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The hosta is in the lily family and has the common name of Plantain Lily. Despite the fact that they are cold-hardy way up north in zone 4, their beauty and leaf texture add a tropical flair to the garden.
June 17, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

After two recent trips, I remain convinced that the most striking plant for shade gardens is the hosta.

Though summer is officially just beginning, you have to admit the heat is stifling and making you head to the shade pretty quickly. If you are going to stay outdoors in Mississippi, hostas make it seem cooler and tranquil.

The native butterly weed Ascelpias tuberosa features bright orange flowers that will attract Monarch butterflies and put on a show the whole family will enjoy.
June 10, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I made the drive to Aberdeen a few days ago and was amazed at the iridescent orange along the roadside.

There's no missing this bright orange whether you are driving the Natchez Trace or some busier thoroughfare. It also will be noticed by the Monarch butterfly. The plant is the native butterfly weed Ascelpias tuberosa.

Mixing daylilies is still fun, but the trend is massing the single colors.
June 3, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If you thought masses of single-colored daylilies wouldn't put on a show, look around because it's happening everywhere. The daylily has risen to star landscape status, and I'm not just talking about Stella d'Oro.

Whatever color scheme you want to use, mass-planting daylilies can add sizzle to the flower bed when combined with annuals or perennials, or used in drifts in front of evergreen shrubs.

Blue Wave petunia, Aztec Silver Magic verbena and AngelMist Purple Stripe angelonia make for a great combination planting to complement this spectacular water feature.
May 27, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

In the last 10 years in Mississippi, I have witnessed an incredible explosion in the petunia's popularity. Growers love its toughness and much longer season of performance.

Petunias make great landscape plants that you can set out any time during our growing season, even in the fall. So if you find high-quality transplants at the garden center, don't hesitate to buy and plant them.

The bog sage begs to be planted in an old-fashioned cottage garden in front of a white picket fence draped with an antique rose like Zepherine Droughin or perhaps New Dawn. Or try it with Early Sunrise coreopsis, Becky Shasta daisies or Bravado purple coneflowers.
May 20, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If I remember correctly, it was Juliet who wondered, "What's in a name?" When it comes to flowers, a name can be quite important.

Take, for instance, one of my favorite salvias, the bog sage. This beautiful, sky blue, spiky flower has to suffer the indignation of being called the bog sage.

Gardeners can buy hanging baskets already blooming or make their own.
May 13, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Garden centers all over the state are offering some incredible baskets of plants, often with several species of plants rather than just a few petunias. The baskets might hang and gently swing in the breeze or attach firmly to a fence, wall or balcony.

This look started years ago in the Pacific Northwest and has now exploded all across the South. You see them in cities like Branson, Mo., New Orleans and Birmingham.

In the flower garden, plant Honey Bee Blue boldly in drifts adjacent to gold-yellow and orange marigolds .
May 6, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens, Herb Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Keep your eyes open when shopping at local garden centers and you just may find Honey Bee Blue agastache. Herb lovers have been growing this plant, also known as anise hyssop, for years and relishing in not only its beauty but also its tough nature.

Kong red coleus displays a broad vein in a brilliant red down the center of each leaf. These shade-loving plants produce leaves large enough to cover a person's face and also come in scarlet, rose and mosaic colors.
April 29, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Magilla Perilla had everyone paying homage last year, but by the end of this summer or next year depending on supplies, Kong coleus will likely be the new reigning king.

Ox Eye daisies add just the right touch to this bed of Gold Yarrow and verbenas.
April 22, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Sometimes when a plant gets labeled a noxious weed my first thought is that the most negligent gardeners, even someone like me, can grow it. Since I am on the road constantly, I need tough plants and one of the hardiest varieties that I adore is the Ox Eye daisy.

Purple Ruffles basil is as pretty as a coleus in the flowerbed, and it also makes a delicious addition to many culinary dishes.
April 15, 2004 - Filed Under: Herb Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

You may have thought you heard it all when the Mississippi Plant Selections Committee chose the Mini Charm tomato as the first vegetable to win the award. Now the committee has chosen Purple Ruffles basil as the first herb to win the Mississippi Medallion Award.

Purple Majesty ornamental millet provides an outstanding backdrop to these Prairie Sun rudbeckias and Blue Wave petunias.
April 8, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Purple Majesty is an ornamental millet that is one of the most eye-catching plants of the 21st century. As an All-America Selections Gold Medal winner last year, many gardeners were still too timid to let this plant really impress the neighbors.

Thousands of shoppers have seen it growing in past years at Northpark Mall in Jackson and wondered what it was. In the Northpark garden, it was used with cannas and elephant ears for a really unique, if not exotic, look.

Port Gibson Pink verbenas are reminiscent of apple blossoms in color and offer a delightful morning fragrance. Swallowtail butterflies love to feast on their nectar.
April 1, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

One of the most beautiful cities in the South is Port Gibson, Miss. Labeled "too beautiful to burn" by Civil War Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, this town indeed has persevered and entices travelers to wander the streets in awe.

The Mississippi Plant Selections Committee is proud to announce the Port Gibson Pink verbena as a 2004 Mississippi Medallion award winner.

Mini Charm tomatoes will charm growers in the same way they impressed the Mississippi Plant Selections Committee for the Mississippi Medallion Awards.
March 25, 2004 - Filed Under: Vegetable Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

A tomato variety has charmed the Mississippi Plant Selections Committee to become the first vegetable chosen as a Mississippi Medallion award winner. This standout performer is the Mini Charm Tomato.

The bright-yellow Yubi portulacas, embraced by the Victoria Blue salvia and Bengal Tiger canna, make this sidewalk a breath-taking pleasure to stroll down.
March 18, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter

MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Yubi portulacas will stop traffic with their eye-popping, jaw-dropping displays. These moss roses have been out a few years, but most Mississippi gardeners still are timid with them.

In Texas, the Yubi has garnered awards and caught on very quickly with gardeners. The single-petaled blossoms of the Yubi are as big as their rose-formed cousins in the Sundial series. The centers of the flowers expose the stamens and give a two-tone effect.

One of the newest hibiscus is Sun Showers. Sun Showers is indeed like a solar flare on the sun with orange, red and white.
March 11, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Incredible things are happening in the world of the tropical hibiscus when it comes to new colors. There are many new varieties, so remember to check your garden center this spring.

The blue agave, usually listed as a Deep South plant, is being seen from the Coast to the Delta and back eastward across the state and performs quite well in Mississippi.
March 4, 2004 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

There is a new, bold gardener out there stirring up excitement. What I like about the bold gardener's style is that it uses plant selections or combinations in atypical ways. The result is that we're pushed outside our comfort zone -- we are challenged.

One instance of this bold style involves plants thought of as only for the arid west or perhaps Mexico. These plants typically have sword-like leaves and even prickles.

Kim's Mop Head (white coneflower), Kim's Knee High (purple coneflower) and Little Boy phlox make a nice companion planting in this perennial garden.
February 26, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

My imagination runs wild when I think about a white coneflower I saw last summer. I can picture a man saying, "Honey, I got a new white coneflower and I am going to name it after you -- Kim's Mophead."

I suppose it didn't happen that way, but it sure would be fun to think so. If so, that was probably the last flower he named -- right after Kim's Knee High, a more traditional but shorter purple coneflower.

The snow bush is sought after for its colorful foliage and unique habit rather than its bloom. It produces slender, burgundy-colored zigzagging stems with leaves painted in green, cream and pink.
February 19, 2004 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

This year it looks like the snow bush will again be one of the hottest plants at the garden and patio shows, but you had shop early if you want one or more.

Some may ask, "What in the world is a snow bush? Isn't the winter long, cold and wet enough without mentioning snow?"

Strata is a frosty gray and blue violet Salvia farinacea that combines well with a host of colors including these yellow Prairie Sun rudbeckias.
February 12, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Victoria Blue, a 1998 Mississippi Medallion award winner, has always been one of my favorite varieties of Salvia farinacea, or mealy-cup sage, but there are certainly some other selections worthy of a prime spot in the landscape.

Fresh Look Yellow offers season-long garden color with minimal care.
February 5, 2004 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If you are ready for some new garden appeal, look no further than two of this year's All-America Selections winners: Fresh Look Red and Fresh Look Yellow celosia.

Fresh Look Red celosia performs like a fresh floral arrangement all summer and for that reason is an All-America Selections Gold Medal Winner.

Thriving in the summer heat and humidity with drought or rainy conditions, Fresh Look Red decorates a garden or patio container with rosy red plumes.

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