By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
If I had a singing voice, I might do a few bars of the Hallelujah Chorus. The fourth Mississippi Garden and Patio Show was a huge success, but even better was the fact that the native azaleas had to be among the hottest plants getting carried out of the buildings.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Planning, growing and maintaining beautiful gardens is not always an easy task. Gardeners who rely on expert advice typically have the prettiest, most successful gardens, but finding that expert advice can be difficult during the spring rush using traditional sources such as local nurseries, catalogs and books.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
An outstanding feather reed grass variety named Karl Foerster is the Perennial Plant of the Year, according to the Perennial Plant Association.
This Perennial Plant of the Year will work well in Mississippi, too. As a highly acclaimed cultivar, Karl Foerster is one of the most versatile, attractive and low maintenance ornamental grasses around. The deep green, shiny foliage appears in early spring and lasts until early winter.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
All landscapes reach a point where they need a little re-engineering. This year's storms have created problems across the state that will require repair efforts for years to come.
Re-engineering is a popular word today. Corporations use to describe changes they are making in their market focus or their corporate structure. Re-engineering basically means looking at where you are and assessing how you can capitalize on what you have.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Kathy Ann, a native yaupon holly from Stone County, Miss., leads an impressive list of plants that have been announced as Mississippi Medallion winners for this spring.
You won't have to go to Stone County to find the Kathy Ann yaupon holly as this exquisitely formed small tree already has found its place in the hearts of landscapers from Texas to Georgia and the Carolinas.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Some gardeners believe roses have lost their fragrance, but I have stuck my nose in more than a few that deliver delightful scents for season-long enjoyment.
Double Delight has been one of the most popular hybrid tea roses for almost 20 years. An outstanding rose with a creamy white color contrasting with bright strawberry red, it has a fresh fruity scent you can smell up to 10 feet away. In 1986, the American Rose Society awarded it as the most fragrant.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
This coming spring has all the signs of being a good year to bring back that old-fashioned plant, the nasturtium. I considered writing about plants for cold, saturated conditions, but decided to write about a plant that is beautiful, edible, suitable in the flowerbed and perfect for tucking in containers.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Horticulturists are always looking for "60-mile-per-hour plants," which means pretty flowers in some landscapes can divert your attention while you are zipping down the highway.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
After those 100-plus degree days in August, we should feel guilty complaining about the cold winter we've had. It helps knowing that some hot new plants like the Bouquet Purple dianthus will be showing up soon to help us forget the frigid December and January.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
The large, tulip-shaped, purple, pink and white flowers of the Japanese magnolia will open soon in neighborhoods all across our state, making you wish you had planted one or two. One of Napoleon's retired soldiers is credited with making the cross.
These huge-flowers produced in late winter and early spring are a sight long remembered. The past few years they have been exceptional in bloom. It won't be long until they start to show up at garden centers.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Many Mississippi gardeners are big on container gardening during the spring, summer and even fall, but once cold weather hits, the pots start to look kind of dismal. Take heart gardeners, we still can brighten up those cold dreary porches, patios and decks.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
After all of these years, I admit to still being hooked on David Austin English roses. Winter is a great time of the year for rose suppliers to try to capture your attention and dollars with pretty pictures.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
This is the time of the year when variegated plants really start-to-shine in the landscape. Some gardeners consider plants with leaf variegation gaudy or unattractive, but even the much maligned golden Euonymous, when placed against dark evergreens, is like a lantern in the forest. I believe the Euonymous may be a forgotten plant for the Southern landscape.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
A sugar high may not be ideal in children, but our trees certainly have rewarded us this fall from the extra sugar in their systems. Mississippi trees are on a high from trapped sugar and are giving the prettiest color most of us can remember.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Long ago they were called Flores de Noche Buena (Flowers of the Holy Night), but today we know poinsettias as the most popular Christmas plants. Christmas is loaded with legends and stories like the Little Drummer Boy and the origin of the poinsettia.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Lion's Tail, Forsythia Sage, Caribbean Blue otacanthus and Diva periwinkles are just a few of the plants that caught the eye of visitors to Mississippi State University plant evaluation sites this summer and fall.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
Don't feel bad if you feel like you have missed Exotic Love; it happens to the best of us. Before you start thinking naughty, the Exotic Love I am referring to is a vigorous vine with almost indescribably beautiful flowers. It is also known as Spanish Flag and Star Glory and is native to Mexico.
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
The goal, make your garden look great in January. That was the challenge Ed Martin, renowned and retired Mississippi State University professor emeritus of landscape architecture, would issue to his students and to those of us who have been lucky enough to sit through one of his seminars.