Winter gardening in February for Canton

By Guest Columnist Jessica Stein

Canton Garden Club gathered together against February’s chill at the Sacred Heart Parish Center for a small but powerful meeting. As the club grows and branches to new paths, we’ve had several conversations about partnerships and hopes for the future in Canton. 

Sherrye Brannon and Wanda Baldwin hosted the meeting with exquisite Valentine’s-themed treats. Members enjoyed socializing and then quickly got to business. Work has already started on this year’s Upstairs Downtown, a beloved event Canton Garden Club organizes every other year for the city. Keep your calendars open in November!

Canton Garden Club partner Keep Canton Beautiful has received a grant for the Great American Clean Up; these funds will help provide bags and gloves to help clean the streets of Canton. Please get out and join your community (and the entire nation) on the morning of March 22 to pick up trash and recycling. 
This event happens every year, but this year’s clean-up is extra special. Keep America Beautiful wants to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our country by clearing 25 billion pieces of litter from public areas. 

“By working together, we can make our neighborhoods more beautiful in time for America’s Birthday on July 4, 2026.” 

For February’s presentation, the Garden Club welcomed renowned Felder Rushing, recently back from England, to talk with us about winter gardening. 
Central Mississippi blesses us with the climate to grow many beautiful things in the winter, which are rarely collected in one seasonal spot for enjoyment in the cold. Here are some wonderful plants which require little maintenance and provide winter cheer: winter honeysuckle (fragrantissima), camellias, star and Japanese magnolias, sweet olive, winter jasmine, sedum, hellebores, roman hyacinth, rosemary, iris foliage, and of course, narcissus. 

The earliest narcissus bloomers are Lent Lily, paperwhites and jonquils. 

Cool season vegetables can also double as interesting garden visuals. Cold hardy peas, lettuces and herbs can be planted in beds, pots and borders to attract the eye with greens, purples and yellows. Then, they can easily be harvested for salad, too. 

Felder reduces plant arrangement designs to a simple rule: combine “spiky, bushy, frilly and floppy.” As always, Felder encourages all types of gardening, from folk to fancy. Buy a pretty pot or use an old colander, as long as you enjoy the result; it’s gardening. Often, what we need is all around us. 

In March, the Garden Club will meet at the Kline Farm for a program by Emily Stewart. Guests can join any monthly program with an invitation from a member.