News

Choosing flowering annuals at the garden center is always an easy task if you have celosias on your shopping list.

May is Older Americans Month…

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Many people view senior adulthood as a time to slow down and relax, but too much free time can lead to unhappiness.

David Buys, health specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said volunteer work and community involvement are good ways for seniors to enjoy retirement.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Spring rains created their typical obstacle course for Mississippi soybean growers trying to get fields planted as soon as possible.

“Growers are covering a lot of ground this week (May 8-13) trying to plant before the next rain,” said Trent Irby, soybean specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. “Frequent rains have made the planting season a challenge. Growers are planting all they can between these rains. Even with these challenges, we are only slightly behind where we were last year in terms of planting progress.”

RAYMOND, Miss -- This time of year is when swarms of honeybees settle in trees or shrubs as they leave their hives searching for larger places to live

BILOXI, Miss. -- Floral enthusiasts and professionals can attend a variety of hands-on floral design workshops this summer in Biloxi.

Jim DelPrince, floral design specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, will offer five individual workshops from May through August.

Four workshops are aimed at floral enthusiasts.

On May 26, participants will learn to create hemisphere arrangements, the classic half-globe-shaped centerpieces used for head-of-state dinners and wedding receptions.

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The American College of Theriogenologists has presented its highest honor to a professor in the Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Beef producers will hear reports of Mississippi State University’s research efforts related to a variety of livestock health and management considerations at a May 21 field day.

The free program will begin at 9 a.m. at the MSU Beef Unit, located south of the main campus in the Henry H. Leveck Animal Research Center.

One of the fun things about being the Southern Gardener is having the opportunity to share new and colorful plants with gardeners all across Mississippi and beyond.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Visitors to the Mississippi Horse Park will witness the most exciting minutes in sports as harness horses return to race around the renovated track in the first sanctioned events since 2006.

Bricklee Miller, manager of the Mississippi State University facility, said the races will begin around 2 p.m. on May 22. Admission is $5 per person, and concessions will be available. Bleachers will overlook the track, but she recommended lawn chairs and binoculars.

Miller said harness racing has a long history in the state.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- With the busy schedules many of us keep, it is hard to make time to spend outdoors with our kids, but this is a vital part of their development.

 A news article recently caught my eye with a report I found appalling. On average, prisoners spend more time outside than our youth do. To me, this is incredibly sad. Most of our schools are not doing much to help young explorers thrive.

Our children spend over 90 percent of their time indoors and more than 50 hours a week on electronic devices. Society needs to wake up before it is too late.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A cool, wet spring delayed growth of several summer grasses, but not the weeds that compete for space in fields and pastures across Mississippi.

Rocky Lemus, forage specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said the state has about 903,000 acres of bahiagrass and 770,000 acres of bermudagrass.

STARKVILLE, Miss -- Sometimes seeing is believing, and a group of early care and education providers got a firsthand look at what it takes to create high quality learning environments for young children.

Quality is the goal of all early care and education providers, but it might look different depending on resources and facilities. The Early Years Network recently hosted 36 early care and education providers and members of the staff from the Allies for Quality Care project based in Jackson for a tour of three different child care facilities to see quality in action.

BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. -- Jeramie Kelly nearly lost a leg, but he found his heart.

After a work-related accident left him unable to walk for almost three years, Kelly could not return to his job on a riverboat. Without a high school diploma, he had few other options.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Aging brings a variety of challenges to individuals, but taking steps to make sure family farms are inherited by relatives is a task that sometimes gets overlooked.

Older Americans Month in May is a good time to consider land succession, which is how land ownership often passes from one generation to the next.

Bryon Parman, Mississippi State University Extension Service agricultural economist, said the average age of Mississippi farm owners is 60. This age mirrors the national average and has risen steadily in the last few years.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine invites dog owners to enroll their pets in a new study.

In cooperation with local veterinarians, this research initiative is designed to develop practical and cost-effective methods of managing chronic diarrhea, a common condition in dogs.

Chronic diarrhea can be difficult for pet owners to manage, and community veterinarians often have to refer dogs to specialty centers, such as the MSU veterinary college, for care if commonly used treatments do not work.

A popular question I get when talking to home gardeners is, “If you could have only one flowering annual for the summer, what would it be?”

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The sight of a hummingbird darting from flower to flower announces spring’s arrival and offers hours of entertainment all summer long.

Many of us provide hummingbird feeders to increase the numbers of the tiny birds we see around our homes before they migrate back to their winter homes in Mexico and Central America.

CRYSTAL SPRINGS, Miss. -- Record-breaking rain and cloudy skies this spring increased disease problems in most of Mississippi’s strawberry crop and decreased the sweetness of the popular berries.

“It’s been one of the wettest Marches in years statewide, and the wettest March in history for Jackson,” said Bill Evans, a horticulture researcher with Mississippi State University. “When strawberry plants get wet and stay wet, they get diseased.”