Join us on Sunday, Oct. 18, 2-3:30 p.m., for a free Dig Deeper talk on “Gardening for Pollinators in Our Changing Climate.”

The talk will be at the Orange County Public Library, 137 West Margaret Lane, Hillsborough, NC 27278.

The speaker will be Danesha Seth Carley, a horticultural science professor at NC State University. If you’re thinking of starting or expanding a garden that encourages pollinating insects, this talk will be helpful!

At the November Dig Deeper talk (Nov. 15 at 2 p.m.), you can hear about The Plant Toolbox. The speaker will be: Scott Zona, a botanist at NC State University who coordinates the North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox. The Toolbox, with information on more than 4,000 plants that grow in North Carolina and the Southeast, is a go-to resource for gardeners.

(Photo of American bumble bee on Appalachian blazing star, by Debbie Roos.)

Get ready for PlantFest 2026, the annual plant sale and garden festival hosted by the Master Gardener volunteers of Orange County, NC.

PlantFest will be held THIS SATURDAY, Oct. 10, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., at Blackwood Farm Park, north of Chapel Hill.

We’ll have a huge plant sale, kids’ activities, helpful gardening exhibits, food, free seed packets and more! You don’t want to miss it!

Parking will be available at 1436 New Hope Church Road. Disability parking will be at the main park entrance at 4215 NC Hwy 86. New this year: A tram will shuttle people between the parking area and the event.

NOTE: If you are driving westbound on I-40, take Exit 266 and go north on NC Hwy 86 to New Hope Church Road, then turn left. The New Hope Church Road exit from I-40 West (263) is likely to be closed on Saturday because of road work.

Visit the PlantFest website - www.PlantFestNC.org - for more information. A plant list is available here.

The Master Gardener volunteers of Orange County host booths at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market and at the Eno River Farmers’ Market in Hillsborough.

We have a booth at the Eno River Farmers’ Market (144 East Margaret Lane, Hillsborough) on the third Saturday of each month, March to October. On Oct. 17, our last market day of the year, we’ll be there from 8 a.m. to noon.

Our booth at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market (301 West Main St., Carrboro) - is open from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays through Oct. 31. On Nov. 7 and 14, our last market days of the year, it will be open 9 a.m. to noon.

At both markets, we love to answer gardening questions or talk about plants. We offer soil testing boxes and other information. Please stop by and say hi!

(Photo by Eric Kurtz.)