(10/20/22) BATON ROUGE, La. — Each year the LSU AgCenter Get It Growing calendar supplies plant lovers with gardening inspiration and reliable horticulture information.

Packed with dozens of artful photos of Louisiana landscapes and gardens, the calendar also adds beauty to any wall.

The recently released 2023 LSU AgCenter Get It Growing Lawn and Garden Calendar features stunning images of flowers, trees and other flora captured by photographers from across the state.

“The Get It Growing calendar is a terrific gardening resource thanks to the tips and knowledge that AgCenter horticulturists provide,” said Elma Sue McCallum of LSU AgCenter Communications, who serves as the calendar’s coordinator. “The gorgeous photos contributed by talented photographers from all over Louisiana complement this important information.”

Each fall, thousands of Louisiana horticulture enthusiasts anticipate the new edition of the calendar, which has been published since 2005.

“Louisianians have come to rely on the LSU AgCenter for research-based knowledge on a number of topics that affect their lives, and gardening is one of our most sought-after areas,” McCallum said.

Alongside the stunning photos, the calendar contains monthly tips that will inform the longtime gardener as well as the beginner. It also includes a special section on growing gardens for cut flowers with advice from Heather Kirk-Ballard, the LSU AgCenter statewide consumer horticulturist and representative of the AgCenter Get It Growing campaign.

The calendar includes helpful information for projects, including when to prune roses and plant fruit trees. It also contains a list of Louisiana Super Plants, plants chosen for an educational and marketing program that highlights tough and beautiful plants that perform well in Louisiana landscapes.

In addition to monthly gardening tips and a feature on gardens for cut flowers, the full-color, 32-page, 9-by-12-inch calendar includes an illustrated step-by-step guide to arranging cut flowers. The calendar provides a list of AgCenter lawn and garden publications, gardening terms and definitions, and information on the LSU AgCenter Master Gardener program, the AgCenter Plant Disease Diagnostic Clinic and the AgCenter Soil Testing and Plant Analysis Lab.

Photographs for the calendar are chosen each year through a public call for entries. The 2023 calendar winners include Nanette Baldwin, of Gonzales; Peter Betchley, of Alexandria; Abbie Bourgeois, of Schriever; Donna Dickson, of Destrehan; Laurel Doucet, of Baton Rouge; David Free, of Ragley; Judy Gifford, of Metairie; Kristi Hammatt, of Baton Rouge; Kami Hymel, of Paulina; Kathleen Kuhnert of Gonzales; Jamie Newman, of Baton Rouge; D’Arcy Pintye, of Baton Rouge; Vivian Shoultz, of Mandeville; Rhoda Stevenson, of Campti; Glenn Stokes, of New Iberia; Michael Sutton, of Mandeville; and Lisa Tortorich, of Nine Mile Point.

The Get It Growing calendar sells for $13.95 and is available for online orders at www.LSUAgCenter.com/OnlineStore. Sample photos and more information are available on the website.

Created as part of the AgCenter’s Get It Growing educational campaign for home lawns and gardens, the calendar also is available at garden centers across Louisiana.

Contact: Elma Sue McCallum at emccallum@agcenter.lsu.edu

A photo of a tiger lily (Lilium lancifolium) shot by Rhoda Stevenson, of Campti, Louisiana, was chosen for the 2023 Get It Growing calendar cover. The tiger lily is a species of lily native to Asia, prized as an ornamental and as a cut flower because of its showy orange and black flowers. Photo by Rhoda Stevenson

The flowering cherry (Prunus spp.), a deciduous flowering tree that produces dark pink flowers on bare branches just before leaves emerge, was chosen as the February selection for the Get It Growing calendar. Flowering cherries make a great specimen or accent tree in the landscape. Photo by Kristi Hammatt

The iris (Iris spp.) is a flowering herbaceous perennial that blooms in a wide variety of shades in the springtime. The Louisiana iris was named a Louisiana Super Plant selection by the LSU AgCenter in 2022. This photo was selected to represent April in the 2023 Get It Growing Calendar. Photo by Michael Sutton

Strawflowers (Helichrysum spp.) can be annual or herbaceous perennials or shrubs. There are many different species, one of which is the curry plant. This photo of strawflowers was chosen for the July image in the 2023 Get It Growing calendar. Photo by Laurel Doucet

This photo of a lily (Lilium spp.), an herbaceous flowering plant that grows from bulbs, was chosen for the September image in the 2023 Get It Growing calendar. Photo by Michael Sutton

Corn (Zea mays), a vegetable plant grown and consumed throughout the world, is featured as the November image in the 2023 Get It Growing calendar. Photo by David Free