Page 68 - South Mississippi Living - March, 2026

GUIDE
Aster
Joe Pye Weed
Passion Vine
HOME & GARDEN
LOCAL
story by Lynn Lofton photos courtesy of The Crosby Arboretum
Wildflowers, or native plants, beautify the area with no cultivation required. They’re found in fields, vacant lots, and along roadways and ditches.
However, they can be planted but that doesn’t always work out well as Elizabeth Register of Bay St. Louis found out. “I had bad seeds and the company took them back,” she said. “But, I’ve done well with cuttings from wildflowers.”
The avid gardener points out that a lot of flowers were brought in from the wild and cultivated. “They grow and become carefree. They die down but will come back,” she said.
“Mississippi Wildflowers like it hot,” says Patricia R. Drackett, director of The Crosby Arboretum in Picayune. “As I travel our Pearl River County roads, I find it hard to resist being mesmerized by the colorful mix of blooming perennials, such as Stokes aster, wild Ageratum, and sweet Joe Pye weed that grow carefree in the ditches.
“These perennials are certainly in the top ten list of high-performing, low- maintenance perennials. Liatris, known as blazing star, was planted in our Pollinator Garden from seed we had collected from plants in our south pitcher plant bog. While many plants in our Savanna Exhibit are adapted to this wet, acidic soil, some have a wide range of environmental conditions they prosper in.”
Drackett, who is also Associate Extension Professor at Mississippi State University in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Environmental Design, adds, “If you have an area of your property that is difficult to garden in a traditional manner, you may want to consider letting it go a little bit wild. Allow it to grow up and see what develops, or sprinkle in a wildflower mix designed for our region.”
Register, a member of Beach Garden Society, lists wildflowers of the area: Achillea – yarrow
Amsonia – blue star
Asclepias – milkweed Asters
Baptisms
Boltonia
Clematis – sweet autumn Coreopsis
Crocosmia – Montbretia Echinacea – purple coneflower Gaillardia – blanket flower Gaura – butterfly weed Helianthus – swamp sunflower Mallows – many varieties Liatris – blazing stars Monarda – bee balm
Rudbekia – black eyed Susan Salvia
Spigelia – Indian pink Stokesia – Stokes aster Verbena
68 | March 2026
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