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Gardening? Look for Mississippi Medallion Plants mississippi gardening

Gardening? Look for Mississippi Medallion Plants

It’s finally spring, which means it’s time to get started on your garden! Gardening is a great way to get in some exercise, relieve stress, bond with others and grow your own healthy foods. Even the most seasoned gardener struggles with deciding what to plant. From different plant colors to the array of plant varieties, it can be a little daunting. To help your garden flourish, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Mississippi’s own Master Gardener, Jake Pierce has some gardening tips for our sometimes unpredictable Mississippi climate.

According to Jake, each year the Mississippi Medallion Selection Committee chooses five plants from different plant classes: trees, shrubs, vegetables, herbs, fruits, and annuals or perennials. The selected plants are known as Mississippi Medallion Plants and are well adapted to our Mississippi environment.

Next time you are in your local garden center, look for a Mississippi Medallion Plant!

Jake gives us five examples of popular Mississippi Medallion Plants to consider for your garden this year:

  1. Limelight Hydrangeas (Hydrangea Paniculata) are adaptable to a wide range of environment conditions and display an eye-catching bloom, making it a major showstopper in the landscape.

  2. Tempting Tomatoes ‘Garden Gem’ (Lycopersicon Esculentum) thrive in our Mississippi heat and produce snack sized tomatoes for extended amounts of time, making it a perfect selection for any vegetable garden.

  3. Luscious Series Lantana (Lantana Camera) are drought tolerant, bloom all season long and produce brightly colored flower clusters that will add a pop to your landscape.

  4. Rabbiteye Blueberries (Vaccinium Ashei) are one of the easiest fruit plantings to grow and produce an abundance of delicious, sweet fruits all season long.

  5. Frostproof Gardenia (Gardenia Agusta) produce soft, white petals, lush green foliage, and add an extra element to your landscape with their sweet fragrant smell.

Because of Mississippi’s climate, not all fruits and veggies can be grown in our soil. However, we do have a long growing season, which can be beneficial for quantity and year-round harvesting.

Starting or maintaining a vegetable or flower garden can be easier than you think, and it can lead to many health benefits for you and your family. Read more about starting a vegetable garden here.

Sources:

Jake Pierce, BCBSMS Wellness Coach

Grow Veg

SEAS (University of Michigan)

The Spruce



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