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I'm sticking with the butterfly garden theme again this week as I tell you about another must-have plant that I'm positive will not disappoint. Pentas are some of the best annual, summer-color plants, and they act like a magnet for butterflies and hummingbirds because the flowers are a rich source of nectar.

Mississippi residents who live near the water often consider ways to protect shorelines from erosion. Construction of living shorelines is a popular technique, but it can be hard to find qualified contractors to build these structures.

Tabitha McRunnels' career spent teaching young children evolved into one devoted to teaching mothers how to feed their kids nutritious meals on limited funds.

McRunnels is a nutrition educator with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program -- or EFNEP -- in Lee County. She is part of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, which administers EFNEP through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

A nationwide community program that helps limited-resource families learn how to eat healthy and live an active life is celebrating 50 years of nutrition education to Mississippians in 2019.

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program -- or EFNEP -- is a federal program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

Challenges facing new farmers and ranchers will be the focus of a field day at the Mississippi State University Beaumont Horticultural Unit.

Researchers and Extension specialists from across the Southeast will help goat and sheep producers expand their knowledge on various aspects of the industry during a workshop on small ruminant production.

Coastal area agricultural producers met with Mississippi State University researchers and Extension Service agents to discuss the research and education they need from the university in 2019. 

There's still plenty of time to plant some butterfly weed in your home garden and enjoy colorful Monarch butterflies as they visit this summer.

Marine debris is a growing problem, but the solution is staring at us in the mirror.

The number of people in Mississippi taking up beekeeping as a hobby is growing, and commercial-scale production is holding steady -- for now.

Thank goodness spring has arrived!

After what seems to be an eternity, I finally had a chance to do some much-needed work in my landscape and garden. The pleasant weather we’ve had only adds to my enthusiasm.

Landowners will receive insights into oil and gas lease issues during daylong educational events April 30 in Oktibbeha County.

American sycamores can grow to be large and stately with mottled bark of white and green and huge, shallow-lobed leaves. Their wood has a number of uses, including furniture, boxes, crates, paper and butcher blocks (because of its hardness). Sycamores are also widely used as ornamental trees throughout the East, South and Midwest.

A Mississippi State cotton agronomist is the new head of the university's Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Darrin Dodds, a 12-year veteran of the department, takes the helm April 1.

Southern Gardening host and columnist Gary Bachman earned a 2019 Great American Gardener Award from the American Horticultural Society. Bachman is a horticulturist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service working from the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi. He received the American  Horticultural Society's B.Y. Morrison Communications Award, which recognizes effective and inspirational communication through print, radio, television or online media with the goal of advancing public interest and participation in horticulture.

Many folks have been waiting for this moment - the day it's warm enough and past the main threat of frost to become tomato planting time.

Mississippi turkey hunters should reflect on the wild turkey's history in our great state and never take this majestic bird for granted. Historically, Mississippi's landscape was rich with wild turkeys. Writings from early explorers, and naturalists who came later, suggest turkeys were plentiful throughout much of the state. However, by the early 1900s, Mississippi's wild turkey population was in serious decline.

Recent rainfall in north Mississippi has flooded many areas and made much Delta farmland unworkable as the time approaches for planting and other traditional tasks.

Peak flea season is in the spring and summer, but in warmer areas like the South, successful flea control is a yearlong battle. (Photo by CanStock)

What a crazy late winter and early spring we’ve had so far this year: warm, cold and repeat.