Just recently in my role as a Mississippi State University Extension specialist, I had the chance to promote horticulture and bring back great tips from friends in Florida.On Saturday
, I co-hosted Better Lawns and Gardens on WFLA-Orlando with my terrific buddy Teresa Watkins.We answered
questions and shared our finest garden and landscape suggestions for 2 whole hours. We had a great time. You can hear the podcast by going to the Southern Gardening Facebook page and clicking the link.I also had the benefit of making a keynote address to the Florida Master Gardener Volunteers. I made the case that, in this crazy world of ours, we require to welcome the concept of a modern-day Success Garden. I will try to share a link to this speech with the Southern Gardening Nation.My background in gardening is nursery/greenhouse production. When I get the possibility while travelling, I like to go to production nurseries and greenhouses. I got to see what nursery crops are being grown and today in main Florida for 2023. I found another new-to-me landscape shrub that I had to bring back with me to Mississippi. Coprosma reptans– which is a mouthful of Latin– is commonly called mirror bush.The variety that caught my eye was Waxwing Gold.This plant is a colorful, evergreen shrub that reminds me of a succulent.
The plants grow densely, with a well-branched development practice. I truly like the high gloss of the foliage that helps enhance the mirror bush common name.The variegated foliage also has a series of brilliant colors. Individual leaves are clear gold– indicating they’re a pure gold color– with a painted green stripe down the center. The leaf margins display an orange cast that is variable depending on temperature and light conditions of the season.Waxwing Gold is a member of the series that includes Waxwing Lime, which has a variety of yellows and greens with thin, red margins in the spring. In the fall and winter, this selection has earthy bronze, red and orange tones. Waxwing Orange is a compact grower with vibrant layers in a range of orange hues.Unfortunately, Waxwing Lime and Orange weren’t readily available, or they would have been in the vehicle returning with me Mississippi, too.The just downside– and to
tell you the truth, it’s not that big of an offer– is that Coprosma is sturdy for U.S. Department of Farming zones 9 to 11. That means for most of Mississippi, this will be considered a great annual plant.Waxwings would make a wonderful container or patio/porch specimen. If you wanted to overwinter them within, they would be good interior home plants. And the very best news is that they’re as easy to look after as any succulent.
Keep in mind, I mentioned that Coprosma advises me of a succulent.You won’t see these in nurseries this fall, so go to your local independent garden center and tell them you desire one or a few of these for you garden and landscape in 2023. Success! An e-mail has actually been sent out to with a link to validate list signup. Mistake! There was an error processing your demand.