Southern Gardening

I am thoroughly thankful I made the move to coastal Mississippi a dozen years ago. One of my truly enjoyable fall pursuits happens after the temperatures have gotten chilly. On bright, sunny fall days, I really like driving on Highway 90 to my office at the Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi along the Gulf of Mexico.

This past weekend, I had the privilege and pleasure of being an invited speaker at the Gardening for Life Symposium hosted by Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina. I was a member of a diverse group of speakers from across the country.

Earlier this year, we were enjoying a cool and wet spring, and then one day, WHAM! We were thrown into a full-blown hot and dry summer that seemed never-ending.

I love the autumn season because we’re starting to recover from Mississippi’s hot and humid summer with cooler weather. Not only do gardeners appreciate the season change, but so do many of our landscape plants.

If there is a showier plant in the fall than our Mississippi native Gulf muhly grass, I don’t know what it is. Since it is a native, it was not bred for any particular characteristic but struts its stuff naturally.

We have finally gotten some cool, fall weather, and it’s time to start planting our cool-season color, but sometimes we need to enjoy the summer color that’s getting its second wind.

One of my favorite flowering landscape and garden plants has to be hibiscus, but hibiscus doesn’t refer to only one plant.

I had the opportunity this past weekend to speak at the Butterflies in the Pass Monarch Festival in Pass Christian. The monarch butterfly may be the most recognized and loved insect in the United States.

Fall has officially arrived, although temperatures remain summerish. But when the calendar changes, it’s time to start thinking about the cool-season annual colors to be planted and enjoyed during the winter months.

How to Build a Salad TableMost of my Southern Gardening columns share tips about great ornamental plants that should be grown in all landscapes and gardens in Mississippi and the entire Southeast. But every once in a while, I like to share ideas for being more successful in your home vegetable garden, because who doesn’t enjoy homegrown veggies?

This weekend while driving in my hometown of Ocean Springs, I looked at the crape myrtles planted in the median all along Highway 90. I noticed that most of the trees had a dark cast to them, even on a bright, sunny morning.

About 10 years ago while attending a meeting in Miami, I had the opportunity to tour around south Florida, sightseeing and enjoying the horticulture.

One of my favorite Mississippi native plants is just starting to show its true landscape value. Of course, I’m referring to our native Callicarpa americana, known commonly and affectionately as the American beautyberry.

In recent years, gardeners everywhere have seen quite a few plants that were once grown only in shady conditions come out into the sunshine. Sunpatiens were my first experience with these now sun lovers.

The late summer garden and landscape in Mississippi can be a tough place. Extreme heat and humidity result in heat index numbers that keep me, like many other gardeners, indoors enjoying the air conditioning.

But, I can take solace in knowing that, while many of my flowering summer annuals are starting to succumb to the heat, my ornamental peppers will be growing strong. What a great selection for any later summer garden!

One of the most fun things to do in the garden is to share stories. One of the best ones I have heard and shared is about my search for the long-lost Long Beach Red radish.

While Pride of Barbados thrives in deserts and the tropics, I believe we could also appreciate its beauty in Mississippi landscapes.

I’m getting more questions about growing bananas, which means Mississippi gardeners are interested in creating a tropical feeling in our landscapes.

Let’s face it: We’re in the middle of the dog days of summer, and it’s not even August yet!

This is the time of year when my favorite Supertunias -- even my beloved Vista Bubblegum -- are starting to fade. 

Summer has hit us with a vengeance this year.