Southern Gardening

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I want to introduce you to a flower from India and Burma that is related to the shrimp plant and the ruellia, or Mexican petunia, and is called the Philippine violet. I can't imagine being without this beautiful plant.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Words like bronze, copper, orange and toffee describe a great group of plants that will really strut their stuff in the next few weeks. They look pretty doggone good the entire gardening season, but the grass-like plants we call sedges hold great promise for cool-season landscapes.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Daggers have become extremely popular in the garden in recent years. I'm not talking about knives, but the kind of leaves found on plants like the new Electric Pink, Purple Sensation and Cardinal.

You may be wondering what kind of plants these are, and after my revelation, you still may be a little confused. These plants are all varieties of cordyline. You may be familiar with Hawaiian Ti plant, which is a cordyline.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Plants with names like Sanchezia and Psuederanthemum are probably as unfamiliar to us as they are to our software programs that underline these words with red to indicate they are surely misspelled.

Though you may not know about them, these plants can be landscape assets. Keep your eyes open for them when visiting local garden centers. Mississippi State University has grown them in trials, and I was pleasantly surprised by each.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Early August usually means several more weeks of hot, miserable weather. If your more tender flowers have started to fail, I have a combination planting that will perk up your summer-tired landscape.

Lime green ornamental sweet potatoes and Dragon Wing begonias kick into gear when temperatures soar. These work in landscapes, containers or baskets.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I was told once that outdoor furniture should entice a person to sit and relax for an extended period of time. Today the choice of outdoor furniture is staggering and almost as complicated as picking out the plants to use nearby.

Just as there are old-time favorite plants that have reached heirloom status, such as the fragrant gardenia, there are furniture styles that have stood the test of time.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The Japanese tassel fern offers rare beauty, form and texture in the landscape and should be mandatory for all shade or woodland gardens.

If you treasure ferns but lament their disappearance in the late fall -- caused by deciduous dormancy, death or having to move them to a sheltered location -- then you will like the genus Polystichum.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Gardeners, if you have even a little shade, you need to remember the name Cathedral Windows. This is one of the most beautiful hostas in the world.

I need to admit, first, that when I see hostas, I love them all. I run from one to the next, drooling over them and listing their virtues and exclaiming how this one or that one must be the prettiest I've ever seen.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I have traveled a lot this summer, and I have seen the Lily of the Nile strutting her stuff from coast to coast. Mention summer bulbs and your first thought is probably the caladium, the elephant ear or even the rhizome of the canna lily. Or, you may be like many gardeners who are finally giving the Agapanthus, or Lily of the Nile, a try.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The phrase “eye of the tiger” may signify immediate danger or attack, but in the garden it will soon mean incredible beauty. As you look into the new rudbeckia called TigerEye, you will see orange and yellow with a dark brown eye lined in gold.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The Black Pearl was made famous a couple of years ago as both a pirate ship in the movies and as one of the most intriguing ornamental peppers grown in the landscape.

The same company that brought us the Black Pearl now is bringing us Calico, Purple Flash and Sangria -- three more incredible peppers.

By Norman Winter
Extension Horticulturist

Succulents are starting to catch on in landscapes everywhere, and one you need to keep your eyes open for is Mezoo Trailing Red.

To be honest, the weather has been making me a little grouchy. It's looked like the parting of the Red Sea when rain clouds approach my region. I wanted to write about a succulent that could withstand total abuse, and the Mezoo Trailing Red came to mind. Botanically speaking, it is Dorotheanthus bellidiformis.

With roots in Europe …

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Interest in patio vegetable gardens and edible landscapes is going through the roof. We have known this explosion was going on in Europe and wondered if it would hit here, too.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Hydrangeas are starting to bloom everywhere across the South and will soon burst with color farther north as summer weather takes hold.

The hydrangea is the most loved summer blooming shrub because of its huge, colorful blossoms. Despite the large blue or pink blossoms, the hydrangea has been mostly a generic shrub, and only recently have varieties started to gain attention.

By Norman Winter

MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

A recent 4-H event at one of the most highly rated golf courses in the country included the opportunity to see an impressive display of cleomes all around the clubhouse. The incredible new varieties I saw at the course are one of the reasons the old-fashioned cleomes are seeing a revival.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The South is alive with incredible displays of larkspurs, and it is time to revel in their beauty. Normally, I write about plants that should be going into the ground right then or some that would make excellent additions to landscapes. This week is a good time to enjoy larkspurs and contemplate where you can make great use of this reseeding annual.

By Norman Winter

MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Most people think of all spiraeas as the old-fashioned white bridal wreath spiraea, but across the South today, there is another group dazzling spectators called the Japanese spiraeas.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Since the invention of air conditioning, patios and decks have not seen as much entertaining and relaxing activities as they now are seeing. Along with outdoor cooking and eating, container gardening with petunias in decorative pots and lush hanging baskets is soaring in popularity.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Everyone is pulling cool-season annuals from mixed containers and looking for plants to make a dramatic, warm-season impact. I am seeing a revival of geranium use in containers and in much more creative combinations than I had ever considered.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Rush varieties are rounding out this year's Mississippi Medallion winners that are all tough-as-nails and offer impressive design features in flower borders and mixed containers.