When there is a sweet floral scent in the air in early March, I know the wisteria is blooming. All I have to do is drive my car with the windows down to find a patch of this sweetly scented flowering vine. I’m led by my nose to look around for the soft purple of its blooms. In the South, this vine is omnipresent – in the forest, in … [Read more...]
Top 10 Flowering Plants that Beat the Heat
The summer heat has arrived and it’s pretty miserable outside. We’ve been under a heat advisory for the last week and a half. That means the temperature outside FEELS like over a hundred degrees with the high humidity. I’m watering in the early morning and sometimes at night, just to keep up with it, but the plants are still suffering. However, … [Read more...]
Cross Vine: Bignonia capreolata
As a native plant, cross vine has a big advantage - it's easy to grow, hardy, tolerates the heat, has a low water requirement, and can grow in both full sun and part shade. It's in the same family as trumpet creeper (Bignoniaceae) and the flowers are very similar - trumpet-shaped, 2" long tubular and bright orange-red/yellow. Cross vine is native … [Read more...]
Purple Passionflower: Passiflora incarnata
Purple passionflower, also known as maypop, is a relatively quick-growing, perennial, herbaceous vine in the Passifloraceae family. You can find this vine growing throughout the Southeast from Texas to Kansas up to Pennsylvania and down to Florida. In Mississippi, I’ve often seen it in pastures or open fields. It’s a great addition to an … [Read more...]