Southern Gardening

Several years ago if a gardener told me they had amaranth growing in their landscape I would have envisioned a weedy mess. But lately my opinion of this group of plants has changed. My first approval of growing amaranth in the landscape was the variety called Summer Poinsettia, which has foliage colors that actually light up the garden. Color combinations range from green with creamy white to brilliant burgundy with red-orange shades. These plants will reach about two feet or more high.

I consider sunflowers the royalty of sunny summer and fall gardens that attract all kinds of wildlife, from butterflies and bees, to the occasional hungry gardener. Today we’re at the Truck Crops Branch Station in Crystal Springs taking a look at their demonstration block of pretty sunflowers. A really gorgeous sunflower is Lemon Queen, with its lemon yellow flower petals and chocolaty brown centers. The plants can grow greater than six feet tall with multiple 5 inch diameter flowers on each stem.

After a hot summer I always feel more refreshed with the cooler fall temperatures. Some of our summer flowering plants feel the same way too. Zinnia are always a fall favorite for me and the fall performance of Profusion and Zahara are always a treat. Many times the cutting type of zinnia are ignored in the fall. But who can ignore the presence of Inca zinnia. Inca is a cactus-flowered zinnia having spectacular vivid blaze orange flowers. The fully double flowers are held on long stems perfect for cutting and are up to 4 inches across.

Just as sure as the leaves start changing colors one of the sure signs that fall has arrived is when your local garden center has their beautiful fall mums on display. Each year nurseries grow acres of mums for us to enjoy during the autumn season. We call these plants mums, which is actually short for Chrysanthemum, and are an easy way to add color to the fall landscape. And it’s easy to see why fall mums are so popular because there are more flowers than you could possibly count. The selection of colors can fit almost any design scheme, from rustic earth tones to bright and cheery pastels.

Pumpkins aren’t only for Halloween. There is a huge variety of pumpkins, squash and gourds that are perfect for your festive autumn display. Today Southern Gardening is visiting Colson’s Country Pumpkins in Caledonia, where they grow over 70 varieties of pumpkin, squash and gourds. There is also a variety of activities for the kids, including a corn maze, to go along with the colorful cucurbits. But the pumpkins, squash and gourds are the stars. Besides orange, colors include red, yellow, white, blue, and multi-colored stripes. Let’s take a look at a few of these fall favorites.

Today I’m visiting our friend Kathy who has created a fun landscape with the help of so called mythical creatures. Garden gnomes are those creatures of woodland legend and represent a most elemental spirit of the earth. Gnome is a derivation of the Greek word for “earth dweller”. In eastern Europe they are called dude, which sounds a lot like a greeting in California? With their help Kathy has created some very interesting combination plantings. Just look at this plant combination using this Treebeardesque planter.

Several years ago we briefly showed a plant that was new to many gardeners. After growing this plant I’m convinced that Golden Thryallis is a must have plant for our Mississippi landscapes. Golden Thryallis is a fantastic fall flowering shrub that is known botanically as Galphimia glauca. Flowering starts beginning in July with the plants in full flower from August 1st until early winter. The flower clusters are a very bright yellow that simply can’t be missed. Adding to the color are the red stamens and pistil. The flower petal bases are also tinged with red.

Hibiscus are one of those must have summer plants that we can count on to brighten up our gardens and landscapes. Today we’re at the Mississippi State Trials Gardens looking at their gorgeous hardy hibiscus. Hardy hibiscus are very different from tropical hibiscus. First these plants are winter hardy, having been bred from the native hibiscus found in the swamps and ditches of the Gulf coast. And second, hardy hibiscus doesn’t offer the shiny, glossy leaves of tropical hibiscus. But a trait the two varieties certainly share are the bright, beautiful, and almost gaudy flowers.

There are times when planting in the landscape can be constrained by the gardener’s budget. But this doesn’t mean the landscape has to be plain and boring. A big expense of gardening comes from buying mass plantings of bedding plants every year. But the budget minded gardener doesn’t have to do that. There are plenty of flowering perennials that will reward you with bright color year after year, like this Victoria Blue and Victoria White salvia. But the budget gardener doesn’t need to rely totally on perennials. There are some annuals that will reseed for you.

A lot a gardeners like the tropical look in the landscape. Growing bananas is an easy way to accomplish this goal. Today we’re at the Mississippi State Trial Gardens where bananas are being evaluated for cold tolerance. Japanese Fiber is widely considered to be the most cold tolerant banana selection. The bright green leaves can be six feet long and are arching out from the top of the thick trunk. Red Abyssinian is a personal favorite of mine. The leaves are bright green with a red midrib.