Page 162 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2023

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story by
Gaye Winter
FIRE UP FALL:
October Gardenin
Flowers on the Gulf Coast are not just for spring and summer! You can brighten up your landscape and front entryways with gorgeous fall flowers and containers. Fall flowers have many perennials and annuals to choose from to keep your landscape thriving even into winter time. You might want to try various shades of color to invite fall in. Purple, orange, red, and gold are all terrific jewel tones to signify fall is here.
Create a wonderful warm welcome by using pumpkins and mums on your front steps or entry to highlight autumn! You may even want to color-coordinate your pumpkins and mums to the color of your home or add contrasting colors for interest.
Stacked pumpkins add sophistication and fun to fall gardening. You can use these on your steps or in your garden!
Several florists have mentioned making “Mumkins.” Mumkins can be achieved by placing chrysanthemums inside pumpkins for a beautiful, playful tribute to fall. The pumpkins can be cut to fit the mums, or you can also buy ready-made pumpkin containers that mums fit into perfectly.
Perennials thrive in fall on the Gulf Coast. Marigolds can add a splash of color to your fall containers. Bright yellow and orange marigolds represent autumn as well as lantanas that can now be found in many colors to accent your container. Since lantanas are low-maintenance, they are a great choice for gardens or containers. Most containers need trailing plants or grass to add variety and balance the color of the flowers. Fountain grass, ivy and sweet potato vines, are perfect for variety.
Once you have a cascading container with autumnal colors then place pumpkins, interesting squash, and extra fall foliage around the container surrounding it with more pops of color. There are so many beautiful containers to choose from and you can do more than one and vary the sizes for visual interest.
Don’t forget ornamental peppers and purple cabbage as well as coneflowers. Use your imagination and come up with your own combinations that you love for autumnal delight!
162 | October 2023
www.smliving.net | SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living
Happy Gardening!
Gaye Winter, Ph.D., teaches English at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and is a member of Biloxi Garden Club. Reach her at gaye.winter@mgccc.edu.
MAKE YOUR OWN MUMKIN
To start, take a serrated knife and cut off the top of the pumpkin in a circle. If you are using a real pumpkin, scoop out pumpkin mush and seeds to use for later.
Be sure and cut the hole large enough for the mum, container and all, to fit into the pumpkin. If you want to add a bow to match, look for ribbon at your local craft store.
Use your glue gun all around the pumpkin and attach the bow. Since this bow goes on the outside, use a generous amount of hot glue! You will be the envy of the neighborhood.