By By Steve Strong / area horticulture extension agent
November 3, 2004
The public is invited to join celebrated garden gurus Felder Rushing and Gail Barton for a special evening of "how-to" home gardening on Nov. 11.
The East Mississippi Electric Power Association auditorium on Highway 39 North in Meridian is the site for the free event held from 6 p.m.-9 p.m., which features both lectures and book signings from each of these Mississippi authors.
The program will offer a range of topics from fall planting tips to planning for the 2005 garden season. Count on plenty of eye-opening, entertaining slides from each speaker, as they answer all of the horticultural questions "you always wanted to know but were afraid to ask."
The MSU Extension Service is co-hosting the event, so also count on a few interjections from yours truly.
Gail Barton's new book, "Basic Gardening, A Guide For The Deep South" (277 pages, illustrated), walks the home gardener through every step of successful design and planning for low maintenance. With more than twenty years of practical experience teaching horticulture at Meridian Community College, she knows how to educate and inspire gardeners of all ages.
Plant lovers will appreciate the amount of detail in Gail's Deep South book, which features an incredible amount of illustrations and plant lists for all gardening occasions. Whether your passion is vegetable and herb gardening, or turf and ornamental plant care, this guide literally has it all. From soil preparation to weed and pest management, this is one of the most complete sources of home garden info available.
Rushing needs little introduction to most Mississippi gardeners who have enjoyed more than two decades of live garden radio programs, and a plethora of gardening books and news articles.
Felder's latest children's gardening book comes right on the heels of his acclaimed "Tough As Nails" southern planting guide, and both are quite worthy of adding to the home gardener's library collection.
Count on Rushing to deliver a smorgasbord of delightful anecdotes that transplant the home gardener to places and times they have visited before (and sometimes have never been to). Recounting memories that range from digging in grandmothers veggie patch to dealing with the next-door neighbor's mole problems (the rodents that live in the ground), Felder always delivers a laugh with the lesson.
Both authors will have books available for purchase and signing at the Nov. 11 seminar, and for more information contact the Lauderdale County Extension office at 482-9764.
Book signing will begin at 6 p.m., so make sure to get there in time before they sell out- what better Christmas gift could you give friends or family than books from expert Mississippi authors.
On a side note from the Extension expert, now is an excellent time for sowing wildflower seed, and for planting trees and shrubs if you can find good quality plant material. Toward the end of the growing season, woody plants held over the summer at garden centers may still be available, but be sure to loosen pot-bound root systems that may have gotten ingrown by their containers.
Also, make sure to follow the 50 cent plant in a 5 dollar hole rule, paying close attention to dig the hole at least twice as wide as the root ball, and adding a few inches of composted soil amendment to improve extremely heavy clay or sandy soil conditions. Check the www.msucares.com Web site for free information guides and planting tips.