Return to Donna and Richie's Backyard

It’s always a pleasure for Southern Gardening to visit outstanding landscapes in our travels across Mississippi. Today we’re returning to one of our favorites. In the past we’ve enjoyed Donna and Richie’s outstanding water feature. The sound of falling water is so calming and relaxing. For this visit I want to concentrate on the planting beds around the backyard. Entering the backyard is this great little contained planting bed. I love the pachysandra ground cover and along with the pinkish-violet and white inpatients walleriana are great choices for this bed. The green and white caladiums shine like a spotlight and the grouping of round gazing balls add an element of surprise and interest. At the end and wrapping around the bottom edge of the water feature is a variety of plant material. The black and green Colocasia, sometimes called imperial taro, is a great water feature plant thriving in the moist conditions. Sporadically planted orange daylilies add height and move gently in the breeze. And purple coneflower, one of my all-time favorites, adds pops of color. And anytime we can have native rock walls I’m all in. Walking up the path this stacked field stone wall defines this raised planting bed with soft and feathery ferns and the bright white, green and red caladium shines. And I love that the entire back landscape area is watched over by Saint Francis of Assisi. Visiting a landscape like this always gives me inspiration for my next garden projects. I’m MSU Extension horticulture specialist Gary Bachman and I hope you’ll join us next time on Southern Gardening.