Cummings and Goings in Agriculture
Deep South Rodeo Comes To Multipurpose Building
By Steve Cummings
Harvest is winding down, and yields have been better than expected.
I attended the Mississippi State – Kentucky football game last weekend and the highlights of the game in the pre-game activities. Our own Bob Tyler handled the coin toss with ease and the four paratroopers all landed on or close to the 50-yard line. Coach Tyler signed autographs and visited with former players and old friends. It would have helped if he had stayed on the sidelines and sent in a few players. Also, at half-time, one of Yalobusha County’s 4-Hers showed she can do more than ride horses, as Casey Moss was one of the little cheerleaders asked to perform.
Looking for something to do this Saturday night? The Deep South Rodeo will be held at the Yalobusha County Multipurpose Building starting at 7 pm. This looks to be an excellent rodeo and a night of fun.
Horticulture Tips:
Dependable Fall Color
More than any other phenomenon, the turning leaves are nature’s signal flags for a change in season. So it’s no small disappointment when trees don’t provide the foliar fireworks we expect from them. But in the following paragraphs are some tree selections with never fail color in fall, the kind of trees that you depend on year in and year out for colorful displays. Most of them are available in local garden centers and nurseries. And fall and winter is an ideal time to plant them.
Flowering Dogwood
(Cornus florida)
Frankly, the tiers of white flowers that clothe the branches in spring are quite enough to sell anyone on this tree. But then comes the second show in fall, with dropping red leaves and bright-red berries. Variegated selections, such as Cherokee Sunset, offer even more color. Remember it prefers light shade rather than full sun. And be sure to water this shallow-rooted tree during summer droughts, or scorched leaves may ruin the fall show.
It has outstanding summer and fall foliage and habit, well suited for naturalized areas and certainly one of the very best and most consistent native trees for fall color. Another plus is the bluish black drupe fruit that ripens in the fall and is eaten by many species of birds and mammals. It doesn’t tolerate high pH soils and grows in semi-shade or full sun.
