In The Garden | 2013 - 2014 UNC-TV

Hummingbird Mint is an herbaceous perennial with violet-blue spikes of flowers and deep green foliage. It has an upright habit and grows about 2 feet tall and does not flop much. Hummingbird Mint starts flowering in late spring through summer. It attracts butterflies, hummingbirds and bees. It is also deer-resistant.

As a home gardener, there can be limits to what you can do on your own. That’s why it’s so important to know when and how to hire a professional for the job. Bryce talks with professionals in landscape design. And later, when it comes to maintaing a tidy garden, pruning is a must. Bryce shares a few pruning tools and techniques to keep your garden a cut above the rest.

Dancing Flames salvia is an annual with scarlet spikes of flowers and variegated leaves. It flowers in the fall and grows about 2-3 feet tall.

Bryce looks at a few popular trends for the home garden. Then he revisits a few planting projects in his own home landscape. It only takes a few weeks to see some major growth in the garden and that progress can unleash budding creativity and inspire planning for the next season.

Amistad Salvia is a hybrid salvia that grows 3-4 feet tall, shorter than most salvias. It has deep purple flowers with almost black calyces. Amistad salvia requires full sun, well-drained soil and attracts hummingbirds, bees and butterflies.

Permaculture, pollination, and protecting poultry and plants. This week is an introduction to sustainable living.

The Incense Passion Flower has deep purple 3-4" blooms that are fragrant. It is a fast-growing herbaceous perennial vine with medium green foliage. One of the hardiest passion vines, it requires full sun and regular pruining.

Bryce visits two private home gardens-- one in Wilmington, North Carolina and the other near Boothbay, Maine. Each garden has a very special story to tell and some great ideas for other gardeners to try in their own landscapes.

This gold form of Aralia has big, bold leaves and makes an outstanding accent plant in a shade or part shade environment. Sun King Aralia grows to about six feet tall and three or more feet wide. This deciduous shrub produces small clusters of white flowers in late summer followed by decorative purple berries.

Bryce explores color combinations for the home landscape. From foliage to flowers, the right color combinations help change a garden from drab to fab.

Bryce visits Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, ranked number one on TripAdvisor’s list of Top 10 public gardens in the country. He talks with Director of Horticulture and N.C. State graduate, Rodney Eason, and a current N.C. State student who is doing an internship at the garden.

Ornamental Onion is a perennial that has small lilac-purple flowers that form ball clusters. It grows about 10-24 inches tall and its leaves have a slight onion fragrance when crushed. Ornamental Onion is deer resistant and drought tolerant. It grows best in full sun..

grass that is an herbaceous perennial. It grows 2-3 feet tall with an equal spread. This is a slow-growing plant that takes about three years to get established. In late summer it produces beautiful pinkish tinged plumes.

When it comes to lawns in North Carolina, the type of grass you select, primarily depends on where you live… and of course, how much time you want to spend tending it. This week Bryce visits a sod farm in the western part of the state and learns more about the expertise of North Carolina sod producers. Then, he tackles the task of laying sod on his own.

This week, Bryce visits two gardens in North Carolina that are small in size, but making a big in impact in their communities--The New Hanover County Arboretum and Bullington Gardens in Hendersonville. Both gardens provide programs to help educate youth, adults, and those with special needs.

Double Purple Datura/ Jimson Weed is an herbaceous annual with large flowers that are purple on the outside and white to cream on the inside. It is a summer-flowering plant that grows from seed.

Massive, mounded and magnificent are just a few words to describe Japanese maples. This week, Bryce visits the Nichols brothers who have propagated thousands of Japanese maples for gardeners worldwide. Plus he features other trees that work well in the home landscape.

Hearty Fig is a small tree that grows well in North Carolina. It grows up to thirty feet with a rounded habit. The fruit are edible. Other popular cultivars include: Alma Fig, Brown Turkey Fig, Italian Honey Fig and LSU Purple Fig.

Roselle is an annual that dates back to ancient times. It propagates true from seed and grows 6-8ft. tall. Requires full sun to part shade, well drained soil. Small yellow flower and red fruit that is edibile.

New plants don’t just appear at your local garden center. Years, sometimes decades, of work go in to introducing new plants. In this episode, Bryce talks to a horticultural legend, Dr. Allan Armitage, about the research underway at the Trial Gardens at the University of Georgia. Then he visits a local nursery for at look at what’s new in the world of gardening.