News

Most gardeners have favorite landscape plants they use every year, and I’m no different. But I also like to try new plants I see in garden centers or learn about from perusing winter catalogs.

This week, I want to tell you about some of the plants that are so far performing well in my landscape.

One plant I like to grow each summer is Blue Daze evolvulus, because this is an easy-to-care-for plant that needs minimal attention. Blue Daze has been around for a long time and was one of the first plants chosen as a Mississippi Medallion winner in 1996.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Andrew J. Kouba, director of conservation and research at the Memphis Zoo, is the new head of the Mississippi State University Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Kouba will begin serving Aug. 16 as head of the academic, research and extension unit of the university’s College of Forest Resources.

LUCEDALE, Miss. -- Mississippi watermelon growers battled frequent rains to get their crops planted and ready in time for the Fourth of July and other summer celebrations.

David Nagel, horticulture specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said most of the crop is smaller and later than normal.

“If the sun doesn’t shine, the leaves don’t make sugar, plants don’t grow and we have smaller watermelons,” Nagel said. “Recent sunny days are allowing some of the crop to catch up. Melons may still be small, but they will be sweet and firm, or crisp.”

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A Mississippi State University College of Veterinary Medicine student has won an award for his communication skills.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Fifteen communication professionals at Mississippi State University won national awards June 8-11 at the annual conference of the Association for Communication Excellence.

Bob Ratliff, marketing and communications coordinator for the MSU Extension Service Center for Government and Community Development, won an Award of Excellence for writing. Ratliff began his writing career in 1975 and has worked for the MSU Extension Service and the Progressive Farmer Radio Network.

RAYMOND, Miss. -- Several Mississippi State University scientists and their colleagues recently won top honors in a national competition for providing research-based information on fish and wildlife management to the public.

The Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals awarded the 2015 Gold Award in the Outstanding Educational Materials Category for long publications to contributors of a new fisheries and wildlife management handbook, “Fish and Wildlife Management: A Handbook for Mississippi Landowners.”

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Mississippi boasts a wealth of outdoor recreational opportunities for residents and visitors, with abundant lakes, rivers, forests, refuges, state parks, national parks and camping areas.

With that being said, any outdoor activity can also bring risks if recreation lovers not fully prepared.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Pitting farmers against beekeepers does little to solve the problems facing pollinators.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- A lifelong beekeeper and Mississippi State University Extension Service apiculture specialist offers an unusual list of reasons for bee colony death.

“My top three reasons for bee colony death are Varroa mites, Varroa mites and Varroa mites,” said bee expert Jeff Harris. “This is my sarcastic response to the heavy emphasis in the press on the effects of insecticides and other pesticides on honey bees.

LORMAN, Miss. -- Producers can learn about low-cost, efficient water management practices for their farms during a seminar at Alcorn State University’s model farm in Lorman.

Bill Evans, an associate research professor at the Mississippi State University Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station in Crystal Springs, will be one of the featured speakers at the June 30 sustainable water management workshop.

Veterinarians at the Mississippi State University Veterinary Specialty Center (VSC) are using 3-D printer technology to make models of spinal and skull injuries that help them develop better treatments for their animal patients.

The VSC purchased a Lutzbot Taz 4 3-D printer last year, and it is now one of the center’s most valuable pieces of equipment. Three-dimensional models from the printer allow specialists and practicing veterinarians to view internal trauma without the use of invasive procedures.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Six planters at the entrance of a Mississippi State University building are among Sylvia Byrd’s efforts to take students who have never grown anything before and turn them into savvy consumers who have a better appreciation of where their food comes from.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- “Just mentioning bees and pesticides in the same sentence is sure to get a buzz,” said Angus Catchot, an entomologist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.

Media skirmishes about bee health, agriculture practices and the role of pollinators in food production are a mixture of fact, propaganda and general misunderstanding, Catchot said.

MISSISSIPPI STATE -- A Mississippi State University researcher is directing two international studies that could help scientists better understand the role of the body’s natural immune system in preventing heart disease and the rise in drug-resistant bacteria.

Our gardens and landscapes are heating up, and for hot summer color, you just can’t beat the annual vinca.

In my opinion, vinca is one of those perfect landscape plants. It produces loads of color and handles the high heat and dry conditions of our Mississippi summers.

Some of the very best vinca plantings I have seen were growing in raised beds. But in some years, entire planting beds of vincas seemed to fail almost overnight. A common characteristic of these failures is wet soil. Vinca plants do not like to grow with their feet wet.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Three row crop field days scheduled for July will highlight new and developing weed and insect control technologies.

Mississippi State University row crop specialists will discuss these and other agricultural issues, beginning at the first filed day on July 7 at Douglas and Chris Hood Farms in Dundee.

The second field day is scheduled for July 15 at the MSU Black Belt Branch Experiment Station in Brooksville. The station is located 2 miles northeast of Brooksville and 20 miles south of Columbus on Highway 45.

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Stories about Asian carp abound, but what exactly is an Asian carp and why should we be concerned?

Asian carp is a vague title assigned to a category of fishes native to Southeast Asia that have been introduced into the U.S. for their beneficial uses in aquaculture. This group of iconic fishes includes the common carp, grass carp, black carp, largescale silver carp, and silver and bighead carp. The species of most concern are the silver carp and the bighead carp, which I will refer to as “bigheaded carps.”

WASHINGTON COUNTY, Miss. -- Delta Farmers Advocating Resource Management will host the Monsanto Water Conservation Field Day July 7 from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m.

Attendees will meet at Simmons Planting Company on state Highway 438, 3.7 miles east of the U.S. 61 intersection near Arcola. They will then go to Murrell Farms to see the latest rice irrigation practices and surface water irrigation systems.

DECATUR, Miss. -- Max Anderson has set an auction date. Soon, he will sell all of his 150-cow dairy herd.

Anderson will then mark the end of 38 years in the dairy business after taking over his family’s Newton County farm. After a widespread dairy economic crisis in 2009 that put him and many of his peers in debt, he finally bounced back after a profitable 2014.

“It would be foolish to dig that hole again,” Anderson said. “No one in the next generation wants to take over the dairy, and it seems like the time is right. There are more reasons to get out than stay in.”

JACKSON, Miss. -- The Early Years Network is hosting a grand opening for the new Hinds County Resource and Referral Center on June 25.

The event will begin at 350 West Woodrow Wilson Ave. in Jackson Medical Mall Suite 480 at 2 p.m. with a brief ceremony to introduce staff and Early Years Network personnel. At that time, the network will accept a donation from United Health Care that will help extend network support to Mississippi’s children. The center will be open to the public to meet the staff and review available resources.