The wine red leaves of Brookhaven’s Japanese Maples will be onstatewide display next month when a noted Mississippi gardenerfeatures them on a short television newscast.

Mississippi State University Horticulturist and gardening authorNorman Winter toured the Homeseeker’s Paradise with a film crewThursday, stopping at different residences throughout the VictorianDistrict to film Japanese Maples for his “Southern Gardening”segment. The approximately two-minute segment is set to air inearly May as a news feature during the daily news broadcasts ofseveral TV stations around the state.

Winter’s Thursday trip to Brookhaven is the first time “SouthernGardening” has visited the city in 11 years. Winter and crew lastvisited to film Japanese Maples in the fall of 1998.

“We wanted to do the spring flush of Japanese Maples – they’reso beautiful this time of year,” he said. “And (city residents)have added so many more since we last visited.”

During Winter’s last visit, his news segment was focused on thebig Japanese Maple growing at the home of Tom and Sue Moak.

“From what we learned in 1998, that tree is 81 years old now,”Winter said. “That’s the biggest one I’ve ever seen inMississippi.”

Sue Moak said the 87-year-old Japanese Maple was planted in1922, and even played a part in the Moaks’ purchase of the home onSouth Jackson Street in 1969.

“I remember driving by several times to look at the tree beforewe bought the house,” she said. “I’ve watched it grow all theseyears.”

Tom Moak said the elderly tree is the queen of his yard.

“We love it,” he said. “We look forward to it turning red everyyear. The seedlings come up every year and we let people have them.There’s several growing around here.”

One of the Japanese Maples Winter will focus on in the upcomingsegment is the younger tree at the home of Johnny and Margaret AnnPerkins, where he filmed the “Southern Gardening” introduction.

Johnny Perkins said his Japanese Maple is a descendant of theMoaks’ tree, and his wife has freely given saplings and grafts fromit, spreading the red-leafed trees all around Brookhaven.

“It’s a very unusual tree,” he said. “I’m not into gardening,but it’s a beautiful tree. I like it in the yard.”

Such community gardening is just one of several factors thatmake Brookhaven a prime gardening location, Winter said.

“To me, Brookhaven is the garden spot of Mississippi,” he said.”You’ll find a lot more of everything down here. There’s moreunusual plants here not seen in other parts of Mississippi. There’ssomething special going on in Brookhaven – you’ve got good soil,good water and a lot of good gardeners.”

Winter said he and his film crew will likely return toBrookhaven in late summer of early fall to see the gingers bloomingfor another segment of “Southern Gardening.” In the meantime, localgarden enthusiasts can thumb through Winter’s new book,”Captivating Combinations,” which details how to arrange gardensand landscaping for color and style.