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Mississippi Rainforest

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August 29, 2021

Water features are some of the most dynamic additions that can be added to a landscape. Today, I’m going to show you one of the best water features I’ve seen. We’re still visiting our friends Donna and Richie in Vicksburg. They’ve taken advantage of the natural steep incline in their back yard to add a great water feature. This place looks and feels like a tropical rain forest. It is so lush and green. The stream of this feature consists of multiple levels, flowing over several waterfalls. Finally, it ends up in a nice fishpond at the bottom. Almost the entire stream is lined with rich and lavish sections of lysimmachia, along with abundant frons of ferns. At the bottom, the pond is surrounded by rough rock and small boulders, giving it a very natural look. Many of the boulders feature patches of moss. That’s a nice touch. The front edge of the pond is planted with several varieties of lush color. There’s a lot of greenery, including ferns, cannas, lilies, and elephant ears. Today there’s a showy section of phlox growing, along with several day lilies. On the side of the hill, bordering the water feature are mass plantings of azalea and hydrangea. The French hydrangeas are in bloom now, showing off their huge blue pompoms of color. I can only imagine the spring bloom of the azaleas. One of my favorite features to a landscape is the sound of running water. This…makes for a fantastic backyard retreat. I’m horticulturalist Gary Bachman, and hope you’ll join me next time on Southern Gardening.

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