Wildflower Trails of Mississippi

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The Mississippi Wildflower Trail project is a great way to bring beauty and awareness to public areas and rights-of-way across Mississippi.

Pollinators and native plants are vital to production agriculture and healthy ecosystems. Pollinators make the reproduction and growth of more than 180,000 different plant species and more than 1,200 crops possible, ultimately adding nearly $217 billion to the global economy. To help support pollinators and create beneficial habitat, the partnership between the Mississippi State University Extension Service, the Keep Mississippi Beautiful Project, the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission, the Natural Resources and Conservation Service, the Mississippi Department of Transportation, and the Mississippi Master Gardeners is helping bring wildflowers to public areas and rights-of-way across the Magnolia State.

This project has several goals:

• increase awareness and education of the importance of pollinators as well as native plants and their role in the environment
• enhance aesthetics through the beauty of wildflowers
• generate tourism and economic development

The intent of this publication is to describe the establishment and maintenance of these wildflower areas for the benefit of city, county, and state right-of-way managers and public works employees who want to successfully manage wildflower plantings.

Interested municipalities, contractors, right-of-way managers, and public works employees are encouraged to contact their local Extension office for more information on this project and to ask any questions they may have about getting a wildflower area established.

The information given here is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products, trade names, or suppliers are made with the understanding that no endorsement is implied and that no discrimination against other products or suppliers is intended.

Publication 3000 (POD-12-25)

By Brett Rushing, PhD, Extension/Research Professor and Faculty Coordinator, Coastal Plain Experiment Station; John Byrd, PhD, Extension/Research Professor, Plant and Soil Sciences; and David Russell, former Extension Associate I, Plant and Soil Sciences.