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Southern Gardening from 2005

Very early in the season, Miss Mary Mary offers single-petalled, small, gold blooms on 12- to 17-inch stems. Then fluffy, double-petalled blooms begin appearing with increasing number on repeat bloom scapes throughout the summer and until frost.
January 6, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The All-American Daylily Selection Council recently announced the 2005 additions to its growing family of winners. Red Volunteer, a striking crimson, is the 2005 winner in the exhibition category. Miss Mary Mary, a petite gold, won in the landscape category.

Not all winter landscape appeal comes from colorful bark. The weeping mulberry may be unsurpassed in beauty because once its leaves have dropped, it reveals its fantastically twisted and gnarled branches.
January 13, 2005 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

There is so much to enjoy and see in the winter garden once trees and shrubs have been stripped bare of foliage. The dormant season reveals whether or not we planned for form and structure in our gardens.

Garden centers are getting in fresh flower selections that can help add a little color to dried-out landscapes.
January 20, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Blame it on last fall's warm weather, but I procrastinated and simply did not plant cool season flowers. My pentas, Joseph's coats and Mexican heather looked good almost until Christmas.

Perhaps you, too, had salvias, lantanas, verbenas or some other perennials that will return next spring but now look a little like tumbleweeds in the soil. We can correct this color deficiency fairly quickly.

Growing fresh produce can be as simple and fun as growing a basket of cabbage, cherry tomatoes or this lettuce hanging basket.
January 27, 2005 - Filed Under: Vegetable Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Despite recent weather ups and downs -- by the time you read this, the temperature may be 75 or 17 degrees -- be assured that planting time is not too far away. Consider planting in containers this season for a fun, new gardening experience.

Thousands of star-shaped blooms show out against the dark green leaves of the Kousa dogwood.
February 3, 2005 - Filed Under: Trees

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Last year I was giving a program in Oxford and just outside the building on campus was the most beautiful Kousa dogwood in full bloom. I muttered to myself that if everyone could see it, they would know why I put it high on my list.

The sprays of yellow blossoms opening up on this Mahonia signal that, groundhog or no, spring is right around the corner.
February 10, 2005 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I was at an office complex last week when I noticed the Mahonias right outside the door were just beginning to open up their sprays of yellow blossoms. It's like a signal, groundhog or no, that spring is around the corner.

From my perspective, the Mahonia deserves a place in the landscape similar to a piece of statuary: as an accent near the front door or just off the patio. I also have seen very nice mass plantings.

The hybrid tea, like this Love & Peace, is the most popular rose for its form, beauty and cutting ability.
February 17, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

It's rose-planting time all over the South, and garden centers are loaded with just about every type under the sun -- hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, shrub roses, climbers, antiques, English roses and many others.

The Japanese Magnolia, also called saucer magnolia or tulip magnolia, features flowers that may reach 6 inches across in shades of pink to dark purple. The saucer magnolias pictured here provide a beautiful setting for the state Capitol.
February 24, 2005 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Look around and you will quickly spot the old and still wonderful heirlooms we prize in today's garden. Mississippi and much of the South provide some outstanding old homesteads with long-standing plants announcing spring's arrival.

Among the hottest plants in the United States this spring is the new Kong coleus. While the demand may make it hard to find, the easiest opportunity to grab some will be the Jackson Garden and Patio Show.
March 3, 2005 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Red-leafed bananas and citrus of all sorts were among the hottest plants at the Gulf Coast Garden and Patio Show in Biloxi.The Jackson Garden and Patio Show has expanded to three days, March 11-13, and looks to have jaw-dropping displays as well as highly sought-after plants.

Grow a variety of textures and shapes to add interest to a container. Try large, spiky plants in the center, followed by another layer and then those that cascade or tumble over the rim.
March 10, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Designing mixed containers has become a frenzied passion nationwide, and I have to admit I'm hooked, too. Nothing can liven up a porch, patio or deck like a large container filled with several species of blooming flowers.

Part of the appeal of mixed containers is that they allow those of us with cement-like soil to grow beautiful bouquets with ease. There are hardly any rules to container gardening, but good drainage is of paramount importance.

Red verbena and lantana join with geraniums to create an inspiring display of mixed plants.
March 17, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist

Geraniums were among the showiest plants at the recent Jackson Garden and Patio Show. Exhibits had just about every color and kind you could want, including scented ones. Judging from the carts going out the door, they were a hit with the shoppers, too.

Large containers of geraniums welcomed visitors to front doors in landscapes all over the state last year. Whether a container is all geraniums or mixed with other spring-bloomers, these are showy flowers that can be admired from a great distance.

Flower beds will come ablaze when Profusion Fire zinnias are mass planted.
March 24, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The best group of landscape zinnias, the Profusion series, just got better thanks to two new varieties: Fire and Apricot.

The Profusion series put zinnias back in the mainstream garden of America. The Cherry, Orange and White each earned the All-America Selections Gold Medal award. The Profusion series is disease-resistant and blooms from spring until frost. The Fire and Apricot varieties look to have the same superior performance.

The snowball viburnum produces 6- to 8-inch glistening white blossoms. While three or four flowers would make a dramatic statement, the Chinese snowball produces them by the scores.
March 31, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

It won't be long now until landscapes across the state are alive with color. Certainly the azalea will be putting on its usual show, but so will the 2005 Mississippi Medallion Award-winning Chinese snowball viburnum.

There are a lot of good viburnums, but with its white, snowball-like flowers, the Chinese snowball (Viburnum macrocephalum) is the showiest. This plant is always for sale but in small quantities, rarely meeting demand.

Titan made its debut with Blush, which is a light rose color with a deeper rose eye. One of the most attractive features of the periwinkle is its foliage. The leaves are dark green and glossy, contrasting with the gorgeous flowers.
April 7, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

An old favorite just got better -- and larger -- with the new Titan series, prompting some to reconsider periwinkles for the garden. Last year they made their local debut at the Mid-South Greenhouse Growers conference held in Raymond, and growers from several states were mesmerized.

Purple Knight will perform effortlessly for a long season, giving incredible beauty to the landscape. The choices of companion plantings are limited only by the grower's imagination.
April 14, 2005 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

"Beautiful," "striking" and "tough-as-nails" are just a few of the adjectives horticulturists use to describe Purple Knight alternanthera, which just received the 2005 Mississippi Medallion Award. Purple Knight is guaranteed to take gardening to new levels of enjoyment.

Though its foliage is handsome, it is Mona lavender's spikes of dark lavender flowers that everyone adores.
April 21, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The word "plectranthus" sounds like it could be some dinosaur that's been discovered in a South Mississippi gravel pit, but believe it or not, a variety named Mona lavender is a 2005 Mississippi Medallion Award winner.

Mona lavender, which is one of the hottest plants in the world, has passed muster in Mississippi State University trials and was chosen by the Mississippi Plant Selections Committee for this prestigious award.

With its blaze of fiery orange-red and yellow, Million Bells Crackling Fire may be the prettiest calibrachoa on the market.
April 28, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

One plant that seems to have caught on in a big way with gardeners is the calibrachoa. This petunia-like flower arrived only a few years ago, and now there are more varieties than I can keep up with. Million Bells was first, then came Colorburst and Liracashowers, then Calle and Starlettes, and now there are Superbells, MiniFamous and Cabaret, plus others.

The coleus can give a carnival-like atmosphere to the garden with its rich and highly variegated colors.
May 5, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If you feel like spring is racing by and you haven't planted anything, don't fret. Today's annuals can give flowerbeds the pick-me-up you need. No other group of plants provides as much color as quickly and economically as annuals.

Prepare beds by adding 3 to 4 inches or organic matter such as compost, humus, pine bark or peat moss, and 1 or 2 inches of sharp sand if the soil is really heavy.

Whisper, the only hybrid tea named an All-American Rose Selections winner this year, has classic bud form, and dark-green foliage to serve as a dramatic background for this classic rose.
May 5, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Ask gardeners why they start growing roses, and you'll get a range of answers that usually fall into a couple of categories. Many will say that they began a rose garden because the queen of flowers provides such beauty, while others love the fragrance.

Butterflies, hummingbirds and gardeners alike will be delighted with the many new series of pentas being offered, such as this beautiful Bismarck variety. If these new varieties are not available at local nurseries this year, gardeners can rely on Mississippi Medallion Award-winning Butterfly pentas for a lush, tropical look and tons of butterfly guests.
May 12, 2005 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The future looks bright for pentas, one of our best groups of annuals. I've just returned from the California Pack Trials, and almost every company is introducing new series. This should be a delight to butterflies, hummingbirds and gardeners alike.

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