“I plan my garden to have something in bloom in every season,” said Inez Kellicut as we walked through her yard.

With the hot, dry conditions this summer, the vibrant colors are a refreshing sight.

Kellicut has spent more than 25 years creating a garden filled with seasonal color. Evergreen foundation shrubs along the front of the ranch-style home are similar to those found around other homes in Vicksburg.

Impatiens, coleus, pentas, rudbeckias, salvias, bee balm, ruellias, periwinkles and marigolds add drifts of bright summer color. Most, along with cushion mums, will continue to bloom well into the fall. In the same location in the spring, one will see peonies, stokesia, pansies, phlox, sundrops and snapdragons.

A hedge of cleyera, elaeagnus, camellias and azaleas above a brick retaining wall runs along the back of the property, with a woody area in the distance. The foliage of pyracanthas and hollies blend into the green backdrop in the summer but will come alive as their berries turn into fall tones of bright red and orange.

Southern shield fern and ivy cover the ground below the hedge. Sonrise and Ham and Eggs lantanas and a New Dawn rose, located in the retaining-wall bed offer months of nonstop spring and summer color.

Two mature burning bushes, shrubs she and her husband brought to Vicksburg from their former home in Kentucky, will turn fiery red in a few weeks, as will the dwarf nandinas Kellicut has planted among her front foundation shrubs.

Kellicut prefers potted plants, she said.

Decorative containers in all sizes and shapes are scattered throughout the landscape.

Some are nestled in among other plantings to add extra, seasonal color. Large, freestanding pots have been staggered along the front of a massive hedge of azaleas that provide privacy and spring color.

Other containers reside under a small carport. It’s an ideal location for those plants that she over-winters in her sunroom. Most are unable to take our Mississippi summer sun and need the shade it offers.

Huge angel-winged begonias immediately catch your eye among pots of Christmas cacti, a stunningly full syngonium or arrowhead vine that grows on a support, creeping jenny and assorted mixed pots of bright impatiens, coleus, mealy cup sage, sweet potato vine and portulaca. The portulaca, a purslane strain called Wildfire, sports small single blooms in vibrant shades of yellow, orange or rose and is one of her favorites.

The plant came in two hanging baskets she received as a Mother’s Day gift years ago, and has reseeded annually.

Kellicut “likes a touch of purple and blue here and there.”

Lavender crepe myrtles, as well as purple salvia, petunias, ruellia, spiderwort, mealy cup sage, summer phlox and Victoria Blue salvia, add darker, cooler shades to plantings. Some containers also contain splashes of silvery white Dusty Miller, an attractive accent paired with the blue and purple tones.

Kellicut’s seasonal color formula depends on a strong foundation of low-maintenance, blooming shrubs and trees, a considerable number of dependable perennials that come back year after year with few demands, plus annuals added for a boost of color each season.

She cares for the soil by adding organic material each spring and fertilizes with a combination of slow-release, milorganite and some water- soluble fertilizer — if her plants need a little perk up.

She also waters according to the needs of her plants, and is concerned that her water bill might be quite high this next month considering how hot and dry it has been.

Deer have been nibbling here and there, but so far their activity has been limited to her impatiens and purslane.

The odor of the milorganite is supposed to deter them — but the jury’s still out on that, she said.

Gardening is an important aspect of Kellicut’s life, and she readily gives plants and advice to others who share this special interest with her.

All it takes is a little planning to have something bright and cheery in the garden year ’round, she says.

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Miriam Jabour, a Master Gardener and Master Flower Show judge, has been active in the Openwood Plantation Garden Club for over 35 years. Write to her at 1114 Windy Lake Drive, Vicksburg, MS 39183.