Southern Gardening

Cabin fever seems to hit me earlier each year, and it doesn’t help that we haven’t had much of a winter the past couple of years.

I already have tomato transplants ready to put in the ground even though it’s still two months from the traditional last frost date here on the coast. I saw blooming annuals for sale this weekend at a local garden center. I think I’m feeling a little warm.

Many Mississippians are anticipating the first signs of the spring show put on in our landscapes by the popular, but nonnative Southern Indica azaleas. These shrubs hide behind their evergreen foliage, waiting to dazzle us with color.

Some gardeners consider native azaleas hard to grow, so we don’t see these varieties as much in Mississippi landscapes. Several species of native azaleas thrive in the Southeast. They may not be as showy as their evergreen cousins, but native azaleas are stunning in their own right.

Even though fall is the ideal time, it’s still not too late to plant nice trees into our Mississippi gardens and landscapes. Of course I can’t list every tree in this column, but I want to draw your attention to a few I’m sure you won’t be disappointed to have in your yard.

The first is the bald cypress. You may think it has to be planted in soggy locations, but this tree is very adaptable. Some of the best specimens I have seen were being grown in very high and dry locations such as islands in parking lots and planting wells in sidewalks.

January and February are good times to see where landscapes need evergreen color to break out of the drab grays and browns of winter. When you find a spot that needs a pick-me-up, Savannah holly is a superb evergreen plant to grow in our Mississippi gardens and landscapes.

It has a natural pyramidal growth habit that is loose and open. This holly is versatile in the landscape and can be used for screening or strategically placed as single specimens.

Much of the state got a dose of winter weather last week. Seeing pictures of gardens and landscapes farther north covered in a blanket of snow made me thankful for living on the coast. Having lived in colder climates, I had enough of snow before coming to Mississippi.

When funny, mold-looking things start growing on landscape trees and shrubs, phones start ringing in Mississippi State University Extension Service offices across the state.

Winter is a wonderful time of the year when many of our deciduous trees drop their leaves, signaling the end of one year with the promise of new growth in the spring. But it’s also the time when home gardeners start to notice other things growing in their gardens. The fact that they are green to gray in color adds a sense of dismay.

Color in the landscape can seem like an unachievable goal in the cold and dreary winter months. But it can be reached when gardeners rely on plants with features other than flowers to brighten the areas around homes.

Pyracantha is one of the best choices the home gardener can make for the winter landscape. This plant’s colorful berries can add beauty and interest to any winter setting.

I have made it my tradition for the last couple of years to suggest some New Year’s resolutions for the home gardener to consider.

This year, I’m changing that up a bit by sharing some of my own garden resolutions for 2013. Maybe you will see yourself in some of what I resolve to do next year.

When I speak to garden clubs and other groups, people often comment that my own landscape must be beautiful. I always answer, “Sometimes yes, but sometimes the landscape can look a little weedy and like it needs some pruning.”

There’s nothing like reaching into the toe of a Christmas stocking under your tree and finding a fresh and tasty satsuma orange that came right from your own garden.

I’d like to say I’ve done that, but so far, all the fresh satsumas I’ve enjoyed have come from my friend Terry’s house. Let me just say that I don’t have to worry about scurvy for a while.

Every year, I look forward to the time when winter cassia begins blooming. The tropical-looking flowers are sure to create winter interest wherever they are planted in the landscape.

Winter cassia is one of those plants with show-stopping qualities, especially considering its prolific blooms in the winter. Their effect is heightened because the brightly colored blooms seem to appear all of a sudden out of nowhere.

One of the easiest ways to add tropical flair to any landscape is to use plants with large leaves. Rice paper plant is a favorite of mine that looks amazing as a component of many landscapes.

Rice paper plant is a native of southern China and Taiwan and is known botanically as Tetrapanax paperifera. Interestingly, this is the only plant in the genus. The name refers to the use of the interior of the stem, called pith, to make a form of rice paper. This pith has the consistency and feel of plastic foam.

As a gardener, Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year because I get to enjoy indoors the scents and colors of the garden. Christmas looks like poinsettias, live trees indoors and greenery decorating the house, and it smells like pine, cedar, fir, and, in my house, rosemary.

In addition to the traditional holiday staples, Christmas isn’t Christmas at my house unless there is a rosemary plant shaped and decorated like a Christmas tree. These plants are available at many of the garden centers, grocery stores and other plant outlets.

Several weeks ago, I wrote about how much I enjoy pansies for the cool-season garden. These are really easy plants to grow, and they provide great color during colder winter temperatures.

But the story on pansies doesn’t end there. Plant breeders are always looking for ways to make our garden and landscape plants better. I have been really impressed with the group of trailing pansies that hit the market in the past few years.

I think most people will agree that besides the Christmas tree, the poinsettia is the plant that best accentuates the Christmas holiday season.

Thanksgiving week kicks off the poinsettia-buying season. When you go to get yours, prepare for the truly remarkable variety of poinsettia colors available.

If you haven’t started planting your winter color, rest assured that it’s not too late. But when shopping at the garden center, resist the temptation to head straight to the pansies and violas. Consider adding some colorful ornamental kale and cabbage to your garden and landscape.

It requires planning ahead in the spring, but one way to add color and life to fall gardens is to welcome butterflies.

Butterflies are among the most entertaining creatures. If you plant the right flowers, you leave an open invitation for them to visit your garden. Butterflies are still around as we move into the late fall, and they are hurriedly investigating the flowers blooming in gardens.

A couple of years ago, I wrote about a new plant I found for the fall landscape called golden thryallis. We planted some in our landscape at Coastal Research and Extension Center in Biloxi, and I have it growing in a large container at my house.

After making seasonal observations of golden thryallis, I have come to the conclusion that it’s a must-have plant for our Mississippi landscapes.

A sure sign that the garden season is changing from the warm summer to the cooler fall is the many colorful mums on display in garden centers across the state.

It’s easy to incorporate fall garden mums into the landscape. One of the most popular ways to display these beautiful plants is to simply place them on the front porch. The many warm colors available can fit into almost any home color scheme.

It seems the plants have hundreds of flowers, so the impact is immediate.

In my last column, I suggested gardeners shouldn’t jump the gun and pull out summer annuals that still look good. But if you do have an open spot in your landscape, now is a good time to consider adding some cool-season color.

The pansy is one bedding plant that just can’t be beat in cool-season landscapes. As a group, pansies are great for outstanding cool-weather performance. The pansy series that has taken the landscape by storm is the Matrix. These pansies have quickly become one of the industry’s leading cool-season bedding plants.

Even though pansies, viola and dianthus are showing up in garden centers, don’t be too quick to pull up your summer-flowering annuals. The Fall Flower and Garden Fest in Crystal Springs this weekend gave visitors a glimpse of what summer annuals can do for the fall landscape.

Our summers in Mississippi can be brutal, and they even take a toll on flowering summer annuals. But once we turn the corner and start heading towards fall, these plants get a second wind. Like humans, they also appreciate the moderating temperatures.