Southern Gardening

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Mulching is one of the most important things we can do for our shrubs, trees and flower beds, and planting time is a good chance to show you care.

Buying mulch or landscape soil mix can be a challenge when you don't know how much you need. People often try to look like they know what they are doing even when they don't.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Phlox are some of the most beautiful flowers in the world, and Mother Nature endowed the United States with an abundance of species. Thanks to the diligent work of hybrid developers, we have hundreds of selections to choose from.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

All landscapes reach a point where they need a little re-engineering. A tornado destroyed giant trees in our yard before we bought the house and repair efforts continue each year.

Re-engineering is a popular word today. Corporations use it to describe changes they are making in their market focus or their corporate structure. Re-engineering basically means looking at where you are and assessing how you can capitalize on what you have.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Have you ever shopped for a house and discovered you liked the ones with gorgeous landscapes better? Homes with attractive landscapes generally bring a premium price.

While we don't necessarily plant a landscape to help sell our home, we should avoid anything that hurts our investment, including a mundane landscape.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Peaches and plums grow well in Mississippi and can be an asset to the home garden if placed correctly. Gardeners must pay close attention to the basics of site selection, varieties, weed control, irrigation and pest management to produce high quality fruit.

Good soil drainage is imperative since wet feet spell doom. Soils with standing water or ones that remain saturated for even a day or two following a heavy rain are unsuitable for fruit trees.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Many of you probably get intense about gardening, especially when you see pests attacking. But there is a different kind of intensive gardening catching on in the South.

French intensive, square-foot, interplanting, vertical, wide-row, gardening by the yard and succession planting are all names for intensive gardening.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The petunia has been one of the most popular annual flowers ever to grace our gardens. Whether edging a flower bed, covering bare ground, or spilling over a container or hanging basket, petunias give us some of our best color.

Taking into consideration the new vigorous petunias like Purple Wave and Surfinias, the petunias we know today are a far cry from the ones our ancestors grew.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The Little Gem southern magnolia has been chosen as a 1997 Mississippi Medallion award winner. This is the first woody ornamental to win the award.

This southern magnolia will fit into almost any landscape and bloom continuously throughout the growing season. The southern magnolia is one of the South's prized trees, but they are very large. The National Champion is in Mississippi and is more than 122 feet tall and has a crown width of 63 feet.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

As vegetable gardening season rapidly approaches, it's time to decide whether to use transplants or direct seed. If you are as anxious as I am to get under way, then you might consider growing transplants.

Almost everything can be sown directly into the garden, but there are some vegetables that do better when transplanted. These include several of the most popular vegetables.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Magazines and catalogs have been pouring in all encouraging us to plant this and that. The gorgeous pictures make you dream about a rose garden at your home.

Nurseries and garden centers currently are getting bare-root roses in that can be planted with good success.

Roses are graded with 1 being the best, so look for those that are 1 to 1 1/2 to ensure getting a rose you will be happy with.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Winter seems like an odd time to mention waves and surfing, but two new petunias will have you humming Beach Boys music at your local garden center this spring.

Petunias have come a long way in the past couple of years. Two of the newest varieties -- Surfinia and Purple Wave -- will delight you in how they perform.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Bark can play an important role in winter landscapes if we choose the right trees. As deciduous trees loose their leaves, their bark is exposed to make a dramatic impact in the landscape. We can certainly make our garden more interesting in the winter by planting trees and shrubs that offer striking bark.