Cool-Season Bedding Plants for Central Mississippi

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Spring is the busiest and most popular time for garden centers to sell the bulk of their plant material, but this isn’t the only time to purchase and enjoy annuals that perform best in cool weather. Visit your local garden center regularly throughout the year to find a broader diversity of plant material. Fall is a great time to plant many trees, shrubs, perennials, and cool-season bedding plants. Many nurseries bring in fresh plant material in early fall that is healthy, fully established in the pot, and ready to be planted.

Many gardeners know there are cool-season and warm-season vegetables. For example, lettuce, spinach, and broccoli are cool-season crops, while tomatoes, peppers, and okra are warm-season crops. Likewise, there are cool-season and warm-season bedding plants. Some common warm-season bedding plants are marigolds, vinca, celosia, and gomphrena. These flowers grow well in the intense Mississippi heat. In contrast, verbena, petunia, alyssum, and pansies thrive in cool weather.

Care

Cool-season flowers planted in the fall will not reach their full potential without adequate care. Here are some tips for successful fall cool-season bedding plantings:

• Cool-season bedding plants need adequate water. Mississippi’s fall weather can be dry, so be sure to water as needed until the roots are well-established.
• Tightly bound roots surrounding the outside of the root ball, often called circling roots, should be cut off, scored with a knife, or broken apart manually; this will help them get established in the surrounding soil.
• Plant cool-weather crops where they will get afternoon shade to extend their longevity in the late spring and early summer; too much shade will reduce overall flowering. It is also important to plant them in areas that have good drainage.
• Apply fertilizer based on the recommendations from a soil test. However, do not apply fertilizer after the plants have gone dormant and are not actively growing. Doing so will prevent nutrients from leaching through the soil. When plants resume growth in the spring, you can apply fertilizer again as needed.
• Plants may suffer winter damage. Remove plant tissue that is dead, diseased, or damaged. Be careful not to remove plant tissue that is just dormant for the winter. If in doubt, leave the plants alone until growth emerges in the spring.

This publication provides information on the following plants: 

• Sweet Alyssum
• Snapdragon
• Ornamental Kale
• English Marigold
• Calibrachoa
• Dianthus
• Twinspur
• Foxglove
• Wallflower
• Coral Bells
• Stock
• Nemesia
• Petunia
• Verbena
• Pansy, Violet, Viola, and Johnny-jump-up

You can also contact state Extension specialists or your local Extension office for answers to specific questions.

Publication 3370 (POD-05-26)

By Shaun Broderick, PhD, Associate Extension/Research Professor, Truck Crops Branch Experiment Station.