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When we get into the fall of the year, many gardeners get tunnel vision and only look for cool-season color. I will soon write about some of my favorite annual color for the season, but today I want to remind home gardeners that fall is for planting. Fall is a great time to plan for and then plant colorful shrubs for next year and beyond. I’ve already seen a variety of flowering shrubs in garden centers.

I took time to just enjoy my home landscape this last weekend. I put off chores just to take a look at some of my solid garden performers. Here’s what I observed. Coleus has become one of my go-to plants for looking great all summer and still going deep into the fall. Nobody can get bored with its kaleidoscope of colors and various leaf shapes.

PICAYUNE, Miss. -- School groups and the public can learn all about insects and their habitats during the annual Bugfest at the Mississippi State University Crosby Arboretum in Picayune Sept. 24 and 25.

This year’s event will be modified with limited attendance to abide by health and safety guidelines related to COVID-19. People who wish to attend the fest in person must call the arboretum at 601-799-2311 to register.

Mississippi beef producers are invited to attend the 2021 North Mississippi Beef Expo on Oct. 21 and 22. Topics include beef genetics, mineral supplementation, cattle market updates, beef cattle herd health and research updates from the MSU Prairie Research Unit.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Harry Martin helped create the blueprint for major industrial and economic development in Lee County, and now he is laying another foundation for something big -- this time for a Mississippi 4-H statewide scholarship campaign.

Martin partnered with the Mississippi State University Extension Center for 4-H Youth Development to establish the Harry Martin 4-H Youth Leadership Endowed Scholarship. His support was recognized Sept. 11, when he was presented a commemorative football during the game between MSU and North Carolina State University.

Mississippi’s corn crop faced challenges ranging from a midseason flood to an early-September hurricane, but yields and quality look positive on the nearly complete harvest. On Sept. 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated the crop was 75% harvested

Lately, I’ve been browsing through gardening social media pages, and I’ve noticed lots of questions about this shrub that seems to have appeared out of nowhere with its beautiful purple berries. I love when people notice our native Callicarpa americana for the first time. Its common name,  American beautyberry, makes sense once you have seen the plant.

The 2021 Fall Flower & Garden Fest will return to an in-person event but will be modified because of the persistently high number of COVID-19 cases. The fest will be held 9 a.m. to noon daily Oct. 4-8 at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Private well owners in five coastal Mississippi counties may participate in a free water-testing program offered by the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- The risk of infection and hospitalization from COVID-19 is significantly higher in unvaccinated people, but some fully vaccinated people are also being infected due to the contagiousness of the delta variant of the virus.

Though no vaccine is 100% effective, it is the best method to avoid contracting the virus or suffering a severe illness from a breakthrough infection, said Dr. Tami Brooks, Starkville physician and retired professor of pediatrics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center School of Medicine.

A status known as “heirs’ property” legally ties up thousands of acres of land across Mississippi, making it almost impossible for owners to capitalize on the value of their assets. Heirs’ property is land that has been passed down from one generation to the next without specific ownership, increasing the number of property owners. Some owners know they have a portion of the property, while others may not even know they are legal owners.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Far too often in Mississippi, soil management after major weather events must be considered, but landowners affected by Hurricane Ida now have a guide on how to approach this task.

“Soil Management After Hurricane Ida” is available online on the Mississippi Crop Situation blog at https://www.mississippi-crops.com/2021/09/02/soil-management-after-hurricane-ida/.

Volunteers, employees and board members of the tourism sector or related organizations can get training and build networks with other tourism professionals in the Excellence in Tourism Leadership Program.

Mississippi State University recently welcomed a new sweet potato specialist. Lorin Harvey joined the MSU Extension Service after completing postdoctoral work with sweet potatoes at the Pontotoc Ridge-Flatwoods Branch Experiment Station, which is part of the North Mississippi Research and Extension Center.

My favorite plants for the fall season are crotons. These beauties have some of the boldest and brightest foliage found in garden centers. Their warm foliage colors of bright yellow, red and orange shades are perfect for autumnal decorations and displays

Fisheries experts at Mississippi State University and other research institutions are conducting an $11.7 million study of the greater amberjack, an important recreational and commercial species in the South Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico that is threatened by overfishing.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- When the calendar turns to September, many who call Mississippi home long for cooler temperatures to relieve the summer’s heat, but the state’s cotton growers want high temperatures and dry weather to drag into October.

As I wrote this column, I also was watching the weather as Hurricane Ida aimed for the northern Gulf of Mexico. As such, I spent time in the garden picking and harvesting various crops that I don’t want to lose. One group of plants I harvested were my specialty peppers that I’ve been babying all through this hot and humid summer. I brought in both biquinho and aji charapita peppers.

It seems that wild turkeys don’t like humidity any more than people do. That is a finding of a study conducted by the MSU Forest and Wildlife Research Center, or FWRC, in response to concerns that Mississippi’s turkey season was not timed properly.

As we’re marching through the gardening year, I just knew it was going to happen. I’m not ready for it; it’s still too hot and humid, and I’m behind on the summer projects still on my to-do list. But when I visited a big box store garden center this weekend, I saw them out on full endcap display. Of course, I’m referring to fall mums.