Highlights: A Newsletter Reporting on Trial Gardens and Horticultural Research at the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station

Research in ornamental horticulture at the South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station includes variety trials with new annuals and perennials from international companies, All-America Selections (AAS) trials and an AAS Display Garden, commercial plant propagation methods, alternative nursery substrates, aromatic crops, and more. Publication of HighLights newsletter began in 2014 to keep nursery and landscape professionals, Extension and research personnel, Master Gardeners, horticultural suppliers, and home gardeners up-to-date on news from the Trial Gardens and horticultural research at the experiment station. HighLights is distributed to subscribers across the U.S. and other countries, as well as to members of the Mississippi State University Extension Service. The newsletter is published in a one-page, electronic format using an abundance of color photos and a quick-and-easy-to-read format. Readers report enjoying the themed issues, sharing the newsletter with others, and using information to plan purchases of plants materials for both home and commercial use. HighLights has also increased attendance at the experiment station’s annual Ornamental Horticulture Field Day in October. Twenty-one issues of HighLights were published in 2015. Past issues of HighLights are available at http://mafes.msstate.edu/publications/highlights.asp.