Programs and events
On this page, you’ll find information about our events, programs and demonstration gardens. We’ll be adding more photos and details soon.
At our free Dig Deeper talks, we share information on a wide range of gardening topics with the community.
In fall 2026, all talks will be on Sundays, 2 to 3:30 p.m., at the Orange County Public Library, 137 West Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, NC 27278. Parking is available in the garage next to the library.
Upcoming talks:
Sept. 13, 2026, 2-3:30 p.m.: Gardening for Self Care. Speaker: Hannah Popish, who has an herb farm in Chatham County, will talk about growing medicinal herbs and using them for self care. (Please consult your health care provider before using herbal treatments.)
Oct. 18, 2026, 2-3:30 p.m.: Gardening for Pollinators in Our Changing Climate. Speaker: Danesha Seth Carley, a horticultural science professor at NC State University. She’ll talk about how to navigate the effects of warming weather on plants and pollinators.
Nov. 15, 2026, 2-3:30 p.m.: The Plant Toolbox. Speaker: Scott Zona, a botanist at NC State University who oversees the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. The Toolbox, maintained with help from Master Gardener volunteers, is the go-to resource for information about more than 4,000 plants in North Carolina and the Southeast.
Master Gardener volunteers host tables at the Eno River (Hillsborough) and Carrboro farmers’ markets. Stop by to see us! We love to talk about gardening.
Carrboro Farmers’ Market, 301 W Main St., Carrboro: We’ll be at the market from 9 a.m. to noon starting Sept. 12.
Eno River Farmers’ Market, 144 E. Margaret Lane, Hillsborough: We host a table every third Saturday from March to October. (The Sept. 19 market will be at the Bonnie B. Davis Environment and Agricultural Center.)
PROGRAMS
We work with school groups and youth programs to help kids learn about plants and gardening.
Our Community Seed Library offers packets of donated seeds to the community. We often distribute the seed packets at our events, such as Dig Deeper talks and at PlantFest.
PlantFest, our annual plant sale and garden festival, occurs on the second Saturday of October. We have lots of plants for sale and a fun garden festival that includes activities for children, exhibits about gardening, an art sale, food, music and more! Visit www.PlantFestNC.org for more information.
DEMONSTRATION GARDENS
Our Master Gardener volunteers have created several demonstration gardens in Hillsborough:
BONNIE B. DAVIS GARDENS (1070 US Hwy 70 West, Hillsborough, NC 27278):
The Bonnie B. Davis Environment and Agricultural Center, completed in 2021, houses offices for the Cooperative Extension; the Department of Environment, Agriculture, Parks and Recreation; Farm Services Agency; Soil and Water Conservation District; and the Orange County Forest Service. The Center was dedicated to the late Bonnie Briley Davis, a Family and Consumer Science Agent who dedicated her career to Orange County residents. It is the first county building named after a Black woman, and the only Center named after a Family and Consumer Science or Home Demonstration Agent.
Master Gardener volunteers of Orange County are developing new demonstration gardens at the Bonnie B. Davis center. The gardens, which will help local residents learn how to deal with garden challenges, are named in honor of the late Ms. Davis.
The existing landscaping at the Davis center was minimal when the building opened. Mart Bumgarner, Orange County horticulture agent, and Master Gardener volunteers saw opportunity in the nearly empty grounds for what was to become the Bonnie B. Davis Demonstration Gardens (BBD Gardens).
The goal of the BBD Gardens is to demonstrate good-gardening practices for the varied interests of Orange County gardeners. The original five gardens were designed by the EMG volunteer training class of 2022. Members of the class prepared the garden beds under the direction of Mart Bumgarner. They subsequently have propagated plants, sought funding for other plant materials and supplies, created raised beds, trellises, a composting site, and began plantings.
These initial gardens offer solutions to different challenges facing Orange County gardeners:
The D’Sign Garden examines the challenges highlighting a physically low sign identifying the building complex with plants that can withstand the hot, dry, yet humid heat of North Carolina summers.
The Slope Solution Garden offers solutions to problems of high summer heat and rain runoff on steep slopes.
The Creative Containers Garden showcases both temporary and permanent exhibits of planters in a patio area with challenges of variable shade and sun, as well as the need to move planters to facilitate alternative uses for the space.
The N.C. Native Plants Garden offers a display of plants native to our region in a largely shaded area.
The Year-Round Edible Garden features a variety of edible plants with yields at various times of the year.
Because education is the primary purpose of the gardens, EMG volunteers anticipate undertaking additional gardening initiatives in response to educational needs.
COURTHOUSE GARDEN (Orange County Courthouse, 106 East Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, NC 27278)
The Courthouse Garden in Hillsborough is a stormwater demonstration garden and the capstone project of the 2018 trainee class of the Master Gardener program of Orange County. The garden is in the parking lot behind the courthouse (near the entrance to the sheriff’s office).
Prior to the project, this was a badly eroded, barren median with 80% stormwater runoff. After we implemented stormwater garden design principles, there is zero stormwater runoff.
First, we identified the primary sources of stormwater causing erosion. These were the steep grade of the median and and water flowing from the truck beds of parked vehicles. Next, we improved drainage and protected the median from future soil compaction. Finally, we matched our plantings to the site conditions.
A 1-foot wide gravel edging captures runoff from parked vehicles and heavy rainfall.
Swales, attractive stones and gravel paths capture, redirect and promote infiltration of water.
We replaced compacted, poor-quality soil with high-quality soil and compost.
We used gravel paths to direct pedestrian traffic. Foot traffic causes soil compaction and damage to plants.
We chose primarily native plants that thrive in moist conditions.
GOLD PARK, 415 Dimmocks Mill Rd., Hillsborough, NC 27278
The Gold Park Pollinator Demonstration Garden in Hillsborough was created in 2014. Master Gardener volunteers wanted to beautify a weed-covered bioretention area and provide visitors a place to observe and learn about native pollinators.
Plants in this garden provide food and homes for pollinators their larval stages, such as butterfly eggs and caterpillars. They were chosen for the following qualities:
They are loved by bees, butterflies or other pollinators for nectar or as host plants.
They are seasonally balanced to provide interest in spring, summer and autumn.
They are balanced with respect to colors and heights.
Plants that continue to thrive at this location have staying power:
They tolerate drought and occasional flooding.
They tolerate full sun.
They do not need fertilizer other than compost/mulch.
They are not labor intensive to maintain.
Garden Creation
The Master Gardener volunteers of Orange County partnered with Boy Scout Troop 821 to clear the area, truck in topsoil and mulch to enrich the soil for perennial herbaceous plants and shrubs.
Bee Hotel
In 2016, Hillsborough became the 35th city to be named a Bee City USA. Dedicated in November 2017, the first bee hotel at the Gold Park garden provided a home for the 90 species of bees native to the area, many of which live solitary lives and seek a safe, tunnel-like dwelling to lay eggs and care for their young.
Our beautiful bee hotel was lost in the flooding from storm Chantal in July 2025. In the summer of 2026, we were grateful to John Martin and fellow Scouts from Troop 438 for building and installing new bee hotels at the Gold Park garden as well as our two other demonstration gardens.