Mississippi Gardener

Hey y'all. It's SPRANG TIME on the gulf coast. They start early down here and who can blame 'em? My beautiful dinnerplate sized hibiscus flowers that I photographed last summer up and died. One of my pink azaleas kicked it too. All of my mexican heather died. Oh, this winter was a hard one for my poor plant friends. The real stunner was that all 3 of my rosemary plants not only survived but they are thriving. They're twice the size or more than when I planted them! The one at the end of the drive is covered with tiny purple flowers...just amazing.
I usually have a green thumb but the crazy weather and different climate really threw me for a loop. I've already tried planting some pansies but only a few ever bloomed. The rest had tiny buds that opened up into teeny flowers with only 2 petals. I think I bought some kind of mutant duds. I finally went to walmart and got some good ol' wave petunias. They like full sun and bloom all spring and summer. What more could I want? Visit www.wave-rave.com
The summer sun is fierce here. It's humid and the wind blows in from the gulf. It's like walking out into a big hairdryer in a steamy bathroom after you shower. I am surprised any flowers at all will tolerate that kind of abuse. Nature knows what she's doing even if people don't so I plant and enjoy. I used a little greenhouse to grow some plants from seed, thyme, lavender (no one I know can get it to grow from seed but I try anyway. hope springs eternal), dill, zinnias and nasturtiums which are my ultimate favorite. All the seeds did well aside from the lavender, surprise, surprise. I made a row out back in front of the fence and planted sunflower seed along with the seed I had left from the greenhouse project. The row is sprouting really well and everything has secondary leaves. That's a good sign.
After Katrina, the birds are returning to Gulfport. I have a great deal of visitors to my feeder especially sparrows and doves. Thanks to the deep and wide drainage ditch next to the house, we have a few Great Egrets, Blue Herons and I even saw my first Cattle Egret a few days ago. They all just love to eat those big crawdads! I think they call them crawfish or something down here. They're those little things that look like tiny lobsters. I love to see all the wildlife just doing what they do in my own back yard. I love spring!
Why don't you write and tell me how you prepare for spring? I'd love to hear from you :) See you again soon!