By Gary R. Bachman

MSU Horticulturist
Coastal Research & Extension Center

Purple coneflowers are a flowering Mississippi native perennial that can really make a statement in your home garden and landscape.

The plant’s name comes from the beautiful purple flowers that seem to attract an endless number of butterflies and bees, especially all sorts of bumblebees.

By Gary R. Bachman

MSU Horticulturist
Coastal Research & Extension Center

Gardeners seeking color for the winter landscape should look beyond traditional pansies and violas and embrace the wide range of ornamental vegetables that can be grown in Mississippi. I’ve written about the colorful varieties of ornamental kale and cabbage, but a plant that doesn’t get much press is Swiss chard.

By Gary R. Bachman

MSU Horticulturist
Coastal Research & Extension Center

Winter can be hard on avid gardeners because cold temperatures prohibit many gardening activities. They may become bored, restless and perhaps even show irritation at the slightest annoyance.

These are classic symptoms of gardening cabin fever. For the active gardener, it only gets worse when all those catalogs start arriving.

A simple cure is to bring the garden indoors until spring arrives.