Southern Gardening

Gardens look beautiful when the flowers are in full bloom and there’s a profusion of color, but alert gardeners know this is the time to get the scissors ready.

It’s time to deadhead once the new has worn off and the flowers are past their prime and starting to dry up. This important garden maintenance activity simply refers to removing the spent flowers.

It is during the midsummer months in Mississippi that I most appreciate gaillardia in gardens and landscapes.

This plant makes a fantastic addition to the summer garden. Gaillardia is a native plant with few pests and a palette of bright, warm colors that really liven up the landscape. Adding to its usefulness is the fact that gaillardia is ideal for the entire state of Mississippi. Gaillardia often grows wild in the most neglected and harshest conditions.

I’ve been getting a lot of questions from homeowners who want to add some color to landscapes in the middle of this hot and humid summer. My answer brings bad news.

It is really tough to add color at this time of year to in-ground planting beds. To be truly successful, plants for summer color need to be planted in the spring to ensure they establish a good root system before the heat of summer sets in.

Mississippi landscapers often see favorite trees fall victim to lightning, strong winds and other elements, especially during tropical storm season, leaving the owners to make hard decisions on the trees’ future health.

Typical damage includes wounds, split branches, exposed roots, various degrees of leaning trunks, and broken and torn limbs. In many cases, a damaged tree must be removed and replaced.

Ambitious gardeners and their beautiful, themed gardens amaze me every year with their creativity. With the Independence Day holiday upon us, the most popular theme right now is red, white and blue plantings.

I have always wanted to do one of these themed landscape displays, and in my line of work, you would think it would be no problem and assume I’ve done several. But like the shoemaker’s kids who run around barefoot, sometimes my own landscape suffers during the busy seasons.

Some summer days -- okay, honestly, most summer days -- seem just too hot to do anything in the garden and landscape. But a couple of tasks will pay off in the long run with better landscape performance. You guessed it: this column is all about mulching and composting.

Whether you are an experienced gardener or have a brown thumb, you can mulch like a pro. Few gardening activities have as much of an impact as mulching. Mulch reduces erosion, influences soil temperature, helps control weed growth and gives your landscape a well-groomed look.

Since it is June, the vitex have begun flowering, and these brilliant blooms are causing many gardeners and nongardeners alike to stop and take notice.

The flowering period for vitex begins in late May on the Gulf Coast and moves on up to north Mississippi in the following weeks. The main flowering period lasts up to six weeks, but flowering continues sporadically for the rest of the summer.

If you’re looking for a plant that is attractive now but looks its best in the cooler months, you may be interested in the Dianthus. This is a group of versatile flowering plants that look good year-round.

Dianthus is called by many names, but the common name “pink” really is a good description. Colors include pink and red, but there are also nice white and lavender selections.

If there is one herb my wife and I love to grow more than the rest, it has to be basil. There is nothing better for the hot months because it is gorgeous in the landscape and delicious in fresh summer meals.

Many of the gardeners I have talked to think we have taken basil growing to the extreme.

When you think of summer blooms in the home landscape, it’s hard not to think about zinnias.

A lot of attention has been given to the Profusion and Zahara series of zinnia in summer and fall landscapes. Profusion is a Mississippi Medallion winner and both are All-America Selections. They provide fantastic summer color.

But I like the old-fashioned zinnia elegans with the big, pompom flowers on long stems that are perfect for cutting and bringing inside. And guess what? Some of these are All-America Selections, too.

Although many Mississippi gardeners are wondering if it will ever quit raining and let their landscapes dry out a bit, now is actually a good time to think ahead to the inevitable hot and dry weather of summer.

Dry conditions create problems for our home gardens and landscapes, and gardeners water their lawns and landscape beds a lot more than usual during these times.

Many gardeners try to give their landscape the feel of an informal cottage garden. This garden concept has a loose, flowing feel, kind of like you just let plants grow wherever they happen to pop up in the landscape.

I had a professor way back in college who had a unique cottage garden planting method: He would walk through the landscape and just toss plants over his shoulder. We planted them where they landed. And you know what? His gardens looked awfully good.

If we ever move into the warmer – even hotter – summer season, I’m looking forward to the prolific flowering of calibrachoa. These plants are commonly known as “million bells,” which is a good description because it seems these plants have a million flowers.

Many selections of million bells are sold under different series names, and they seem to come in every color of the rainbow. One of the best qualities of these plants is that they are self-cleaning, so deadheading in not required.

Like many home gardeners, I used to put plants in my landscape without worrying about labels because I was sure I’d remember what was planted where. And like most of you, I would end up scratching my head wondering what I had planted where.

One of the best gardening tips I can share, especially in the spring when you’re putting so many new things out, is to label your landscape plants.

Has the search for blue flowers left you feeling blue?

Mississippi has a long tradition of being famous for blues music. In fact, the Mississippi Blues Trail has markers all across the state telling the story of the blues.

Mississippi gardeners also have a long tradition of wanting blue flowers for their gardens and landscapes. Blue is a coveted color in the landscape, and plant and seed catalogs try every year to meet the need for the color blue.

With spring in the air and our landscapes waking up from their long winter’s nap, Mississippi gardeners jump into the many chores needed to get gardens off to the right start.

One of the first decisions to be made is what to plant. We flock to garden centers looking for inspiration and new plants to enjoy in the coming year. Sometimes we forget to look in our own gardens for the options we already have.

One of the flowering plants I remember from my youth is the cleome. I loved these tall plants with flowers I thought looked a little spidery.

Many years later, when I rediscovered cleome growing in my neighbor’s yard, I reached out for a closer look at the flowers and was suddenly reminded of the one aspect I did not like about these plants. I had forgotten about the thorns and had impaled my thumb.

The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.

It was a spring morning several years ago just like this morning when I received the call. I thought it was going to be like many others I receive. I was wrong.

The person on the other end of the phone had a neighbor’s cousin to visit the coast some years ago but wasn’t sure about the season. While at a local golf course, they had spotted a blue azalea, and now the caller wanted one.

Mississippi has many flowering native trees, and one that gets its fair share of attention this time of year is the redbud. These trees flower early in the spring before most other trees have started to leaf out after their winter naps.

Although most flowering trees native to Mississippi tend to be understory trees that can be hidden by bigger trees and their foliage, it’s common around the state to see a redbud framed or silhouetted by leafless hardwoods.

Every spring the home gardener is bombarded with new and improved petunias for the garden and landscape, making it hard to decide which to bring home from the garden center. In my opinion, you simply can’t go wrong selecting any of the Supertunias.

For the past several years, I have been watching and writing about these fantastic garden performers. Whether used as spreading plants in the landscape or as container and hanging basket plants, supertunias have been good performers in Mississippi.