North Mississippi Gardening Tips
May 2008
FLOWERS
Colorful butterflies are a welcome addition to any garden. To attract more of these insects you will need to look at your garden through the eyes of the butterflies! You must consider their needs and blend them with your own wants and needs for your garden.
You should make an effort to know the species of butterflies that can be attracted to your garden, their larval food plants, and which nectar plants grow best in your area. A good start on this information is the Extension publication IS#1661, “Butterfly Plants and Mississippi Butterflies.”
As with almost all forms of wildlife (including some of us), food is by far the most significant influence. For butterflies, we are talking about two stages of life, which require two different types of food—the larval stage, where as caterpillars (some folks mistakenly call them worms), they eat vegetative growth, and the adult life, where nectar is their primary food source. Sometimes, we forgot about the first stage and only think of the pretty butterflies as welcome additions to our gardens.
“Worms” do turn into the pretty butterflies, so we need to have an assortment of larval food plants in our overall plan if we truly want to have a real butterfly garden. Some folks think of all caterpillars or “worms” as ugly, repulsive creatures that are eating their prize plants and that should be squashed upon sight. This is a most unfortunate attitude, as many of them, upon close inspection, rival their final winged stage in patterning and coloration. So, to be a successful butterfly gardening we need to tolerate the “worm” stage and incorporate larval food plants in our yards and gardens.
HERBS
Traditionally, culinary herbs were grown near the kitchen door for ease of use, and that’s still the best place if possible. In our busy lives if you have to walk more than 10 paces to retrieve that handful of basil to go in that spaghetti sauce, you’re not going to do it. If you do not have a full sun garden space close to the kitchen, grow the cooking herbs in a container. In case there is just no sunny space for your containers and you have to locate your herbs some distance from the house, try this trick—take time during the growing season to stroll through your garden picking a bouquet of the herbs in season. Place this bouquet on the kitchen counter and snip from it all during the week when you are cooking. It smells good, looks good, tastes good and it is readily accessible. Next weekend do the same thing. Your family will be impressed with your efficiency and enjoy flavorful dishes all week!
CONTAINER PLANTS FOR MOTHER’S DAY
Don’t forget to remember mama on her special day this month. If mama is a gardener or even if she’s not, I bet she will appreciate a nice container filled with flowering plants. Container gardens made wonderful additions to the home landscape. They’re portable, easy to maintain and just right for those of us who have trouble getting up and down like we used to. We don’t have to bend over quite as far to maintain these gardens! Little ones enjoy taking care of their own garden in a pot also. Some tips for successful container gardening are:
1. Make sure the pot is large enough that you will not be watering constantly—if you have to water it more than once every couple days, it is too small.
2. Situate the container where it is accessible and it is an accent to the landscape—groups of containers of various sizes and shapes make nice accents.
3. Group plants in the container that have the same cultural requirements—shade, sun, wet, dry, etc.
4. Combine plants of different textures, shapes, and color combinations; for example, use some “spiky” plants, “roundy” plants and some “hangy-down” plants.
5. Any container garden will need periodic grooming. It is unlikely that a container gardener will maintain its good looks all summer. Some of the plant material will need to be replaced or cut back as the season progresses.
6. Choices of plants for containers are endless. Don’t limit yourself to annuals. Perennials, even trees and shrubs can successfully be grown in containers.
LANDSCAPE DESIGN TIPS
May is a good month to do some evaluations of your home landscape and see if it is working like you envisioned. If you’re a plant lover and just can’t resist buying one of nearly everything the garden center offers, your landscape could possibly be in need of better organization to give it that unified, harmonious professional look rather than looking like a “plant explosion.” I have to admit I can’t resist new plants, either, but I try to have somewhat of a plan as to how my new plant addition will fit into the overall scheme of things in my yard. Sometimes, it works—sometimes it doesn’t.
Keeping the following concepts in mind may help you avoid costly mistakes. The landscape surrounding your home serves as its visual setting. The front yard frames the house as seen from the street or driveway and the back and side yards offer attractive views from the windows, patio, or walkways. Plants and structures in each area should express your taste, just as furnishings inside the house do. Just like these furnishings, plantings are not just ornamental but functional parts of the landscape and can serve as extensions of the interior rooms. For example, an outdoor dining or cooking area would be located with easy access to the interior kitchen area. Your indoor space is divided into rooms that serve different purposes, and your outdoor space should be arranged to accommodate various activities, with movement through it directed in a way that makes sense. Now, grab your hat and get gardening!
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.