Container Garden by Brenda Bolton By: Brenda Bolton, Mobile County Master Gardener | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org All gardeners who are fortunate enough to become old-age gardeners reach the point when going out to your garden overwhelms you. With a few helpful adjustments, you can continue to love your garden. Senior gardening requires conscious body and mind conditioning. Warm up slowly to spring’s work demands, walk as much as you can the months before, do safe

Selaginella, Photo by Brenda Bolton By Brenda Bolton, Mobile County Master Gardener Need a petite-sized, lacy fern that returns reliably each spring? Try the Spike moss perennial Selaginella, v. Braunii, commonly known as Arborvitae Fern. Despite its appearance and common names, it is neither fern nor moss, but rather a subgenus of Lycophytes, hailing from prehistoric times. Needs: Shade, a moist spot, rich soil. Characteristics: A long season—early spring to hard winte

Caladium by Jane Finley By: Nikki Cobb, Urban Regional Extension Agent, Alabama Cooperative Extension System, nzc0088@aces.edu | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org During the summer heat, the garden may not be calling your name, but as dusk falls and temperatures cool, moon gardens come to life. With luminous whites and reflective accents, they extend the use of your outdoor space into the evening, offering a calm place to unwind, observe nighttime ecology, or stargaze. M

Blue Daze close-up by Melissa Wold By: Melissa Wold, Mobile County Master Gardener | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org Summer classics: Elvis’ Blue Suede Shoes; Willie’s Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain; Evolvulus glomeratus’ Blue Daze. Blue Daze is perfect for the Gulf Coast. She is heat-loving, sun-soaking groundcover resplendent with non-stop, sky-blue blooms and soft, silvery foliage. She brightens and softens garden bed borders and spills from hanging baskets. A true mus

Photo courtesy of Leslie J. Mehrhoff, University of Connecticut, Bugwood.org. By Pat Hall Kudzu is a fast-growing, perennial Asian vine with fragrant purple flowers. Kudzu is notorious for aggressive spreading: it can climb trees, swallow abandoned houses, and form giant, sometimes monstrous-looking green shapes — beautiful in their own way, but also literally creepy — “the vine that ate the South.” Kudzu was introduced to the United States at the 1876 Centennial Exposition

Researcher using fungicies to prevent diseases on hope at the Ornamental Horticluture Research Center in Mobile By: Jacob Kelley, Extension Agent (Commercial Horticulture), Alabama Cooperative Extension System Jacob.kelley@auburn.edu | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org When I moved to Mobile six years ago, I assumed it would be like the rest of the Southeast: hot, humid, buggy, and occasionally soggy. I was wrong. Mobile may be one of the toughest places in the country to

Azaleas placed at base of trees is appealing and saves work when mowing By: Bob Howard, Mobile County Master Gardener | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org Mobile is called the Azalea City because azaleas are probably the most recognized horticultural feature of the community. The Pride of Mobile variety is a Southern Indica hybrid azalea bred for its tolerance of heat and sun, and for its marvelous pink blooms. We love our azaleas and we await their gorgeous display eve

Voodoo lily Davidson by Theresa Davidson I first learned of the Corpse Flower, Amorphophallus titanum, when I visited the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. It wasn’t in bloom, but I was more than curious about its name. Indeed, when this plant blooms, it produces an odor that leaves no doubt as to why it is called Corpse Flower. Why? The scent attracts pollinators! Native to Asia, Africa, and Australia, most likely you’ll only see a Corpse Flower at a botanical garden. But, you can g

Watering new plants in a raised bed By: Barbara Boone, Mobile County Master Gardener | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org Today, many parents are concerned about their children spending so much time on their electronic devices: phones, tablets, or computers; gaming or logging onto their favorite social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok. Now, as summer approaches, there is even more concern as there are more hours free to be spent on their devices. To be fair, ther

Vintage Garden at Stonewalk Cottage By: Mary Townsley, PhD, Mobile County Master Gardener | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org Even avid gardeners enjoy seeing how other gardeners create their garden spaces. It's both enlightening and inspiring! Fortunately, the upcoming 2026 Tour of Gardens is just around the corner, when eight Mobile County Master Gardeners will invite you into their gardens. They have been preparing for this event for nearly a year, working hard to m

by Mary Townsley Agaves, slow growing plants with striking structural features, are related to asparagus (YES!) and yucca. Most agaves are monocarpic, meaning that they send up an asparagus-like flower stalk once, produce flowers and seeds, then die. Their long-lived nature has led to them labeled as "century plants". However, agaves don't actually live for 100 years. The large Agave americana specimens you see in landscapes around Mobile County may take 10-25 years to fl

Lady Banks disease-tolerant climbing rose By: John Olive, Retired Director, AU Ornamental Horticultural Research Center| www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org April is here, one of the busiest and best times of the year for a gardener. Since today is April Fool’s Day, it is appropriate to consider some garden related things that can fool us or make a fool of us. A good place to begin is with dwarf plants. The term “dwarf” refers to plants that are small and low-growing, us

Mobile County Master Gardeners Working with MGM Agribusiness students by Pat Hall By: Pat Hall, Mobile County Master Gardener | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org Along the Gulf Coast, spring arrives early—and for gardeners that means it’s time to plant. By late March our soil has warmed, the days are growing longer, and warm-season vegetables are ready to go into the garden. Tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, and herbs all thrive in our climate when planted at the ri

Holly Fern by MaryJo Broussard By: MaryJo Broussard, Mobile County Master Gardener | www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org Ferns have been around since before the dinosaurs and are still here today—hardy, long lasting, dependable, adaptable, and beautiful. They just do their job without fuss, if you give them shady locations and good drainage for the most part. These are not the monster ferns that often hang from ample South Alabama front porches and can sometimes be overwi

2 Temple bells Marty by Master Gardener Alice Marty For those of us that have lived in the north, Temple Bells' blossoms will bring Lily of the Valley to mind. Southerners would call it a great evergreen winter bloomer. This shrub keeps its compact form while covering itself with white fragrant blossoms in mid-winter. It thrives in sun or partial shade, but dislikes overly wet soil. The blooms form on last year’s growth, so be mindful of that when you prune. When transpl

Basil Genovese by Judy Weaver By: Della Schultz, Mobile County Master Gardener I have enjoyed growing herbs for many years. My initial interest was to learn how to grow culinary herbs for use in preparing meals for my family. As I learned, my interest spread to the many other uses of herbs, their beauty for growing in the ground and in containers, crafting with dried herbs, and the medicinal use from centuries ago. My lifestyle has changed as I have gotten older. However, b

Monarch landing on milkweed by Mary Townsley By: Mary Townsley, Mobile County Master Gardener Pollination is the process of transferring flower pollen from the male (stamen) to the female (pistil) part of flowers. Some plants such as pines produce a large amount of pollen and rely on wind dispersal to do the job of pollination. You see the byproduct of that in spring as your cars and decks take on that yellow pollen hue. However, many plants rely on animal pollinators to

Satsumas BY: MaryJo Broussard, Mobile County Master Gardener, www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org Don’t have a large garden area, yet you would love to have fresh fruit at your fingertips for special recipes, drinks or just to snack on? Not to worry, I have the solution to your dilemma—add some edible fruiting plants to the area you do have. There are many to choose from for our climate. You don’t have to have an orchard to add one or two smaller citrus trees, a delicious

BY: Vaughan Drinkard, Mobile County Master Gardener, www.mobilecountymastergardeners.org People are often surprised to learn that Mobile, Alabama has a regal connection. My involvement with Mobile's brush with royalty began when I was a young child upon the ascension of Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh, to the throne of England. This is the story of the Camellia japonica Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II . My grandfather, Cliff Harris, was making arrangements to send

by Judy Weaver Hibiscus mutabilis is known by several common names, among them Confederate Rose, Cotton Rose, and Cotton Rose Mallow. With a height of 10 to 12 feet, and a width of 8 to 12 feet, plant it with plenty of room to grow. The species name mutabilis is Latin for change and refers to the color of the flowers that begin white when the bud first opens, then light pink and finally a dark pink. This is a plant to prune in the winter after its fall blooms are finish