Southern Gardening

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Remember the love that went with those flowers -- roots and all -- you as a child gave your mother. That same spirit can be captured this Valentine's Day with gifts of rose bushes.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

If your landscape looks a little desolate, barren or Siberia- like, it probably needs some evergreens. Of all landscape plants in the South, conifers are some of our most beautiful.

Conifers are important to our timber industry, but their usefulness doesn't stop there. A conifer is a cone-bearing tree or shrub. Familiar ones are the loblolly, slash pine, long and shortleaf pine, and others.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The winter weather has not been so cold, but it certainly has been dreary. The bulbs are starting to show their first green signs letting us know spring is coming. But if we simply cannot wait, which I can't, then primulas are the easy solution to the winter doldrums.

Europeans adore primulas, or primrose, but most Mississippi gardeners overlook them as a source of late winter and early spring color.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Many new exciting plants are coming our way in 1998, but one new impatient really has growers chomping at the bit to start planting.

Victorian Rose isn't an antique or heirloom rose, but it is the new All-American winning impatient. Hopefully, we will find Victorian Rose is the best semi-double flowering impatient.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Growing flowers outdoors is a common practice most gardeners enjoy, but growing plants to bloom indoors is a pleasure many are reluctant to try except for African violets.

The pineapple, our symbol of hospitality in the South, comes from a plant group that we not only overlook but view with trepidation. This group is the bromeliads.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Low light conditions make it hard to grow some plants indoors. A bright sunny day may register as much as 10,000 foot candles of light while indoors may be 500 or less.

When we want to have plants in those low light areas, it makes sense to select wisely. We can choose plants that will perform well under such conditions.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Not only is it kind of depressing, it is also a chore to take down the Christmas tree. To make matters worse, the room then looks bare.

My favorite Mississippi restaurant fights this dilemma by leaving the Christmas tree up all year. In February, it is a Valentine tree, followed by an Easter egg tree and on through various celebrations. It is also obvious to you now, that it is an artificial tree.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

There is a new pot in town. Chimenea, which is Spanish for fireplace or stove, have been for sale at nurseries and garden centers for more than a year and their popularity has risen dramatically.

For those of you who have wished for an outdoor fireplace to sit around with a cup of hot chocolate or coffee, then the chimenea may be just what you need. They are made out of clay and come in a wide range of sizes, colors and designs.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Dare to be different in your Christmas tree selection. Select a living Christmas tree that can be planted in your landscape when Christmas is over. This tree will serve as a special memory of holidays from years past.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Bright Lights is the new Swiss chard honored as an All-America Selection for 1998, and it really looks as though you will want to try it.

You may be asking yourself what in the world is Swiss chard. One horticulturist has described it appropriately as a beet without a bottom. They are a source of wonderfully edible stems and leaves that are like spinach. Another horticulturist describes it as perpetual spinach, which also happens to be a variety name.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The United States has not been the same during the holidays since Ambassador Joel Poinset brought a plant back from Mexico in 1825. Poinsettias have become a tradition, and some new gorgeous varieties will be showing up this year.

Pepride is a new variety that has caught my eye. Its dark green leaves and deep red bracts are shaped like oak leaves. Freedom is a dark red variety with dark green leaves. It is awfully hard to find a prettier poinsettia than this one.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The one thing most people hate about this time of the year is that it's dark when they get home from work. However, lights in the flower beds can be a welcome sight as they pull into their driveways every evening.

After mulch, lighting is the perfect finishing touch to landscaping. Lighting can really make a dramatic impact in the landscape, especially when featuring the old oak, water pond or flower garden.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Muhly grass stole the show at the annual Fall Field Day at the Truck Crops Experiment Station in Crystal Springs. Honestly, I think I could have sold several hundred containers of this beautiful ornamental grass.

Since the field day, I have continued to receive calls about the beautiful ornamental grass with the cotton candy-like blooms that were a deep rose color.

Muhly grass impressed my horticultural counterparts as well. The name comes from Muhlenbergia.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Hernando Desoto discovered pecans' wonderful taste in 1541 in what became Mississippi, and Jean Penicaut wrote about them in Natchez in 1704.

The most widely planted variety, the Stuart, originated here, as did Desirable, Success and Schley. Despite criticism over irregular crops and insect problems, the pecan is a survivor and worthy of a place in the landscape as a shade tree.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Recent dinner guests drooled over my container-grown lemon tree that was holding about 50 fruit of differing stages of ripeness. The friends looked at the Mexican limes and satsuma oranges with the same enthusiasm.

These trees range in age from 12 to 15 years, which means I have had them in Bryan, Texas; Shreveport, La.; Arlington, Texas; and Mount Olive, Miss. Doesn't exactly sound like the Citrus Belt, does it?

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Floral accents at entry ways give a feeling of warmth and welcome. Beautiful fall-colored flowers and plants gives us the opportunity to create a floral work of art not only for the landscape, but for planters, too!

Container gardening is not just for the spring or summer. With flowers like pansies, violas, flowering kale or cabbage, dianthus and chrysanthemums, the choices for your fall planter are great.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

Pansies are no wimps, and neither are the people who plant them generously in their landscapes.

The choices of pansies have become staggering. One major seed supplier alone lists 180 varieties and various mixtures. The reason is plain and simple: The pansy sits on the throne as the most popular fall and winter flower.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

University horticulturists will unveil a second new garden of tough roses at the Fall Garden Day Oct. 17 in Crystal Springs. The event has become a major attraction for the state drawing as many as 6,000 visitors.

The rose garden was planted this spring and though quite young, will still give a colorful show. It features shrub roses, ground cover roses, floribundas and a few miniatures. Visitors can view about 20 featured roses.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The camellia sasanqua is one of the most important species of camellias in the South -- next to the camellia japonica. You've passed up a winner if you haven't planted one in your landscape or at least looked at the latest selections.

The sasanqua is great as a base planting around the home and great for background screens. Under ideal growing conditions, it is not uncommon for a sasanqua to reach almost 15 feet high.

By Norman Winter
Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center

The indigo spires may be the most beautiful perennial salvia that we grow. I hope you have the opportunity to see them blooming right now. It seems strange that I have hundreds of books, but only a couple even mention this great plant.

The Salvia indigo spires is a cross between salvia farinacea and salvia longispicata. This gorgeous plant reaches about 3 to 4 feet tall and has blooms that reach close to 15 inches in length.