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Gardeners are always asking me for low maintenance plants that they can incorporate into their landscapes. Gardening is, after all, hard work, and it can be frustrating to put a lot of effort into plants that struggle or succumb to one ailment or the other. Having at least a few plants in the landscape that you know will be alright whether or not you are able to give them your full attention can make taking care of the rest of them feel just a little less daunting. There are many plants I could recommend as “low maintenance” depending on the situation, but perhaps the most durable plant I know of, whether grown indoors or out, is Aspidistra elatior, the Cast Iron plant. Now, this perhaps goes without saying, but this plant does not look like cast iron; rather, it got its name because of the fact that it won’t break, bend, rust, rot, wilt, or die under almost any circumstance. It’s just one of the toughest customers in the plant world. It’s definitely not flashy, but it will survive. The Cast Iron plant grows best in shady spots, the type of garden spots where you might grow hosta, ferns, or solomon’s seal. Growing to a height of 2 feet tall and forming clumps as much as 3 feet wide, it can serve either as a substitute for or complement those other shade-loving perennials.
Lower left and lower right: Goldfeather' and ‘Lennon’s Song’ are striped striped cultivar. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY 4.0. Upper right: The spots on the 'Milky Way' cultivars stand out against the green background. Leaves emerge directly out of the ground, with 7-12 inch petioles and leaf blades up to 12-18 inches long. They are oval-shaped, and most often solid green. Again, they are not flashy, although there are a few colors with variegated leaf color that are a bit more interesting. These include the cultivars ‘China Stars,’ ‘Milky Way,’ and ‘Well Spotted,’ each of which has dots of white speckled across a green background, and striped cultivars such as the yellow and green ‘Goldfeather’ and ‘Lennon’s Song’ and the green and white ‘Mangetsu’ and ‘Variegata’. The variegated cultivars are a bit more interesting and remind one of the many different variegation patterns of hosta.
While not grown for their flowers, the Cast Iron plant does have some, sort of. They are not typically seen by gardeners, as they occur just at or even below the soil surface, often hidden by dense foliage, mulch, and top soil. The clever horticulturist Tony Avent says they are “best appreciated by moles” due to their location. They bloom sporadically, usually in early summer, and the flowers are actually pretty interesting to behold, as they are a cup-shaped inflorescence with 7-20 petals, ranging from cream-colored to purple. Flowers will occur with a little more frequency in higher light environments, although the foliage may burn a bit in these types of settings, so it's usually best to grow this plant in the shade. Cast Iron plant is commonly used as a houseplant, and also thrives in low-light environments indoors. 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 Gardener Infoline on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 10 am to 12 noon at 252-902-1705.
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While some might think of gardening as an activity for just the warmer months, experienced gardeners and plant lovers recognize that gardens and landscapes have something to offer in all four seasons. Sure, spring and summer is mostly about flowers, with colorful blooms visible on any number of trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants anywhere you look. Fall has fewer blooms, but gives us the delightful change in foliage color associated with many of our deciduous trees and shrubs. As the calendar gets set to turn into winter, those colorful leaves have just about all fallen, and many of those trees and shrubs are bare. So where do we look for color and interest in winter landscapes? In many ways, winter is the season for berries, and perhaps no plant showcases the winter berry attribute like the holly. There are, of course, many different species of holly, but so many of them have something to offer during the winter months. First, there is the American holly, Ilex opaca, our native evergreen holly. Ilex opaca is often found growing in mixed forests, and can be used in larger landscapes as a specimen tree, or as a screen, but is not well suited for small landscapes as it grows to a height of 40-60 feet tall. Plants are dioecious, meaning individual trees are either male or female. Only the females produce berries, but a nearby male is needed for pollination. ‘Greenleaf’, at 20-30 feet mature height, and other female cultivars of American holly, are better suited to smaller landscapes.
Left: The ‘Nellie R Stevens’ holly, a cross between the English and Chinese hollies, is a pyramidal-shaped evergreen popular in modern landscapes. Above right: Berries from the 'Savannah holly.' Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Below right: Holly berries and leaves. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 There is also the well-known ‘Nellie R Stevens’ holly, a cross between the English and Chinese hollies, which is monoecious (self-fertile) berry-producing, pyramidal-shaped evergreen popular in modern landscapes. It too can be used either as a specimen or screen. At up to 30 feet tall and 20-25 feet wide, it provides a dense growth nearly as wide as tall. Foster’s holly (Ilex x attenuata ‘Fosteri’) and Savannah holly (Ilex x attenuata ‘Savannah’) grow to a similar height as ‘Nellie R Stevens’, but are both slightly more slender, at 10-15 feet wide. Both Foster and Savannah are heavy berry producers with clusters of pea-sized red fruit from early fall through late winter.
The aforementioned English holly can be a bit difficult to grow in the Southern U.S. However, its classic combination of red berries and sharply toothed dark green foliage is the blueprint for traditional holiday décor, and in fact is often referred to as Christmas holly. The Meserve holly, sometimes referred to as blue holly due to its especially dark shade of foliage, is the most visually similar holly that we grow in Eastern N.C. Many of the blue holly cultivars, such as ‘Blue Prince’/’Blue Princess’ and ‘Blue Boy’/’Blue Girl’ are dioecious male and female pairs and are typically medium sized shrubs used in foundation plantings or hedges. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the Winterberry holly, Ilex verticillata, while discussing hollies that bear fruit in winter. Winterberry is especially adapted to wet sites, and unlike the others mentioned, is deciduous. Its bare stems dappled with dark red berries can absolutely dazzle in the right setting. 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. While I love gardening in Eastern North Carolina for many reasons, there are a few favorite plants of mine that I wish were better fits for our climate. I have lived in Massachusetts, Maryland, and a few different parts of North Carolina, so naturally I’ve encountered some plants in previous lives that don’t do quite as well here due to climate or soil differences, but I still have fond memories of them. One of those plants is the Sourwood tree, Oxydendrum arboreum. The first time I remember seeing a Sourwood tree, I was perhaps ten years old. My parents had just planted a new tree in the backyard, right in the shallow left field area of the imaginary baseball field my friends and I sometimes played on. I remember being annoyed that this new tree got in our way and I would occasionally mutter under my breath about how inconvenient it was. A few years passed, I became interested in plants and landscaping, and went off to college to study horticulture. Then one summer I came home, looked out the kitchen window to see my parents’ sourwood tree in full bloom and thought, “My God, that’s beautiful.” Sourwood has small, white, bell-shaped blooms arranged in long, drooping panicles in early summer. Flowers are fragrant and resemble both lily of the valley (it is sometimes referred to as lily of the valley tree) and the Japanese andromeda shrub. In fact, Sourwood was previously classified in the genus Andromeda before it was re-named as Oxydendrum. The blooms sit atop the glossy green foliage and create an effect similar to a snow-covered tree in winter. Even as the individual flower petals drop, the finger-like stalk of the panicles remain, extending the visual impact. A bronze fruit capsule develops post-bloom, which adds interest.
Top left: The white, bell-shaped blooms left: The white, bell-shaped blooms of the Sourwood tree are fragrant and resemble both lilies of the valley and the Japanese andromeda shrub. Photo: Mrs. Gemstone, CC BY-SA 4.0 Top right: The flowers are arranged in long, drooping panicles in early summer. Photo: W. Cutler, CC BY 4.0. Bottom left: The striking red fall foliage is among the most attractive of all fall colors. Photo: S. Kaiser, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Bottom right: In summer, the flowers sit atop the glossy green foliage. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Sourwood trees are native to a large part of the Central and Eastern United States from Pennsylvania south to Florida and as far west as Ohio and Louisiana. Although they are found throughout North Carolina, they are much more common, and better suited, to the western half of the state. Perhaps you’ve seen sourwood honey for sale and wondered where that honey comes from. The answer is that it likely came from areas in the mountains where beehives were placed in proximity to groves of sourwood trees. While not ideal for our area, they theoretically could be a fit in some butterfly/pollinator gardens or rain gardens, as they attract and provide habitat for many species of butterflies, and are also tolerant to a range of soil moistures.
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. Many factors go into choosing which plants we use in our landscapes. For most of us, the primary concern is the aesthetic value of the plant – how it looks in our yards. We all have different tastes, so we may value plants differently in this way, but I imagine appearance is at or near the top of almost everyone’s list when choosing plants. We may also factor in things like the smell or feel of a plant, its country of origin, or its relative ease of care. Some gardeners may, at least on occasion, make plant selections based not only on how well a plant performs inside the garden, but also outside of the garden. I’m thinking of Aucuba japonica, the Japanese Aucuba, which is not only a stalwart of gardens used in foundation plantings and other landscape settings, but also a plant prized for its foliage in flower arrangements, centerpieces, wreaths, and other types of indoor decoration. Aucuba Japonica is a mid-sized evergreen shrub that does very well in partial to full shade. Various resources will tell you it can grow to 6-10 feet tall and 4-6 feet wide, though I can’t remember ever seeing one that large. They are often used as foundation plants or as low screens or hedges, and may be pruned either by the gardener who cares for it or by grazing deer who also seem to love it. Leaves may be solid green, as long as 6-8 inches, with a glossy finish and somewhat leathery feel. However, leaves are often variegated, with yellow spots and streaks.
The cultivar known as ‘Variegata,’ often referred to as Gold Dust Aucuba, features leaves that are dazzlingly spotted with blotches of yellow. While this is the most popular Aucuba cultivar, it is not the only one, and each differs in its foliar display. Mature leaves of ‘Picturata’ resemble Gold Dust, but newest leaves emerge with a wide yellow streak through the middle between dark green leave margins. ‘Sulphurea Marginata’ does the opposite. The center part of each leaf is a slender streak of green, but the rest of the leaf is golden yellow. Even the cultivars with solid green leaves, like ‘Nana,’ a dwarf, compact Aucuba, and ‘Pacman,’ another smaller cultivar that also has contorted leaves, are attractive, as the foliage stands out amidst other shrubs with smaller, duller, or more traditionally shaped leaves.
Aucuba is easy to grow in the right spots. It likes moist, well-drained, slightly acidic soils in partial to full shade. It can have some problems with pests like scale, or deer, and it can suffer from root rot if soil drainage is poor. Its prized foliage can also burn if grown in full sun, so protection is important. Its insignificant spring flowers usually go unnoticed, and female plants do produce a modest display of red berries in fall and winter, but its glorious foliage is undoubtedly the main reason for growing Aucuba. 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. Have you ever visited somewhere else with a slightly different climate or soil type and noticed a different style of landscaping or a different collection of plants that filled those landscapes? If so, perhaps you left wondering why we don’t grow those same plants at home or whether we could if we tried. North Carolina is proud to be home to both mountains and beaches, which means we don’t have far to go in either direction to encounter new worlds of plants. Perhaps you’ve spent some time at the beach, in which case you’ve no doubt encountered Sea oats, Uniola paniculata, a long-lived native warm-season grass used for dune stabilization. Plants grow 6 feet tall by 2 feet wide, and produce a panicle inflorescence that gives way to flat tan seedheads. 
Top photo: Sea oats are grown at the beach for dune stabilization. Middle row, left: The seed head has long slender foliage attached to stiff stems. Seed heads emerge green in spring, turn tan in summer, and purple in fall. Photo: K. Schultz, CC BY 2.0 Middle row, right: Seed head in late summer, as it begins to turn color. Photo: Klasse im Garten, CC BY 2.0 Lower row, left: Leaves and fruit. Photo: J. Robbins, CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 Lower right: Sea oats are a clump-forming type of grass that spreads by both seeds and rhizomes. Photo: J. Robbins, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 While you won’t see this plant much outside of its typical coastal usage, there is an alternative that, while not especially common, is a little better suited for usage throughout the rest of our state. This alternative is Northern Sea Oats, Chasmanthium latifolium, also known as River Oats, Inland Sea Oats, or Indian Wild Oats. Northern Sea Oats is a native herbaceous perennial grass, found from Central Canada, throughout the Central and Eastern United States, and Northeast Mexico, and it was named the 1994 NC Wildflower of the Year by the North Carolina Botanical Garden.
Northen Sea Oats grows to about 5 feet tall, with long slender foliage attached to stiff stems that sway in the breeze. Panicle-type flowers bloom from June to October, and form flattened seed heads that change from green to tan to purple as they mature from July through November. While a bit unconventional looking, the appearance of a mass of these seedheads is both interesting and attractive, and fits well in wildflower or natural garden plantings. It is also a good fit in plantings near bodies of water or in rain gardens. Northern Sea Oats is a clump-forming type of grass. It spreads by both seeds and rhizomes, and some may consider it weedy due to its propensity to spread. However, as long as you provide adequate space for it to spread, it shouldn’t be problematic. As a native, it is useful in attracting and feeding a variety of butterflies, birds, and small mammals, though deer tend to leave it alone. 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. Asters, mums, and goldenrod rightfully get a lot of the attention, but they are far from the only fall-blooming perennial flower to be celebrated in fall gardens. One that I’m particularly fond of that doesn’t get a whole lot of recognition is Conoclinium coelestinum, Blue Mistflower. A native perennial wildflower found throughout the East Coast from Canada to Georgia, Blue Mistflower has a long bloom period, starting in mid- to late summer and lasting until the first hard frost of fall. While not part of the Aster genus Symphyotrichum, it is part of the Asteraceae, or Daisy, family, and thus shares some similarities with true asters. Mistflowers’ blooms are not the classic daisy shape one might expect from this family of plants, rather, the individual blooms are a fuzzy flat disc lacking the rays of a daisy. Flowers are a light shade of blue – baby blue, Carolina blue, sky blue, call it whichever you wish. This plant is sometimes called hardy ageratum, due to the visual similarity of its flowers to the annual ageratum. 
This native wildflower spreads by both rhizome and seed, and can become somewhat weedy if left unchecked. We have it growing in the Pitt County Arboretum in both the Butterfly Garden and Wildflower Garden, and with some occasional thinning it is relatively well-behaved. It is typically found growing along roadsides and in moist ditch banks, which shows the range of tolerance it has for different levels of soil moisture. It will tolerate a bit of shade, but flowers best in full sun. Bees, butterflies, and other pollinators enjoy the nectar-rich flowers and this plant is often included in pollinator-themed gardens for that reason. If you are growing blue mistflower in hopes of supporting pollinators, you may have better results in average to moist soils rather than dry ones. Plants will grow 18-36 inches tall and wide.
Gardeners may occasionally encounter another species of mistflower, Conoclinium greggii, which is quite similar in a number of ways from size to flower color. This species is native to the Southeastern United States. As you might expect based on that fact it is slightly less cold hardy, C. greggii will still likely function as a perennial in Eastern NC, but C. coelestinum is a better choice for our gardens under most circumstances. Both species are relatively pest free, with the only real problems of note being an occasional minor infestation of aphids or powdery mildew. It’s a great plant to add late season color in pollinator gardens, native plant collections, water gardens, or natural areas. 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. It’s not often that a single bloom on one plant in a garden becomes a newsworthy event; however, there is one notable exception that seems to pop up once in a while. Perhaps you’ve heard of the Corpse Flower, or titan arum, a unique plant native to Southeast Asia known for both the enormous size of its singular flower and the incredible pungency produced by that bloom. Corpse Flower, known botanically as Amorphophallus titanium, is the kind of plant you typically only see in botanical gardens, arboreta, university greenhouses, or other public-garden spaces. Any garden that has a corpse flower is happy to show it off on the rare occasion of its bloom, which may only happen once every 7 to 10 years, and last for as little as 36 hours. Long lines of people will wait for a chance to see and smell this rare flower that is as large or larger than they are, and some watch on live internet streams as the gigantic blossom slowly opens. This is not the type of plant that an average, or even above-average gardener can grow in their backyard for a few reasons. First, this plant is not cold hardy in our area. Secondly, it needs pretty meticulous and specialized care to survive and thrive. There are, however, more accessible Amorphophallus relatives that offer some of the same interesting characteristics and conversation-starting curiosity. You might be reading this and silently asking yourself why you would want a stinky flower in your yard. You may not, but not all gardeners like solely the knock-your-socks off, traditionally pretty plants. Some of us like the weird stuff, too. Maybe you’re always looking for the next unusual plant to add to the garden, or perhaps you are a Halloween enthusiast and want something ‘spooky’ to plant this fall. This could be just what you’re looking for.
top. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY 4.0 Top right: Flower, close up. The central, phallic-like stalk is called a spadix. Photo: J. Celinski Bottom left: The stem has an intricate snakelike pattern. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Bottom right: Berries from the pollinated flowers ripen from bright pink to blue. Photo: C. DeWitt, CC BY 4.0 Amorphophallus kiusianis, known as Voodoo Lily, is sort of like a miniature version of the corpse flower, growing 2-4 tall and 1-3 feet wide. It produces a similar vase-shaped inflorescence called a spath, with a central phallic-like stalk called a spadix. The flowers are purplish-brown, with some white in pink buried inside, and while they are not as powerful as the larger Amorphophallus, the Voodoo Lily shares the same type of unpleasant odor. However, the blooms only last about a day. The foliage is actually quite attractive, with a long, slender petiole that emerges from the ground, spotted in a snakeskin-like pattern, with an umbrella-like leaf that unfolds at the top. If you’ve got a shady area and are bored with hosta, ferns, and Solomon’s seal (all great plants, don’t get me wrong), Voodoo Lily is something different that you can mix in to keep things interesting.
Voodoo Lily grows from a corm, an underground bulb-like growth structure. They are hardy and can be kept outdoors overwinter under the right conditions, but the corms can also be dug up and stored indoors and replanted the following spring. 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. Hot on the heels of the fragrant Tea Olive, the last featured plant, is another sweet-smelling fall bloomer, the Ginger Lily. Known botanically as Hedychium coronarium, Ginger lily is a tropical herbaceous perennial in the ginger family. Unlike its culinary relative Zingiber officinale, Ginger lily is grown primarily for its aesthetic characteristics in the landscape rather than its edible value. Ginger lily typically grows to a height of 3-6 feet tall, with a width of 2-3 feet. Its lush foliage generates a tropical vibe in gardens where it is planted, and thus it pairs well with plants such as cannas, hardy bananas, and elephant ears. Ginger lilies do best when planted in moist, well-drained soils in full sun to dappled shade. Leaves are long and slender, and are arranged alternately on long thick stalks. Each stem almost resembles a corn stalk, and the sum total of multiple stems growing together in a clump produces a plant that it is roughly the size of a medium shrub, though composed of entirely herbaceous, non-woody parts. 
In late summer through fall, ginger lilies begin to bloom, and it is during this time that they really draw the attention of gardeners. The individual florets emerge from a florescent spike, gradually opening from the bottom to the top, over a period of several weeks to several months. The individual floret may only last a day or two, but flowering continues with new florets emerging continuously through the bloom period. Flowers are attractive; they are both colorful and uniquely shaped. Standard bloom color is white, but many cultivars have colors ranging from yellow, to orange, pink, and red. Ginger lily is sometimes referred to as butterfly ginger, a reference to the flowers, which resemble a butterfly with its wings spread. In addition to their visual impact, ginger lilies are powerfully fragrant, producing a sweet, floral aroma frequently described as heavenly. Though not typically grown for its culinary properties, the rhizomes are edible, and spicy, just like its cousin Zingiber, and can be used similarly in the kitchen. Ginger lilies can tolerate a bit of extra moisture on occasion during the warmer months of spring and summer, but dislike being wet during the colder months of the year, a characteristic shared with many other plants that grown from bulbs, rhizomes, or tubers, including the aforementioned elephant ear. They are perennial plants, hardy to zone 7a. However, if you can’t ensure an adequately drained soil during the winter, tubers can be dug up and stored indoors before being set in the ground outdoors the following spring. If doing so, store surrounded by a loose covering of peat or vermiculite in a cool, dark, and dry location. 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. I enjoy my job for many reasons. Each day is a little different. I am always learning new things and get to share that knowledge with others, and the satisfaction of helping others by answering their questions or assisting them in their quest to solve a problem is tremendously gratifying. Yet on some days, the reason why I love my job is much simpler. For the past three weeks or so, one of the best things about my job is the scent I inhale, each and every time I walk in and out of my door. The plant responsible for this delightfully sweet aroma is one I’ve written about before, and though I try not to repeat myself in this column, I’m just going to have to break that rule this week. It’s not just me. We’ve had a number of visitors to the building come inside or corral staff members outside to ask which plant is responsible for the fragrance. The plant in question is Osmanthus fragrans, commonly known as Fragrant Tea Olive or Sweet Osmanthus. Now, normally when a plant stops you in your tracks or inspires such wonder, it’s due to something visual- jaw-droppingly beautiful flowers, strange or unique foliage, or some other aesthetic trait. Osmanthus, however, is one of the most average, non-descript shrubs we use in our landscapes. It’s a broadleaf evergreen with slightly glossy leaves that would be hard for the average gardener to distinguish from at least half a dozen other shrubs that share similar traits. Even the flowers are barely noticeable, visually, as the individual blooms are each less than an inch wide and tucked into the leaf axils on interior branches. That is not to say it’s an unattractive plant. It’s perfectly fine in its averageness. It is, however, the kind of plant you barely notice until someone points out to you that it is responsible for the glorious aroma you’ve been trying to identify.
So how do you use a plant like Osmanthus in the landscape? As a dense broadleaf evergreen, it can be used as a tall hedge or screen in the same way plants like ligustrum, many hollies, and eleagnus often are. It can be used at the back of a perennial or mixed border garden, where it allows shorter, showier plants in front of it to shine when they are in bloom, but contributes the sensory element of fragrance when it blooms first in spring and then again in fall.
It’s important to note that there are several types of osmanthus and not all have the same scent we associate with Osmanthus fragrans. Osmanthus heterophyllus, which is a plant with sharp spiny leaves that many people mistake for a holly, has no substantial fragrance, though it is arguably more attractive than Osmanthus fragrans. If you’re searching the nursery for that overlooked plant with the fantastic smell, make sure you go home with the right Osmanthus! 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 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. There are certain rules we follow if we adhere to the traditional dogma of landscape design. These rules tell us what plants can be planted where, what types of plants work well in combination with each other, even what shapes, textures, and heights are most appealing. As is often the case, these rules serve as a helpful guide, but strict adherence to them can be boring or even problematic. Take for example the way edible plants have typically been incorporated into residential landscapes. Traditionally if you grew vegetables, you did so in a large rectangular shaped vegetable garden somewhere in the backyard. If you had fruit trees, or grape vines, or blueberries, they were likely similarly confined to a particular section in the backyard. However, as property sizes shrink, the trend of incorporating these plants into flower beds and mixed areas, referred to as edible landscaping, has become more common. Perhaps the natural extension of erasing the lines between where edible plants and ornamental plants is to breed ornamental versions of favorite edible plants. We’ve seen this with sweetpotato, our state vegetable. Ornamental sweetpotato cultivars have been bred to highlight the color and texture of the foliage, and these are now commonly used in containers, hanging baskets, or as groundcovers. This weekend, my wife went shopping for some fall decorations for the porch and yard, and came home with classic “fall” plants like mums and sunflowers, but also with a few different types of ornamental peppers. These plants are the same species, Capsicum annuum, as the peppers we eat, but are cultivars that have been bred specifically to enhance their ornamental characteristics (color, size, and shape of the fruit), more so than the flavor or taste.
Ornamental pepper cultivars are often more compact than the varieties we grow for food, and fruit tend to form primarily at the apex of each stem rather than along the stem and in leaf axils. These smaller plants are easy to fit in containers, or pop into the ground to fill empty spaces in sunny flower beds in late summer or fall, and the cluster of fruit at the top creates a striking visual display during a time of year where flower color in the garden begins to become sparse. The cultivar that my wife purchased is called ‘Medusa,’ which forms red, long, skinny, Cayenne-like fruit that point in all directions, resembling in full bloom the mythical character Medusa’s head of snakes. Other popular ornamental cultivars include ’Basket of Fire,’ which produces fruit in a mix of orange, yellow, and red, resembling a burst of flames, and ‘Purple Flash,’ a purple-leaved variety with small rounded fruit that are almost black.
Wherever you choose to plant your ornamental peppers, make sure they are in full sun, and have moist, well-drained soil. They can tolerate being a little on the dry side, but they don’t like being overly wet, so providing adequate drainage is very important. 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
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April 2026
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