Home Gardening

North Mississippi Gardening Tips
May, 2002

Notes for May

By this time all able gardeners should be just about caught up with all those spring clean-up chores. Have you done the weeding, fertilizing, mulching, transplanting, seeding and all those other activities that seem to pile-up this time of year? Have you dug up and separated all those overgrown perennials? Have you put into motion all those grand plans you formulated in your mind as you lounged in front of the fire this winter? If not, don't fret. The gardening season is just beginning and you have plenty of time. Enjoy the season. Do what you are able to do and don't think about the rest. To paraphrase Scarlett O'Hara, " Think of it all tomorrow. After all, tomorrow is another gardening day!"

Annual Flowers and Vines

All danger of frost is past and it is safe to plant annual vines like moonflower, morning glory, scarlet runner beans, and black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia). All of these require support such as a trellis, wire or string. These annual vines are easy to grow and can be used in many ways in the garden: to accent a doorway or other entryway, to dress-up a mailbox, lamppost or other structure, to provide visual interest to walls or fences, and to draw the eye upward in the landscape. Pick a spot that needs some vertical interest and seasonal color. The location should receive full sun and have well-drained soil. There are other choices of annual vines that can be used ornamentally. How about the small-fruited ornamental gourds, the firecracker vine (Mina lobata, the attractive white-flowered luffa gourd vine, the beautiful hyacinth bean vine, the old-timey cypress vine, or, if you started them early enough, the fragrant sweet pea?

Bulbs

One of the most popular plants for the southern shade garden is the caladium. These tropical foliage plants are treated as annuals in northern Mississippi. Foliage colors are shades of red, pink, or white, with prominently colored midribs and contrasting backgrounds and borders. Nurseries and garden centers offer caladiums as potted plants or dormant tubers. Caladiums require a warm soil (minimum or 70 degrees) high in organic matter with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5. Caladiums traditionally need protection from full sun for best growth and color, but some of the newer varieties tolerate limited exposure to full sun for a couple of hours daily. When using caladiums in the landscape planting masses of same colored plants is more effective than plantings that mix colors and types together. Use masses of the white-colored foliage types to bring light to those dark, shady areas of the landscape.

Container Gardens

Have you ever thought of making a moss container? No? Well, get ready because you are fixing to learn how to make one of these spiffy little garden accessories. Look for green sheet moss at a florist's shop or a crafts store or do like I do and collect fresh moss from the woods. I use a flat-blade shovel or just my fingers to gently scrape the green moss from the ground. Try to keep it together and not break it apart as you remove as much of the soil as possible. Wrapping these sheets of moss around plastic or clay pots, baskets, or wooden crates can transform these items into charming centerpieces. All you need to attach the moss to the container is white glue or you could use a hot glue gun if you're the impatient type. Bark, twigs and raffia wraps can be added to the container to create interesting shapes or textural contrast. Woodsy-type plants like ferns, violets, or any rustic-type floral arrangement look great in these moss-covered containers.

Over time, the moss will fade and turn brown. To keep the moss looking fresh, spray the surface of the moss with this mixture: combine 1 and one half cups of water with 3 drops of green food coloring and 1 drop of yellow food coloring. Lightly mist the moss with the dye and let it dry.

Fruit

May means fresh strawberries from the garden! These are among the easiest of home fruits to grow. The only problem I have encountered with a bed of strawberries is keeping it in bounds. This is the method I use. As the mother plants begin to send out runners after the strawberry harvest is over, I gently turn all runners so that they will all grow to the same side of the mother plants. That way, all the new plants will be growing on the same side of the row and I can grub out or till up the older less productive mother plants without destroying the baby plants. As you do this over a number of years your strawberry bed will literally move across the garden as you continue to move the runners in the same direction every year! This method works well for me because it is easy to identify and remove the older plants. Also, disease problems are less because the strawberries are not occupying the same site year after year. This "moving row" method of growing strawberries deviates somewhat from the "matted row" method where you have to grub out a third of the less productive plants in the "stationary" bed every year.

Groundcovers and Lawns

Ground covers are used where shade is too dense or the terrain is too rough for turf grass. Many types of ground covers can provide color and texture differences in the landscape and keep soil in place. Ground covers are typically less than 18 inches in height and generally require little maintenance once they are established. Some, such as mondo grass, resemble grass in growth form while others, such as violets and thrift (Phlox subulata), are grown as much for flower color as for the foliage.

Perennial Flowers and Vines

Keep a sharp eye on the fast, succulent growth of perennials-it is prime ground for infestations of aphids, spider mites, leafhoppers, thrips and caterpillar damage. If you notice these critters chomping away, contact your local garden center, nurseryman or Extension office for recommendations to control the problem. Mulch perennial beds to control weeds and conserve moisture. I use pine needles, as I live next to a huge pine thicket. Use what you have handy as mulch. If you have a large lawn and an abundance of grass clippings, use those; but be sure to let the clippings thoroughly dry before you pack them around your plants. I don't use my grass clippings as mulch very often because my lawn has many weeds (and weed seeds). I'm sure your lawn doesn't have that problem, so mulch away! Of course, pine bark and hardwood barks are available commercially and work well also. Apply mulch to a depth of 4 inches and keep mulch off crowns of perennials.

Trees and Shrubs

Fertilize all spring-flowering shrubs and trees after they bloom. Use a 15-15-15 fertilizer on deciduous shrubs and trees and an azalea/camellia acid fertilizer on evergreens. Follow recommendations on the fertilizer for application rates. Do not prune summer-flowering shrubs like buddleia (butterfly bush) and althea (Rose of Sharon) this month or you will disturb growth and bloom of the plant. Prune spring-flowering shrubs like camellia, azalea, rhododendron, spirea, forsythia and others after they finish blooming. If you grow red-tip photinias you probably have leaf spot. Begin spraying now with a fungicide containing chlorothalonil to control this ugly disease or better yet don't plant any more red-tips!

Vegetables and Herbs

If you are like me, early this month is when you become serious about getting that warm-season vegetable garden planted-up to now, excuses have been too wet, too cold, too weedy, too lazy or "sorry" as my mama refers to people who do not display the appropriate "get-up-and-get" attitude when a job is to be done. After years of practice I know what vegetables my family will eat and how much I need to grow for fresh eating, for freezing and canning. If you need some guidance on this, go to the county Extension office and ask for the "Garden Tabloid." It shows the yield in pounds of various vegetables for a 100-foot row. If you preserve your vegetables and want to know how many quarts you can get from a bushel of corn, for instance, you need the Extension publication "Complete Guide to Home Canning." Both publications are free for the asking from your county Extension office. Plant only what your family will eat or you may wind up in the predicament I found myself in several years ago when I over planted zucchini squash. I brilliantly took care of the abundant harvest by stealthily leaving piles of squash on the front seats of anyone foolish enough to leave their car windows down at my son's little league baseball games!

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.