Flower Gardens
Annuals and perennials spice the landscape with their colorful flowers and foliage. Beds of color provide brilliant accents against backgrounds of permanent plantings, soften man-made lines, and provide graceful transitions from one outdoor area to another. Flowers can be used to catch the eye, accent a view, frame a door, or just draw attention to their own blooms.
Annual plants
Annual plants are practical in that they are versatile, sturdy, and inexpensive. They quickly yield color for one long season.
Perennial plants
Perennial plants return year after year. They fit into many landscapes and can be used in borders, as accents, or as strong focal points. The foliage of many perennials is attractive during nonflowering seasons as well.
Roses
Where noted, much of the content of this area was taken from an Extension short course, Growing and Enjoying Roses in Mississippi, presented in the spring of 2007.- Control Fire Ants in Your Yard
- Crafting with Roses*
- Insect Pests of Roses
- Other Sources of Information on Roses*
- Propagating Plants For The Home Landscape
- Pruning/Deadheading*
- Pruning Diagrams*
- Recommended Roses for Mississippi Gardens (slides)
- Recommended Roses for Mississippi Gardens (text)
- Rose Propagation
- Site Selection, Bed Preparation and Planting of Roses
- Spicy Rose Potpourri*
- Suggested Roses for Landscape Uses*
- Techniques and Tips for Growing Good Roses
- Using Roses in the Landscape*
- Watering and Plant Disease
Content for parts of this section comes from Extension Publication #P1826 - Annual & Perennial Flowers For Mississippi Gardens and *where noted, from a rose short course, Growing and Enjoying Roses in Mississippi, presented in the spring of 2007 by the MSU Extension Service.
Publications
News
The last group of native plants I want to highlight during Native Plant Month are those that pollinators can’t resist. Some of my favorites in this group are liatris, coreopsis, gaillardia and gaura.
These plants are beautiful and bring life to my garden through the pollinators they attract. With the right care, they truly thrive.
Next up in my series celebrating April as Native Plant Month are those that thrive in sunny landscapes.
One of my favorites is yarrow, a tough, drought-tolerant perennial that does especially well in full sun and well-drained soil. Once established, yarrow is very low maintenance and even thrives in poor, sandy or rocky soils.
I often get asked which plants thrive in the shade, so today I want to discuss some native selections that do just that.
Success Stories
Known around Cleveland, Mississippi as “The Rose Lady,” Jane Dunlap marked 30 years as a Master Gardener in 2024, but her home county lacked its own chapter for the first half of that span.
Robin Whitfield, who gave the child the paper, stands awestruck, watching her friend’s daughter use the flower to draw and color on the page.
Susie Harmon laughs when she relates her granddaughter’s observation of her favorite pastime.
