Explore the Gardens

The second annual Brunswick County Botanical Demonstration Garden Open House will be held on Saturday, October 23.

The Brunswick County Extension Master Gardeners Volunteer Association invites the public to its second annual Open House on Saturday, October 23.

The Open House event will be held within the boundaries of the Brunswick County Botanical Demonstration Garden, where visitors will find 15 different outdoor spaces. The Extension Master Gardener volunteers will be on hand to answer gardening questions and provide helpful information about soil testing, native plants, pollinators and suitable coastal Zone 8 plantings.

Visitors will learn about the plants they can add to their own gardens that are deer resistant, and find out which plants entice butterflies and bees to visit along the Pollinator Walk. They can check out the display garden of Encore Azaleas, the South’s favorite flowering shrub, and the Edible Garden will inspire visitors to add vegetables to their front yard landscape.

If you have been told, “roses can’t grow here,” come see the success the gardeners have had with more than 40 varieties growing in this hot and humid climate in the Rose Garden. If your garden has been blessed with shade, their Shady Native Garden has many good ideas for you.

Camellias, hydrangeas and ferns are bountiful in the relaxing Live Oak Garden.

The soothing Reflection Garden, with its waterfall, pond and Japanese Maples, suggests a spot for meditation. Explore the Discovery Garden with its educational twist on bottle trees and a garden tunnel. The Sunny Native Garden demonstrates the benefits of growing natives when irrigation is limited. The Welcome Garden helps direct visitors from the backside of the Extension office to the front and is full of easy-to-grow and easy-to-find plants, just what you might want or have at your own backdoor.

Seasonal scents grow around an obelisk in the Fragrance Garden and give support to any ceremony that may be held next door in the green and white Celebration Garden. This garden has hosted many intimate weddings in the past two years and is available for other small gatherings by reservation (and at no cost for rental) through the Extension office.

Thermometers posted in the Micro-Climate Garden show the difference sunlight can make in temperature readings and plant behavior. Container gardening is located throughout the garden to inspire creativity for small spaces.

The newest garden space is the Curb Appeal Garden, which was designed and installed by the 2019 Master Gardener Intern class. Its purpose is to demonstrate to Brunswick County newcomers what will grow well here in their newly acquired landscape. There is a sunny space and a shady space in this garden to give you ideas for both. Incorporated in the sunny area is a Rain Garden that demonstrates how to slow water runoff during our heavy rain showers.

In response to the 2020 Open House cancellation due to COVID-19, the Extension Master Gardeners produced YouTube videos that spotlight each of these gardens. If you are unable to join the Open House on October 23rd, these videos are available for viewing on the Cooperative Extension YouTube channel.

Want to go?
Brunswick County Extension Master Gardeners Volunteer Association Second Annual Open House
Saturday, October 23, 9 am to noon
Botanical Demonstration Garden, Brunswick County Government Complex, 25 Referendum Drive (next to Building N), Bolivia
Parking is in the rear of Building N where access is closest to the gardens.
For more information, call Krystyna Ochota at the Brunswick County Cooperative Extension, (910) 253-2610.