Southern Gardening

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

With cold weather arriving and the holiday season nearly upon us, I could write about fall leaf color or cool season flowers, but I cannot pass up the opportunity to tell you about Blue Fortune agastache.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Colorful, cool-season containers near the front door or entryway serve as welcoming beacons to friends and visitors coming our way this fall and during the holiday season.

I just returned from speaking at the 19th annual Southern Garden Symposium in St. Francisville, La., where historic homes were accented with colorful flower containers. The landscapes all had incredible form and texture from evergreen trees, shrubs and groundcovers.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Flowering kale and cabbage are starting to show up in garden centers everywhere along with the other cool-season flowers. There still seems to be a little perceived mystery about using these plants for their colorful foliage in the landscape.

Your first question might be, “How cold tolerant are they?” The Chicago Botanic Garden has seen them survive minus 10 degrees.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Spilanthes caused quite a stir this year at Mississippi State University's Fall Flower and Garden Fest held at the Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs.

I say its botanical name first because the marketing and common names are really just a hoot. If you are looking for a plant to get a child interested in gardening, this one will do the trick.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Some unbelievably colored violas have come on the market in recent years with little notice. Most gardeners pass up these rugged, cool-season performers in favor of their larger cousins, the pansies.

The viola is the wild ancestor of the pansy, and it is even called wild pansy in some countries. In  addition to the names viola and wild pansy, we also know it as Johnny jump-up.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

It seems like only yesterday that midday temperatures were reaching the century mark, and it was hard not to break a sweat, even on morning walks. Now, as the bright, crisp mornings greet us, we are reminded that cool-season planting time is upon us.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The performance of Angel's Trumpets at Mississippi State University's Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs recently had me mesmerized. I predict they will do the same for the many visitors expected at the Fall Flower and Garden Fest on Oct. 12 and 13.

These Angel's Trumpets, which are yellow-gold and rich pink, look exotic and tropical. They have been coming back for years without much attention. They really complete the tropical section in any garden.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

After the long, hot summer, you almost feel like celebrating fall's arrival. I am already seeing neighbors searching out pumpkins and doing a little fall decorating. The feeling of fall and festivals is in the air.

To celebrate, consider a little neighborhood decoration that just might catch on from one end of the street to the other. At one of my previous homes, I lived on a cul-de-sac that always had children playing, but it also had two unsightly storm drains.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If there were a color that represented happiness in the garden, it would have to be yellow. One of the three primary colors, it has the power to evoke hope and excitement.

When the forsythia breaks forth in the early spring, it not only catches your eye but it also invigorates your step. You know winter is over and a new season has been born. As we head into early fall, the dark yellow goldenrods make our roadways photogenic.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Angelface Dark Violet angelonia came out this year and caused a stir with its unique color. It is by far the darkest angelonia we've seen in the market. It is also vigorous, sending up a bounty of wonderfully spiky flowers that are so welcome in the garden.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Beyond Paradise leads a parade of new copper plants finding its way to garden centers across the country. You will love the plant for its brilliantly variegated, colorful leaves.

At the end of the summer, when little else is looking good, Beyond Paradise will be a beacon in the garden, garnering admiration from those who pass by your home.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

My recent stroll through the display gardens at Mississippi State University's Truck Crops Experiment Station brought a few pleasant surprises. The biggest was the Persian Shield.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Dancing Flame salvia lives up to its name in a couple of ways. This spectacular variegated salvia with scarlet flowers mesmerizes like a fire dancing at night.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I have fallen head over heels in love with Chocolate Mint, a new coleus making its debut this year.

The catalog refers to the leaves as having a chocolate-colored line with mint-green margins, but to me the leaves are a dark mahogany, and the margins are a dark lime-green color.

Chocolate Mint is made for the shade or filtered-light area of the garden. I first thought the plant could not take our intense heat and humidity, but it is a real trooper once acclimated.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

It was a hoot watching gardeners fight over the papyrus plants at this year's garden and patio shows. Botanically speaking, the papyrus is Cyperus papyrus.

If you remember your elementary history, this plant is native to Egypt and was used for making papyrus sheets for writing. Our word “paper” comes from “papyrus.” It is a close relative of the umbrella palm Cyperus alternifolius, which is from Madagascar.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Most gardeners think spring is the best time for gardening, but if you haven't tried a fall garden, consider putting one in now. These can be the best gardens all year.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The Imperial Taro is one of my favorite cold-hardy elephant ears for lending that lush Caribbean look to the garden. Most elephant ears are thriving this year in a summer that started off dry and now has followed with almost daily monsoons.

The Imperial Taro can be found under a couple of other names like Illustris and Antiquorum. Most catalogs refer to them scientifically as Colocasia antiquorum var. Illustris. However, the real botanical name is Colocasia esculenta.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Lime continues to rock the garden world. Recently, I have been enjoying a new iresine, or beefsteak plant, called Blazin' Lime.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Gardeners looking for the perfect hanging-basket plant are finding an outstanding option in the new Bonfire begonia, which produces hundreds of fiery, scarlet-orange flowers. Bonfire brings incredible beauty and a rugged nature.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Lime green is a hot, hot, hot color in the garden, and it won't be long until the new Limón talinum will help soothe the quest for this jewel color.

Botanically speaking, Limón talinum is Talinum paniculatum and is in the portulaca family. It is native to the West Indies and Central America and has common names of Fameflower and Jewels-of-Opar.