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Southern Gardening from 2008

This cool season container has Citrona orange in fiery contrast with the purple from Matrix pansies and alyssum. Sorbet Sunny Royale viola either harmonizes or contrasts with every other plant in the container. Easter Bonnet alyssum softly tumbles over the rim. (Photo by Norman Winter)
October 2, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The change in gardening seasons has given many gardeners a renewed enthusiasm for getting some dirt on their hands. One reason to celebrate the cool season is that it holds great promise for creating small perfume factories near outdoor areas where visitors gather or family frequents.

The Indian Summer coleus is like a kaleidoscope of ever-changing red, orange, rust, cream and green that seems to change color patterns from morning to afternoon. (Photo by Norman Winter)
October 9, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens, Vegetable Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

You'll be seeing the stars of next year's gardens and landscapes if you are among the thousands expected to attend the 30th annual Fall Flower and Garden Fest Oct.17-18 at Mississippi State University's Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs.

Gardeners who like edible landscapes should put cardoon at the top of their lists. Here, edible cardoon is planted with flowering kale, which often is used as a garnish. (Photo by Norman Winter)
October 16, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The cardoon is a plant the Romans and Greeks ate as a vegetable, but today its popularity is sweeping the South as it is the newest Mississippi Medallion award winner.

Although the ancients ate it, at Mississippi State University's Truck Crops Experiment Station, we use it for its looks. Botanically, cardoon is Cynara cardunculus, and it is related to the globe artichoke.

Lindheimer's muhly grass has a blue-gray-green color and fine leaf texture. Here it is partnered with Knock Out roses and Kathy Ann Brown Mexican bush sage for a fabulous fall display. (Photo by Norman Winter)
October 23, 2008 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Muhly grasses native to the southern United States offer dazzling performances for the fall landscape. One of the most picturesque is commonly called Lindheimer's muhly, or blue muhly.

The blue-gray-green color and fine leaf texture would make this grass a winner even if it never bloomed. But it does, sending up plumes on 4-foot-tall plants. The blossoms begin as a creamy pink that turns whiter and finishes tan.

Four species of plants lend their special colors and textures to this old piece of pottery. An Etain viola is the focal point, and its lavender edges contrast with the golden blades of Ogon dwarf sweet flag. Lemon Coral sedum gently tumbles over the rim of the container, and the tiny Thumbell bellflowers add visual interest and finish the fine piece of art.
October 30, 2008 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

An old masterpiece may be tucked away in your potting shed or garage just waiting for you to bring it to life. This masterpiece is an empty piece of old pottery or even a concrete planter with a chip or two missing and moss or lichens growing on it.

I saw a cool-season container like this a year or two ago that took my breath away. The designer had carefully placed the plant material to create a living work of art.

The Fizzy Lemonberry is a new pansy mix that is predominantly a cheerful yellow with a dark blotch and ruffled, picotee edges that are dark purple.
November 6, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Pansies and violas are planted in the fall, and they bloom until late spring when temperatures get too hot. Without a doubt, these are the best value for your gardening dollar. They are so good that I wonder why some people don't take advantage of these colorful, workhorse-type flowers.

I attend the California Pack Trials each April and am always amazed by one group of pansies produced by a company called American Takii, located on the outskirts of Salinas.

The Amazon dianthus is the thriller plant in this early-summer container. The filler plant is Flambe Orange chrysocephalum, which produces small, button-like, yellow flowers on striking, olive gray-green foliage. Silver Falls dichondra is the spiller plant that cascades over the rim. (Photo by Norman Winter)
November 13, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Pinks or dianthus are among the most loved cool-season flowers. While they are described as cool-season flowers, varieties like the Amazon series perform in the cool season and for much of the summer, too, giving us combination possibilities we may never have considered.

An Ocean Springs Master Gardener developed these three compost bins, which are more elaborate than most home gardeners create. Each bin holds compost at a different stage of decomposition. (Photos by Norman Winter)
November 20, 2008 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

You may have heard the term black gold in your lifetime. While it is most often associated with oil, gardeners worth their salt will associate the phrase with compost. Compost is that dark, crumbly, organic material that is often a prerequisite for the green thumb.

An old pyracantha grows next to a stately oak and drapes over it almost like Spanish moss. This combination is found not far from my office in Hinds County in front of the courthouse, which was built in 1857 and served as a hospital during the Civil War. (Photo by Norman Winter)
November 25, 2008 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Winter is often cold and dreary, but the pyracantha, a member of the rose family, helps landscapes remain beautiful, interesting and a great source of food for cedar waxwings.

The pyracantha gets its name from the Greek word “pyr,” for fire, and “akanthos,” for thorn, hence the common name firethorn. This is very appropriate, as the pyracantha has sharp, painful thorns. I remember as a child reaching in to retrieve baseballs from the branches and coming out screaming.

Use differing textures to keep winter landscapes beautiful. (above) Here the multiple trunks of a river birch partner well with the huge, palmate leaves of a dwarf palmetto palm. With few flowers blooming, our landscape's main interest at this time of year comes from differing textures. (Photos by Norman Winter)
December 4, 2008 - Filed Under: Lawn and Garden

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

With few flowers blooming, our landscape's main interest at this time of year comes from differing textures.

I recently stumbled on a combination planting that featured natives in an awesome show of texture. Had I kept my eyes open, I would surely have seen Mother Nature, rather than a landscape architect, do it first. Nevertheless it struck me as a partnership worthy of writing about and photographing.

Penny violas and ornamental grasses make great cool-season mixed containers. Here a few Penny colors are mixed with the long stems of the carex.
December 11, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

A few Pennies can make your winter landscape look like a million bucks.

I'm not talking about the proverbial penny saved or even the penny found lying on the sidewalk. The Penny I am talking about is not copper-colored but perhaps a rich orange, deep blue or one of more than 20 other colors.

Nonstop Fire, or Begonia tuberhybrida, is a blaze of orange and yellow. The plants develop lateral branches, giving a great mounded look for baskets and planters. (Photos by Norman Winter)
December 18, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

2009 looks to be the Year of the Begonia. This is not an official proclamation but my expectation of the incredible new begonias that will debut this spring. From hanging baskets to the landscape, begonia lovers can rejoice.

Joey is a hot, new plant from Australia that is coming this spring. Its 4-inch-long flowers have an iridescent sheen of neon pink and silver that are bottle brush-like with a little tilt at the top that hints at a feather. (Photo by Norman Winter)
December 25, 2008 - Filed Under: Flower Gardens

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

At this time of the year, some people look back and reflect and others look to the future. Joey, a hot new plant from Australia that is coming this spring, will have us looking to the future.

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