Promoting Plumeria at the May 16 Plant Sale

The annual Master Gardener Plant Sale at the Pitt County Arboretum takes place this Saturday, May 16. In fact, it is our 20th anniversary plant sale. As we make our final preparations, my focus this week is on some of the plants for sale that have become hallmark plants for the Arboretum.

The first that comes to mind is Plumeria, also known as Frangipani. This is a tropical plant, the flowers of which are used in Hawaii to make leis, but we’ve grown one at the Arboretum for many years. It is not cold hardy, so each fall one of our Master Gardener volunteers digs up our 7-foot-tall shrub, brings it home to store in his garage through the winter, and then replants it in the Arboretum the following spring. Its unique stems, interesting foliage, and delightful blooms make it one of our most asked-about plants year after year. If you’re coming to the sale, look for the plumeria sticks, which can be easily stuck in the ground or in a pot to start your own plant.

I also love the yellow-blooming Southern Sundrops (Oenothera fruticosa), which grows near the plumeria at the Arboretum. This native perennial produces lemon, cup-shaped flowers throughout much of spring and summer, brightening the garden each and every day. While this plant brightens spring and summer, fall is owned by asters, chrysanthemums, and goldenrod.

We’ll have plenty of each, but my favorites are the ‘Sheffield Pink’ Mum that you can find in the Arboretum’s Welcome Garden, and the ‘Fireworks’ Goldenrod in the Butterfly Garden. ‘Sheffield Pink’ Mum is a spreading perennial with light pink daisy-like flowers in early to mid-fall, while ‘Fireworks’ Goldenrod is a waist-high perennial with sprays of yellow flowers resembling streaks of fireworks in the sky.

Top left: Hawaiians use plumeria blooms to make leis. The Arboretum has a plumeria tree and will be selling plumeria sticks at the Plant Sale. Top right: 'Fireworks' Goldenrod is a waist-high   perennial  with  sprays  of  yellow

flowers resembling streaks of fireworks in the sky. Photo: F.D. Richards, CC-BY-SA 2.0. Middle left: Sundrops is a native perennial whose lemon, cup-shaped flowers bloom throughout much of spring and summer. Photo: D. Roos. Middle right: The Red Hot Poker Plant has bright-red conical flowers atop tall slender stalks throughout early summer. Bottom left: Bronze Fennel is a fragrant culinary herb. that has the aroma and taste of licorice. It's also a magnet for caterpillars that will later become swallowtail butterflies. Photo: Q. Dombrowski, CC-BY-SA 2.

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A few of the Arboretum’s gardens, including the Children’s Garden and Fire Hydrant Garden, feature Red Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria). An aptly-named plant that looks like just what it is called, this drought-tolerant perennial has bright-red conical flowers atop tall slender stalks throughout early summer, setting gardens ablaze.

These are just a few of the many plants that will be available as part of our annual Master Gardener Plant Sale this Saturday, May 16, from 10 am to 12 noon, at 403 Government Circle in Greenville. Members of the Friends of the Arboretum program can enter early at 9 am. Proceeds support maintenance, improvements, and educational programming within the Pitt County Arboretum.  

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 Master Gardener Infoline at 252-902-1705.