was created to encourage children of all ages to experience the joy of gardening.  The plants and garden art were picked to engage all the senses:  sight, smell, touch, sound, and taste (with supervision, of course).  An interesting plant that is blooming now is Stachys byzantina or commonly called Lamb's Ear.  It is best known for its soft, fuzzy grayish green leaves and less known for its small pinkish flower.  However, even though we may not think it's flower is very showy, bees just love this plant.

Lamb's Ear may fade in the hot, humid summer.  It will do better with some light afternoon shade and well drained soil.  It also may be grown in a container provided it stays in dappled light.  Clip off the blooms as they fade and trim any heat damaged leaves.  The basal leaves may just fill in by sending out runners and provide a nice ground cover.  Here is a fact sheet with more information:  Stachys byzantina

THANK YOU

to all who came to our plant sale and swap.  There was just a scattering of plants left at the end.  Even after the rain showers and downpours later in the morning, people still came and shopped.   Now the Master Gardeners'  job (besides getting back to regular gardening chores) will be trying to decide how to best enhance our arboretum with the funds raised. Thank you, thank you!

Pitt County Master Gardener Volunteers

Here are pictures from 'Scene Around' from the Daily Reflector:
PLANT SALE PICTURES

JUST DAYS AWAY FROM OUR PLANT SALE (5/18/2013)

The Master Gardeners are busy preparing signs, putting on plant tags, tending the plants, and all other tasks needed to get ready for our plant sale.  We have the largest selection of plants ever (over 3,500 to date).  Our prices are very reasonable, starting at $1.00.  We will be offering perennials, annuals, herbs, roses, trees, shrubs, vines, ground covers, shade plants, vegetables, and sedums.  All plants have either been propagated from the gardens at the Arboretum or Master Gardeners' own collections, or grown from seed.

Additionally, you can participate in the Plant Swap.  Each year many gardeners enjoy bringing in items from their yards and swapping them with other gardeners.  The items range from plants, to garden books, garden art, pots, and more.  We never know what will show up, but we do know that the participants have some free fun.

Don't forget to bring your gardening questions.  Danny Lauderdale and the Master Gardeners will be ready to help you.

See you at 9:00 AM if you are (or plan to become) a 'Friend of the Arboretum'.
Otherwise, the sale for the general public is from 10:00 AM to NOON.
The Plant Swap starts at 11:00 AM.

Call 902-1709 if you have any questions.

LAST YEAR'S SALE

2013 PITT COUNTY MASTER GARDENER PLANT SALE

THE PERFECT MOTHER'S DAY GIFT?

 

PROMISE HER YOU'LL BRING HER

TO THE PLANT SALE NEXT WEEKEND!

We have a few thousand plants to choose from, very reasonably priced, and ready to grow!   You will find a wonderful selection of everything from perennials, annuals, vegetables, herbs, roses, trees, shrubs, shade plants, vines, and houseplants.

CAROLINA MOONLIGHT

Baptisia 'Carolina Moonlight'

This is commonly called False Indigo.  'Carolina Moonlight' has yellow sweet pea-like flowers on spikes up to 1 1/2 ft long in the late spring. It sometimes reblooms if faded flowers are removed.  Baptisia forms deep taproots which help them survive less than ideal planting situations.  Its taproot makes them difficult to move or divide once established.  It is a long-lived perennial which eventually forms a large clump with many flower spikes as you see by the top picture.

You can find this plant in our Mixed Border at the Arboretum.  If you look across the sidewalk to our Perennial Border you will find two more plants in the same family:
Baptisia pendula (a white blooming one) and Baptisia australis (indigo blue flowers - although now just in bud form).