Southern Gardening

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

With all the new neighborhoods springing up everywhere, I'm sure I'm not alone in the panic that we will soon miss out on the floral displays of this spring's azaleas. Some disparage the azalea, but I am not one of them; I need azaleas at my new home.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

My 11-year-old son, James, went for a bike ride late last spring in our new neighborhood filled with forested areas, creeks, bogs and even deer. He came back out of breath from riding to tell me with excitement about a patch of flowers he discovered.

Though he had never seen them before, he immediately recognized them as something special. He was right. They were native Indian Pinks, known botanically as Spigelia marilandica.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The past couple of years have proven something to me; geraniums are back! Perhaps they have not recaptured the flower border, but they have taken over the front porch and perhaps the patio.

Last year, there were large containers of geraniums welcoming visitors to front doors everywhere I looked. Whether the container was all geraniums or mixed with other spring bloomers, you have to admit these are showy flowers that can be admired from a great distance.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Valentine's Day and other special days can invoke concern, confusion and heart-pounding fear in macho men everywhere. If you are remembering the chaos around the picked-over displays at the card store last year or if you are considering chocolates, let me tell you, "Candy is dandy, but flowers have power."

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

To be perfectly honest, sometimes there needs to be a little more sex in the garden. Yes, gardeners, we need to discuss the "birds and the bees."

We cannot escape the challenge of male and female relationships, even in the garden. This is most evident in the large, bright red fruit on the aucuba. Well, you didn't think I was talking about human relationships, did you?

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Bountiful blooming baskets of color are becoming the rage all across the nation. You may have seen the baskets in British Columbia, Seattle and Portland and wondered if we could do the same but perhaps lacked the confidence to try.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

This time of the year tends to make me a little grouchy, especially when I wake up to 16 degrees outside. My complaining makes gardeners from the north start tuning up for a chorus of "My Heart Bleeds for You." This season will make me love spring all the more, but when August comes, I will whine about the oppressive heat and humidity.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Many books are written to build readers' self esteem, and I want to do the same for bold gardeners considering doing something radical by saying it is cool to have spider lilies.

Since the first of the year is kind of a down time in the garden, I want to give you something to ponder for spring. Consider planting one of the native spider lilies. The first spider lily you think of may be the red, fall-blooming Lycoris. Although they grow well here, these are from Japan.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Wave petunias keep pouring in -- much to the delight of gardeners everywhere. It was just a couple of years ago the Waves as a group (purple, pink, lilac and rose) were declared Mississippi Medallion winners and now there is Lavender Wave.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

As the New Year arrives, it is fun to see what new plants are being touted for spring. Rose lovers for sure are interested in the new All-America Rose Selections.

Two roses captured All-America Selection honors for 2002, Love & Peace and Starry Night.

Love & Peace will mesmerize the rose grower or garden enthusiast with both its fruity scent and appearance.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Cnter

Kalanchoe, one of the most beautiful holiday plants in the world, is showing up at garden centers everywhere. A native to Madagascar and Africa, kalanchoe will certainly display its outstanding features in many Mississippi homes this holiday season.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Trends toward richer colors during the holiday season may be one reason Plum Pudding, a new maroon poinsettia, will be in demand this year. Excelling in consumer and grower trials, this beauty also is sure to delight lots of Mississippi State University fans who still want to show their school colors during the holidays.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Yosemite National Park is famous for its majestic waterfalls, but it was a babbling brook that my family appreciated there last summer during a hike through a forest. We sat down to watch, listen and appreciate for 30 minutes or so. That mood and pleasure created by this active water can be duplicated in any landscape.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

When you see some camellia japonicas blooming earlier, larger and more colorful than others, you may be seeing the results of a horticultural technique known as gibbing.

As camellia shows start to pop up in malls and other public places, it becomes apparent that some experts know something that the basic gardener may not.

By Norman Winter
MSU Extension Horticulturist

Many of us have toured someone's yard only to find they have the same flowers that are growing in our own beds, but something is dramatically different. Theirs is a special garden that makes us shoot a picture, either real or mentally. We leave either energized to do better or feeling a little depressed.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If you are ready to try something new in the cool season flower garden, you had better start shopping because this fall looks to be the best in quite some time for new, heirloom or unusual plants.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Some of our prettiest landscape plants for fall and winter are sitting in black plastic containers at garden centers across the South. Unfortunately, flowering kale and cabbage seldom receive the same attention as pansies, violas and snapdragons.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

I always dread the first frosty morning when I look out at yesterday's glorious bed of colorful lantanas and salvias and see instead a colorless, tumbleweed-like mess. It is especially frustrating if the mess is near the main entrance.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Fiber Optic Grass and Strawberries and Cream Ribbon Grass will no doubt cause a stir when they arrive in Mississippi, so you will want to shop early.

These two new grasses are part of the impetus that Proven Winners/EuroAmerican Propagators has been giving toward using ornamental grass as a vital element in mixed containers. This rage may very well have started when they introduced their Fall Magic line of plants that included the dwarf sweet flags.

By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Pansy and viola planting season is one of my favorite times of the year, and it is evident that many of you feel the same way. I was at a garden center the other day and saw several landscapers loading up dozens of these plants.