Here in the midst of the coldest days of winter we all start thinking about Mardi Gras Royalty. Besides the kings and queens of all the krewes, Natchez has other types of queens, and now is the time to think of them so they can sparkle in the hottest month of the year.

They are our queens because they bring color all over town during those long, humid, hot dog days of August, when the sun sets at 8:30 and we drag about.

It is a time when delightful colors of white, pink, watermelon, deep red, lavender, purple and plum dance in those delicate trees so gracefully lining our streets! It is those shades that give those trees the name, the queens of Natchez. They are our crape myrtles!

Yes, now is the time to think about crape myrtles (Lagerstroemia indica). This month is the time for proper pruning. For Natchez these trees or shrubs offer the most beautiful summer colors with the least maintenance, sustaining adverse soil conditions and withstanding droughts after becoming established, and are relatively free of disease and insect difficulties. Plants range from less than 3 feet to more than 20 feet. Their barks are handsome and their leaf colors in the fall, enchanting. We of Natchez love these very special queens!

All too frequently people unaware of their crimes murder these beauties by hacking (ever so lovingly) their tops off. We must spread knowledge of why this is wrong and how best these beauties should be pruned.

January is the time to prune these beautiful Crape Myrtles. Adams County Master Gardeners are here to show you how.

This Thursday and again Jan. 29 at 8 a.m., everyone is invited to join us at the office at the Natchez City Cemetery for 30 minutes of instruction in proper pruning. At 9 a.m. Jan. 21, everyone is invited to Duncan Park to meet in the parking lot behind Auburn for instruction. You are then invited to join us for a fun-filled, hard-working time of education and service as we prune trees in both places.

We will divide into groups and practice. If you then want to take your newly learned information home and work on your own trees, you can do that. If you have lopers or snipers, please bring them. Come have lots of fun!

If you love us and want to become a Master Gardener, a new series of 40 hours of class time will be formed in February.

Call David Carter, director of the Extension Office, at 601-445-8201.

Mary Jane REED GAUDET is an Adams County Master Gardener.