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I love native plants. I love them for many reasons, all of which you’ve no doubt heard before if you yourself are a native plant lover, are in any garden groups with other native plant lovers, or if you’ve spent any time reading gardening columns like mine. Native plants are well adapted to our local climates, they have close relationships with other native insect and animal species, they are an important part of our national botanical heritage, and much more. But I am not a native plant absolutist, and I’m not sure I fully understand those who are. If you’re a native plant absolutist, you plant (or aspire to plant) only native species in your gardens and landscapes. If you are a native plant absolutist, you wouldn’t plant a Japanese maple in your garden. Japanese maples are, and have always been, one of my favorite trees. I don’t have space in this column to discuss all the multitude of different forms and varieties of Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) that one can find in the nursery and landscape trade. There are thousands. By and large they are valued for both their shape and their beautiful delicate leaves. The genus Acer means sharp in Latin and palmatum refers to the shape of a hand. While this might describe many species of maple, the lobes of many Japanese maples are particularly distinct and ‘finger-like,’ though there may be anywhere between 5 and 9 individual lobes.
 Above: The Sango Kaku tree is a green-leaved cultivar. Japanese maples are, and have always been, one of my favorite trees. I don’t have space in this column to discuss all the multitude of different forms and varieties of Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) that one can find in the nursery and landscape trade. There are thousands. By and large they are valued for both their shape and their beautiful delicate leaves. The genus Acer means sharp in Latin and palmatum refers to the shape of a hand. While this might describe many species of maple, the lobes of many Japanese maples are particularly distinct and ‘finger-like,’ though there may be anywhere between 5 and 9 individual lobes.
Japanese maples are prized for both their foliage and their form. Leaves are often thin and delicate, and in the case of the dissectum group (plants with lacelike, deeply cut leaves), they are intricately fine. Trees may be upright with single trunks, multi-trunked, or weeping. They tend to be slow growing, which often means they are expensive relative to other trees of similar size. For example, a five-foot tall Japanese maple is probably twice as old as a five-foot tall tree of another genus and species. Leaves may be green, red, or variegated, and often change throughout the seasons, particularly in fall. All of that said, there’s almost certainly something to like among the species, regardless of your personal preferences for color and form. Some classic varieties include ‘Bloodgood,’ a large upright shrub that grows up to 20’ tall and wide, with burgundy-red leaves throughout the summer; ‘Orangeola,’ a cultivar we have here at the Pitt County Arboretum whose leaves change color from green to reddish-purple to orange from spring through fall; and ‘Sango Kaku,’ a green-leaved cultivar that is attractive but somewhat plain during the summer, but ascends in fall with a gorgeous pale-yellow fall foliage color and especially shines during winter, when its orange and red twigs nearly glow throughout winter after the leaves have fallen. Though we all have our aesthetic preferences and make our own decisions about what works and doesn’t for our landscapes, it just seems silly to me not to find room for well-behaved non-native plants such as Japanese maples. One can still love, respect, and support native plants while occasionally incorporating those that aren’t. Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705.
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Ever wonder what exactly triggers a plant to bloom? Most of us probably understand it to be some combination of environmental factors such as heat and sunlight, along with the maturity of the plant. In fact, that is essentially what makes most plants flower. While many plants respond to a combination of heat and light, some plants are controlled much more strongly by one factor or the other. For example, plants like poinsettia, chrysanthemum, and Easter lily are so beholden to day length that one can make those plants bloom almost any time of year in a controlled environment by manipulating how many hours of continual sunlight vs. continual darkness they are exposed to. In college, I worked for a professor who made me do just this to trick fall-blooming chrysanthemums into blooming in May. Other plants are controlled more by temperature, including cherries (both ornamental and fruit producing types), whose bloom time in the spring you can predict fairly accurately by measuring what are known as ‘chilling hours.’ This term refers to the number of hours a plant is exposed to temperatures above 32 degrees but below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, i.e., cold but not freezing temperatures. Once a plant has accumulated its desired number of chill hours in winter, it begins to initiate flowering.
The three most popular ornamental cherry varieties in our area have long been ‘Okame,’ ‘Yoshino,’ and ‘Kwanzan.’ ‘Okame’ is the first to bloom because it requires the fewest chilling hours, roughly 300-400 hours, and thus accumulates what it needs the fastest. ‘Yoshino’ needs about 500-600 hours to bloom, and Kwanzan needs between 700-1000 hours. Here at the Pitt County Arboretum, our ‘Okame’ cherries bloomed about 3 weeks ago, while our ‘Yoshino’ cherries have just started their bloom within the last few days. Our one ‘Kwanzan’ cherry is still a way away from blooming. While this concept helps predict when a tree will bloom, it also helps decide what trees might be appropriate or not appropriate for a given climate. Most fruit-bearing cherries need more chilling hours than our climate reliably provides, and thus they don’t typically perform well for us. While the three ornamental varieties do have some insect and disease pests and can be short-lived, they are generally better suited to our climate.
Left: The Kwanzan cherry is one of the showiest cherry trees when it blooms in spring. Photo: Myrabella, CC BY-SA 3.0 Right: Leaves and blooms on the Kwanzan cherry tree. Photo: D.J. Stang, CC BY-SA 4.0 If growing any of these varieties, plant them in full sun to part-shade locations with well-drained soil. ‘Okame’ and ‘Yoshino’ have white to very light pink single flowers, while ‘Kwanzan’ has double pink flowers. ‘Okame’ has slightly more of a spreading branch structure and will grow 15 to 30’ high and roughly equally wide, while both ‘Yoshino’ and ‘Kwanzan’ will grow 30-40’ tall with a spread of 20 to 30’. None of the three do much of note other than flower, but each is tremendously beautiful during the 10-14 days of its spring bloom each year.
Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. The Order of the Longleaf Pine is one of the highest honors a citizen of North Carolina can receive, and the highest honor one can receive directly from the governor. This award is granted to distinguished North Carolinians who have a proven record of exemplary service to the state or have accomplished a special achievement worthy of recognition. Famous North Carolinians, from Michael Jordan to Maya Angelou, have received this award, and I’ve been lucky enough to witness many colleagues receive this award at the culmination of their careers as civil servants. Why the Longleaf Pine? Well, the Pine tree is the state tree of North Carolina, and while no single species of pine is singled out, the Longleaf Pine is one of eight species native to the state, and is specifically referenced in the official state toast of North Carolina. The toast begins “Here’s to the land of the Longleaf Pine,” and one of the benefits of induction into the Order of the Longleaf Pine is that recipients are considered cultural ambassadors of the state and can recite the state toast at any time they may deem appropriate.  Planting a young Longleaf Pine tree in the Children's Garden of the Pitt County Arboretum. The tree was donated by the Susanna Coutanch Evans Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) of Greenville. Photo: Vicki K., Extension Master Gardener, Pitt County Arboretum. The Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris) is an evergreen tree species, notable for its exceptionally long needle-length, as much as 6-12” long. This about twice as long as the typical needle of a Loblolly Pine, and about four times as long as Virginia Pine, so among pines native to North Carolina, it clearly stands out. In addition to its long needles, it also produces the largest cones of any pine species native to eastern North America, but when it comes to names, large-cone pine just doesn’t have the same ring to it as Longleaf Pine. Longleaf Pine can be difficult to transport, as it develops a long taproot fairly rapidly. Young plants are known for their “grassy” stage, staying fairly short for the first five years of growth, until the stem thickens sufficiently and begins to grow more upright over time. Ultimately, trees will reach 60 feet tall or greater, with a spread of about 30 feet. The large needles are often used as mulch, though the needles and cones can be messy when they drop. When planted individually in landscapes, the trees produce a sort of filtered shade, but when planted in mass or in close proximity to other trees, create more of a dense shade. As with most pines, they are heavy pollen producers and can cause agitation for allergy sufferers, but they are also valuable trees for supporting a number of native bird and wildlife species.
Here at the Pitt County Arboretum, we celebrated North Carolina’s Arbor Day with a ceremonial tree planting, and as you may have guessed, we planted a longleaf pine as part of that ceremony. Although National Arbor Day falls on the last Friday of April, North Carolina’s state observance of Arbor Day is typically held on the first Friday after March 15, which this year fell on March 21. We would like to thank our partner organization for this event, the Pitt County chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, for their donation of the tree.
Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. For many plant lovers, certainly the more obsessive among us, our plants are like our children. We care for them, watch them grow, wish for the best outcomes as they age, and hope they eventually reach a level of maturity where we can sit back and appreciate what they’ve become without requiring our daily guidance and intervention. Unlike with our children, however, it’s socially acceptable to have favorite plants. One of our favorites here at the Pitt County Arboretum is just about to do what it does best, bloom triumphantly and kick off spring! This favorite of ours is the ‘Butterflies’ magnolia, a deciduous, flowering tree with tulip-shaped, creamy-yellow blossoms. Why is this a favorite rather than any of the other multitudes of spring blooming magnolias? Well, they’re all great in their own ways, of course. Magnolia grandiflora, the Southern magnolia, is an iconic stately tree of the South, and gorgeous in bloom. However, its tremendous size (60-80’ tall) makes it difficult to fit into most modern landscapes. Some compact cultivars, such as ‘Little Gem,’ ‘Teddy Bear,’ and ‘Bracken’s Brown Beauty,’ are more appropriately sized, but arguably none is as magnificent as a full-sized Southern magnolia. Magnolia stellata, the star magnolia, and Magnolia x soulangeana, the saucer magnolia, are both early bloomers that can be absolutely immaculate in full bloom. However, the tender flowers are extremely cold-sensitive, and are often damaged by cold temperatures, greatly diminishing their ornamental value. 
Top photo in middle: 'Butterflies' magnolia trees in bloom. Blossoms come out in mid-March and last for about 10-14 days. Photo: A. Stidham, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Above-left photo: Leaf arrangement. M. Hansen, CC-BY-SA 2.0 Above-right photo: Close-up of a 'Butterflies' magnolia flower. Photo: M. Hansen, CC-BY-SA 2.0 ‘Butterflies’ is a bit more cold-tolerant than the saucer and star magnolias. Thus, when ’butterflies’ blooms, the flowers are less likely to be damaged by ill-timed frosts. It’s also a more manageable size in the landscape than the Southern magnolia. The shape of the flowers is most similar to saucer magnolia, but the individual blooms are larger and slightly more open, creating a stunning visual impact. Flowers are lightly lemon-scented.
Here in the Arboretum, our specimen typically begins to bloom in mid-March, a week to ten days after Magnolia stellata. Bloom lasts about 10-14 days and is truly worth seeing. It appears on track to be in flower just in time for our first Northside Plant Walk of 2025, scheduled for today at 12 noon. Often ‘Butterflies’ will grow to a height of 15-20’ tall with a slightly lesser spread. Because our specimen is planted in close proximity to some other trees, it is slightly more shrub-like, wider than it is tall, but the flowering remains prolific. ‘Butterflies’ is a hybrid cross of parent plants Magnolia denudata ‘Sawada’s Cream’ and Magnolia acuminata ‘Fertile Myrtle.’ In addition to the flower shape and color, it inherits from its parents a large leaf with a distinctive shape. Each leaf is 6 inches long, and 3-6 inches wide, narrow at its base and widest close to the tip, with wavy margins. Though not as tall as a typical shade tree, the large leaves and density of the foliage can create a fair amount of shade. The leaves are not as thick and glossy as Southern magnolia leaves, so they decompose a bit quicker after falling and aren’t quite as messy. They also have a fairly attractive fall color, a pale-yellow, which is not a trait one normally associates with magnolias. All in all, ‘Butterflies’ does a lot to stand out and earn its distinction as one of our favorites. Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. For many years, all the children in my family were given amaryllis bulbs as Christmas gifts by my mother, and we’d rush to pot them and have a friendly contest to see whose bloomed first. Naturally, I used my green thumb to my advantage in these contests and often did fairly well, though there was never really any prize other than pride and bragging rights. Amaryllis bulbs (Hippeastrum sp.) are often sold with decorative pots for simple gifts during the Christmas season, sometimes as a to-be-assembled planting kit, and sometimes as potted plants that have been conditioned or forced to bloom for the season. The bulbs should be planted in a container with moist potting soil, with the shoulders of the bulb exposed. Keep them in a spot in the house that gets a good amount of natural light. As the first shoot emerges from the bulb, you may need to turn the pot occasionally to keep the stem growing straight and tall as it will have a tendency to lean towards a window or other light source. Water your amaryllis generously, but take care not to let the soil get overly soggy. Normally, it will bloom 6-10 weeks after planting. If you’re reading this now and you received an Amaryllis bulb at Christmastime, you’ve hopefully already planted it and maybe by now even had a bloom. Perhaps now you’re wondering what comes next. Although these plants bring us color in December and the early weeks of the new year, often times we’re not sure what to do with them after they’ve bloomed and they may even end up in the trash. However, there’s no reason not to hang on to them and allow them to bring joy the following year.
Above left: Amaryllis plants are often given as gifts, to be grown indoors. Read on for how you can plant them outdoors after they’ve bloomed, and get blooms year after year. Middle photo: 'Aphrodite' has double-blooming white flowers with pink and red feathering. Above right: 'Green goddess’ Amaryllis has white petals with green centers. Despite being native to more temperate climates in Central and South America, and frequently being treated as a houseplant here, amaryllis bulbs are actually cold hardy perennials, not only in zone 8a of Pitt County, but in colder climates to zone 7a. If you plant them outdoors in the proper spot and treat them with proper, yet fairly minimal care, they will return year after year in your landscapes. Here’s how to make that happen. Once the amaryllis blossoms begin to fade, remove them individually from the flower stalks. Cut back the stalks when all flowers have faded. Water the plant just often enough to keep the soil slightly moist, and apply a light fertilizer once a month until spring. In mid to late April, after the threat of frost has passed, you can plant your Amaryllis bulb in a sunny spot in the garden. They prefer organic soils that are well-drained. Like many large, summer blooming bulbs, they don’t like to be wet during the winter, so be sure not to plant them in any spots where water might accumulate and linger during the colder months. It may take some time for your bulb to acclimate to its new surroundings, and it might not even bloom the first year outdoors, but will provide spectacular summer color once established.  ‘Voodoo’ amaryllis have red petals with yellow streaks. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY 4.0 Amaryllis are in the Amaryllidaceae, or lily, family and have a recognizable lily-like flower and long slender leaves. Although many think of amaryllis blooms as being red, there are many cultivars that express different colors and color combinations. Some of the more notable include ‘Aphrodite’- double blooming white with pink and red feathering, ‘Minerva’- red petals with a central white star, ‘Apple Blossom’- white petals with pink feathering, ‘Green Goddess’- white petals with green centers, ‘Voodoo’- red petals with yellow streaks, and ‘Orange Sovereign’- yes, you guessed, it, orange petals. Some of these colors may not be as popular as Christmas gifts, but can often be purchased from bulb suppliers.
Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. Illicium, also known as anise shrub, is a genus of flowering shrubs, with 38 known species. Of those, two are most commonly found in our NC landscapes, Illicium floridanum and Illicium parviflorum. These are both medium-to-large evergreen shrubs, mostly valued for their ability to create a screen or hedge, and both have an interesting flower display. Illicium floridanum, as you might have guessed, is native to Florida, as well as several other southeastern states, Mexico, and Central America. It typically grows 6-10 feet tall and grows best in moist, acidic soils in full to partial shade. When crushed, the leaves emit a smell similar to licorice or the spice anise, hence the common name. This odor is pleasant, and a helpful identification feature that distinguishes this plant from others with similar shaped leaves. The flowers are maroon and have a small central disk with radiating slender petals, creating the visual of a multi-pointed star when they open in summer. The blooms are also fragrant, although the fragrance is not necessarily pleasant. It’s often described as ‘fishy’ or ‘oily,’ but it is not usually noticeable unless you’re actively trying to smell the flowers. There are a few interesting cultivars of Illicium floridanum that have features that are slightly different than the species. ‘Shady Lady’, for example, has variegated foliage with dark green blades and creamy white margins. ‘Halley’s Comet’ has ruby red flowers that are slightly larger than normal for the species. ‘Aztec Fire’ has reddish-burgundy flowers that last from late spring through fall. Finally, ‘Swamp Hobbit’ is a dwarf variety, slowly growing to a mature size of 2 feet high by 5 feet wide. It also has, let’s face it, a pretty great name.
Top left: A flower on a stem of Illicium floridanum, Anise shrub. Photo: S. Zona, CC BY-NC 2.0 Bottom left: Immature fruit. Photo: D. Hill, CC BY 2.0 Right: The clumping, full form of illicium parviflorum. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Illicium parviflorum is similar in many ways, particularly in terms of its preferences for soil and sun exposure, and its region of native origin. Key differences are that I. parviflorum typically grows to a larger size, at 10-15 feet high by about 10 feet wide. Bloom time is slightly earlier than I. floridanum, and the flowers have a pleasant, though somewhat faint, scent that is generally preferable to the less pleasing scent of I. floridanum types. The most notable of the I. parviflorum cultivars is ‘Florida Sunshine,’ a dwarf variety introduced by North Carolina’s own Plant Delights Nursery. At a height of 6-12 feet, this dwarf variety is slightly smaller than the typical species, though most Florida Sunshine cultivars that I’ve seen have been on the low end of that range. Flowers are yellow, and the foliage is a yellow-green, almost chartreuse color, which stands out and impacts the landscape twelve months out of the year.  'Florida Sunshine' is a dwarf variety introduced by North Carolina's Plant Delights Nursery. The bright yellow-green foliage provides vibrant color all year. Regardless of which Illicium makes the most sense for your landscape, note that the most important consideration when placing and planting them is to ensure they receive adequate shade. These plants are valued primarily for their foliage, whether it’s the ornamental appeal of the variegated ‘Shady Lady’ or the chartreuse ‘Florida Sunshine,’ or the dense lime-green coverage of any other type. When grown in too much sun, the leaves will burn along the margin, diminishing the aesthetic value substantially. As always, choose the right plant for the right place.
Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. Spring officially begins each year on the Vernal Equinox on March 20th. That’s what your calendar says. Ask a group of gardeners when the first day of spring is, however, and you might be surprised by some of the answers you’ll hear. Some might site the day of our last predicted frost, the day it’s ‘safe’ to plant annuals and warm season vegetables. In our area this is roughly April 15th. Some might pick the day their favorite spring-blooming tree or shrub blooms, whether it’s forsythia, dogwood, redbud, cherry, or something else. That could be just about any time in March or early April, depending on which plant they select. Some might choose the bloom time of the first “spring” bulb, be it daffodil, crocus, or tulip. That could mean their definition of spring starts as early as January or February. Still others will pick the first day it’s warm enough to work outside without a jacket. Perhaps it’s the unpredictability of the weather, changing from year to year, or the way some winters linger longer than others and some springs start early. Whatever the reason, it can be tough to build consensus on whether plants that bloom around this time are ‘winter-blooming’ or ‘spring-blooming,’ particularly if their blooms last long enough to blend officially or unofficially from one season to the next. Sometimes the common names of the plants give us a hint, at least of what the botanists want us to believe. One such plant is the winter jasmine, Jasminum nudiflorum  Above: Winter jasmine provides an early bold flash of color, blooming in January or February. This plant is a rapid grower, with shrubs up to four feet tall, and vines growing 10-15 feet tall. The flowers appear before the leaves. Photo: Margrit, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Winter jasmine is often confused with forsythia, another early-blooming shrub. Both have golden yellow flowers that are similarly tubular-shaped. Both bloom at a time when relatively few flowers are to be found in most landscapes. Winter jasmine, however, blooms as much as three to five weeks before forsythia in most years, meaning it may start flowering in January, certainly by February. Because of their similarities, they fill similar niches in the landscape – an arching deciduous shrub that provides an early bold flash of color to give a hint of what is to come in the remainder of spring and summer.
Above left: Bright yellow flowers pair with bright green stems to provide a welcome burst of color in the winter garden. Above right: The glossy green leaves grow opposite on the stem and are trifoliate (the leaf is divided into three leaflets). Both photos: J. Robbins CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Winter jasmine is native to Tibet and central China. As non-natives go, it is fairly well behaved. Branch tips touch the soil root easily, so if not attended, can creep from being an individual shrub to more of a thicket of multi-stemmed growth. From that standpoint, winter jasmine can be a bit ‘messy;’ however, it is usually not weedy from the standpoint of setting seed and popping up in unwanted places. An attentive gardener can keep it under control without extraordinary effort. It grows best in full to partial sun. It will tolerate heavy shade and grow reasonably well, but flowering will be limited in shade. Unlike forsythia which is somewhat non-descript in appearance once the flowers fade, winter jasmine has some interesting, if not overwhelming ornamental appearance, with both the glossy green trifoliate foliage and the bright green stems.
The Pitt County Arboretum’s Northside Plant Walk series is returning for 2025, and our first monthly iteration will be on March 14th at noon. The topic for this tour will be Straddling the Seasons- Am I Blooming in Winter or Spring? We will explore plants like winter jasmine, forsythia and so many others that bloom in and around this transitionary time of year. The tour is free, but we ask that you register at go.ncsu.edu/northsideplantwalks. Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. A few weeks ago, I wrote in this space about a flowering shrub called Pineapple Guava, a plant that produces fruit that resemble neither pineapple fruit not guava fruit. Today I think I’ll talk to you about banana trees that produce fruit but which don’t resemble bananas. Actually, that describes all of the hardy banana trees that grow in North Carolina. Perhaps this will require a bit of explanation. The yellow banana we are all used to seeing in grocery stores comes from a subgroup of varieties known botanically as Cavendish types within the species Musa acuminata. These plants are native to Southeast Asia, and are large herbaceous perennials that grow 12-20 feet tall. Bananas grow from corms, a type of modified underground stem. The above-ground portion that looks like a stem or trunk is actually a sheath formed by tightly rolled, unopened leaves. The fully open leaves at the apex of the plant are large and paddle shaped. This particular banana plant is only hardy to zone 10a or greater, meaning it requires winters where the average low temperature is at least 20 degrees higher than what we would have in Pitt County. Fear not, however, as there are banana plants that will grow in our climate, as you’ve no doubt seen. They just aren’t the same species as the plants that produce the Cavendish bananas, and thus their fruit bear relatively little similarity to those fruit. For instance, Musa velutina, is a smaller plant that grows to about 4 to 6 feet high, and 3 to 6 feet wide. It doesn’t produce yellow fruit at all; its fruit are actually pink. Although they form in clusters similar to Cavendish types, the individual pink bananas are only 1 to 3 inches long and though the flesh of the fruit is sweet and creamy, the fruits contain many hard black seeds, making eating them a bit of a chore. Thus we grow this hardy banana strictly for ornamental reasons, and it provides a tropical look and feel to landscapes, particularly when grown in proximity to companion plants like cannas, ginger lilies, palms, and elephant ears.
Above photos: Musa velutina, Pink Banana, produces pink fruit that is edible but full of hard seeds. Most people grow this hardy banana for ornamental reasons, providing a tropical look and feel to the landscape. Both photos: C. DeWitt, CC BY 4.0. Lower photo: Musa basjoo, Hardy Banana, also grows in Eastern North Carolina. It has large, paddle-shaped green leaves and greenish yellow fruit that is inedible. Photo: Illustratedjc, CC BY-SA 4.0  Musa basjoo is a slightly larger species that grows up to 14 feet tall and wide. Fruit are 2 to 4 inches long, greenish-yellow, and may look a little bit more familiar than the pink Musa velutina, but have little pulp and numerous seeds and are all but inedible. Musa basjoo is actually cold hardy to zone 5, meaning it can withstand low winter temperatures to -20 degrees. Both of the hardy banana types produce a similar yellow-orange “torpedo-shaped” flower, with reddish-brown bracts at the top of the stem (pink bracts in the case of Musa velutina). Though cold-hardy, the above-ground growth will turn brown in winter. Many gardeners pack leaves, straw, or similar organic materials around the base of the above-ground pseudo-stem during winter, but that isn’t usually necessary for us in hardiness zone 8. Grow these plants in full sun, with lots of moisture but well-drained soil. Be aware they will multiply, so provide plenty of space and be prepared to thin your stand every few years to maintain control. They can also be grown in large containers to limit size and spread, if desired. Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. For the second time in just a few weeks, I was writing and anticipating a winter snowstorm. The first time around, most of us got just a light glazing of sleet or freezing rain, but this time, we might actually got some real snow, and more than an inch or two. Since snow is on my mind, this week’s column is about a tree known as the American Snowbell, Styrax americanus. I previously mentioned this tree briefly in an article about a related plant, Carolina silverbell, Halesia carolina, but I believe the snowbell is worthy of its own feature. Styrax americanus is a small tree or large shrub native to the Southeastern United States, from Ohio to Florida and west to Texas. Like snow, the snowbell is not terribly common in North Carolina landscapes. In fact, the Japanese snowbell, Styrax japonicus, a slightly larger tree, is a bit more frequently used, but even that is not exactly a mainstay of our landscapes. Should we use American snowbell more? Maybe. It’s certainly quite attractive in bloom. The white bell-shaped flowers hang downward from the foliage-covered branches like snow drops falling from the sky. Bloom time is usually late spring, well after the new leaves have emerged, and thus the blooms compete somewhat with the foliage for attention, but more often than not win out. The flowers are sweetly fragrant, and attract a variety of birds and pollinators, including the Promethea silkmoth. Later in the fall, pollinated flowers turn in to small (1/3” long) grayish-brown fruits. Leaves will turn yellowish in autumn before falling, though the color change is not usually dynamic enough to be impactful.
 Top left: The American Snowbell would be a good fit in native plant collections, pollinator gardens, and rain gardens. Photo: J. Steakley, CC BY-SA 3.0 Top right: Close-up of a flower. They are bell-shaped and sweetly fragrant. Photo: T. Pottersfield, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Lower photo: A stem heavy with blooms in late spring. The flowers hang downward from the foliage-covered branches, like snowdrops falling from the sky. Photo: BlueRiverKitties, CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 In thinking about what plants need to offer in modern landscapes in order to fit in, we typically look for plants that either have a prolonged period of ornamental interest, or offer ornamental value in multiple ways throughout multiple seasons. American snowbell doesn’t really do that. It’s really only ornamentally interesting when it’s in bloom, and we don’t think or worry much about it when it’s not. When our eye isn’t drawn to it, it almost disappears from our mind. You still occasionally see plants like deutzia and mockorange that perform essentially the same way in landscapes, down to the white flowers. As long as we use those plants, then there’s still room for snowbell here and there. Maybe then, like snow, it’s fitting for this plant to only appear once in a great while so that it can be appropriately appreciated without wearing out its welcome.
You will find American snowbell growing naturally in wet areas such as river banks, marshes, and swamps. Therefore, if you do wish to add one to your landscape, you’ll need to do so in a rich, acidic, sandy soil with average to high moisture but good drainage. It would certainly be a good fit in native plant collections or pollinator gardens, and naturalized areas, provided the soil conditions are right, and it would be an ideal fit for use in rain gardens. Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. With the cold weather and the snow our area has experienced over the past few days, perhaps it’s a good time to consider the cold hardiness of our landscape plants. USDA Cold Hardiness Zone map shows that Greenville and most of Pitt County is zone 8a, meaning our average low winter temperature is between 10 and 15 degrees Fahrenheit. A small part of southeast Pitt County is zone 8b, reflecting an average low of 15 to 20 degrees. As gardeners, we sometimes try to push the boundaries of these hardiness zones, planting things from warmer climates and hoping for mild winters so that they’ll survive. But the truth is that there are plenty of zone 8a hardy plants that reliably survive our winters and give landscapes a sense of warmer air. One such plant is pineapple guava, Acca sellowiana, a flowering evergreen shrub native to South America. The name pineapple guava itself, combining the names of two separate tropical fruits, conjures up images of warmer climates, and the unusual flowers don’t look like they’re from around here. With cupped white petals wrapped around the lower half of each bloom, and purple and red stamens shooting upward like a volcanic eruption within the flower’s center, a pineapple guava in bloom will make you say, “What in the world is that?”
Above left: Pineapple guava is a hardy flowering, exotic evergreen shrub that survives our winters. It has silvery, gray-green foliage. Above right: The flower has a tropical appearance. In addition to being attractive, the flower is edible, said to taste like marshmallow. Photo: JC Raulston Arboretum, CC BY 2.0. Grown best in full sun to part shade, pineapple guava grows to 10-15 feet tall in its native habitat, but will more likely top out around 5 to 6 feet here in eastern NC. The flowers are not only attractive, but are also edible. They are reported to taste like marshmallows. I’ve never tried one, but now I’m suddenly in the mood for a smore. Flowers arrive in late spring. If you eat all the flowers, you won’t have any fruit, but those flowers you do leave on the shrub will develop into fleshy green fruit that mature into yellow berries. They take as much as 4-7 months to fully mature, and thus you shouldn’t expect an overwhelming bounty of fruit in most years. ‘Coolidge,’ ‘Nazemetz,’ and ‘Pineapple Gem’ are cultivars that have prolific fruit production and are self-fertile.
Above right: Leaves and flowers of the pineapple guava. The leaves are mostly green on top, and covered with whitish hairs on the underside. The contrast results in a silvery appearance. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Pineapple guava fits well in the landscape within fruit orchards, edible gardens, children’s gardens, or containers. It can be used as a specimen or as part of a hedge, will attract songbirds, and is seldom grazed by deer. It is generally free of any major insect and disease issues, and though not native to NC, it is a well-behaved exotic suitable for wider use in our landscapes.
Matthew Stevens is the County Extension Director and Horticulture Agent for North Carolina Cooperative Extension’s Pitt County Center. If you have questions about this article or gardening in general, please contact the Pitt County Extension Master Gardeners at [email protected] or 252-902-1705. |
Matt Stevens
Pitt County Extension Director & Horticulture Agent Archives
April 2025
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