Tim's Mailbox Garden

Southern Gardening has been sharing Tim’s mailbox garden since it was built in 2011. Over the years I’ve been impressed with how it has matured. Even though it’s recently rained, this is the very best I’ve seen it. This planting features multiple layers of interest. The perennial Bravado purple coneflower have become a mainstay with their two-to-four-inch blooms of bright purple petals and dark center cones. And the tall multi colored zinnia mix well with the coneflower. I love the lower growing plants sprawling all around this landscape bed. Purple wing has been a solid performer over the years. I really like the bright purple color. Purslane is a tough summer plant that thrives in our Mississippi heat and reseeds there every year. The purslane forms a dense mat and is covered with 1-inch yellow petalled flowers. I love the two melampodium selections, the floriferous Million Gold and larger flowered Derby. And the purple Ping Pong gomphrena look great tucked in behind the melampodium. The clump of hardy banana plants anchor the end of the bed and the dark red flowers of the hardy hibiscus certainly adds interest to the mailbox planting. And while the sunflowers are starting to fade, the seeds will be attracting birds looking for a late summer snack. I’m MSU Extension horticulture specialist Gary Bachman and I hope you’ll join us next time on Southern Gardening.