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North Mississippi Gardening Tips
July/August, 2001

Annual Flowers and Vines

The oppressing heat usually associated with this time of year could give the impression that if we are suffering, surely there aren't any flowering plants than can thrive in this heat. That's not true at all. north Mississippi gardeners do have choices of tough, annual plants for summer heat. Good annuals for sunny, hot areas include lantana, evolvulus, scaevola, portulaca, purslane, zinnia, periwinkle, cosmos, celosia, cleome, sunflower and melampodium. All of these are heat and drought tolerant once established. Zinnia, cosmos, marigold, cleome and sunflower can be sown now for fall bloom.

Bulbs

Have you ever seen a naked lady? No, not the two-legged kind, but the lily by that name. Naked ladies is just one of the more descriptive names for the plant Lycoris squamigera. August lily, magic lily, spider lily, hardy amaryllis are all common names of this very showy late summer bloomer. These bulbs' foliage emerges in late winter and then disappears by the end of May in north Mississippi. You don't see a thing out of these girls again until late July or August when the flowering stalks emerge. The blooms are light pink and look very much like the holiday amaryllis blooms. Because of their peculiar growth cycle, they're one of the few summer blooming bulbs that will bloom well in the shade of a deciduous tree. Transplant bulbs after the foliage has withered in late spring. Plant five inches deep and six to eight inches apart. Divide them every five to six years.

Fruit

Remove all canes of raspberries and blackberries that have finished fruiting. These canes will die anyway and you need to make way for the young canes that will produce next year's crop of berries. Fertilize figs with a complete fertilizer at this time. A 13-13-13 would work fine applied at the rate of _ pound per three feet of plant height. Continue your spray program on late-bearing apple and other fruit trees. The most practical method of control is a complete home orchard spray. Contact your local nursery or garden center for pesticide recommendations and remember to always follow manufacturer's directions for recommended rates and times of application.

Lawns

Caring for warm season grasses this time of year is simple. If the grass is not dark green, fertilize it! If there has been no rain in a week and the grass is dull green and dry, water it! Any questions? How about the cool season grasses you might ask? Well, if you have tall fescue remember to mow it high (3 to 4 inches) during the hot and dry part of the summer. Keep these types of grasses well watered and do not reseed those bare spots until the weather cools after September 1st.

Perennial Flowers and Vines

Now is the time to divide bearded iris if they're over crowded. Cut leaf blades back to six to eight inches. Then carefully dig up the clumps. Cut off any damaged, soft, or leafless rhizomes and discard them. Dust cuts with sulfur to prevent rot. Replant so that the rhizomes are just below the soil surface and at least six inches apart in a sunny, well-drained location. Do not pinch chrysanthemums and dahlias after July 1 or you might disrupt the bloom. Daylilies that have finished blooming can be dug and divided now. Dig up the clumps, separate into individual plants and cut the foliage back to eight to ten inches. Replant and water regularly until rooted in.

Trees and Shrubs

Look for damaging insects on evergreen trees and shrubs. Hollies, magnolias, euonymus, gardenias and others are susceptible to attack by scale, spider mites, mealy bugs and lace bugs. At the first sign of these insects spray with a recommended insecticide. Contact your local Extension office for pesticide recommendations. Be very careful when weed-eating around the base of trees and shrubs. Do not hit or damage the bark of the trunks. Even the slightest damage can provide an entrance for disease or insects as well as interfere with water uptake of the plant.

Vegetables and Herbs

You should be reaping the harvest from your warm season vegetables now. Tomatoes, corn, peppers, eggplant, cucumber, squash and others should be ready for harvesting. Plant cowpeas like lady peas, black-eyed peas and Crowder peas in any bare garden areas. All southern peas are a good green-manure crop (plow under in the fall before the first killing frost and while the plants are still green). Planted now these plants should yield before frost. Harvest all vegetables frequently. Those left too long on the plant lose taste and quality and effect overall yield.

Lelia Scott Kelly, Ph.D., writes North Mississippi Gardening Tips monthly and is a Horticulture Specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service. Her office is in the North Mississippi Research & Extension Center, Verona.