Southern Gardening

Some of my favorite plants for the winter cool season are ornamental cabbage and kale. And believe it or not, there is still time to plant so you can add their color and bold texture to the garden. Display beds here at the South Mississippi Branch Station in Poplarville exhibit the potential of these foliage plants that is often overlooked. All are mostly green when first transplanted, and begin to display colorful centers as the colder temperatures set in. An interesting fact is that ornamental kale and cabbage are one and the same species, Brassica oleracea.

December 6, 2015 Are you looking for some cold weather color besides pansies? I’ve got the answer for you. Voila! The viola. Pansy and viola are close cousins. The pansy flower is bigger, but the viola certainly matches the pansy in color. So why plant viola instead of pansy? One good reason is in my experience, the viola is more cold tolerant. The viola can easily thrive from Thanksgiving all of the way through Easter. Violas come in many colors. Check out this sea of color with sorbet yellow. Like colorful sunsets? Try sorbet orange. Need to brighten up your entire bed?