Topics Covered

Garden Preparation, How and When

The Perennial Garden
Height Chart of Perennials

The Bulb Family

Depth Chart for Bulbs

Rose Classes and their History

Selections of Old Garden Roses

Other Selections of Roses

Color Section, Photographs

Annuals

Culinary Herbs

Gardening Inside

Trees and Shrubs

The Garden Calendar

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Simple Southern
Gardening
P. O. Box 158825
Nashville, TN 37215

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Simple Southern Gardening

From the Introduction Page
Gardening is a joyful experience. One that is at the same time a giving and a receiving. The plants you tend and nurture in turn nurture you. Whether your garden is a little tiny area tucked in a corner or a big wide open space full of color, pleasure awaits you.

Part of the pleasure, the tending of the garden, makes one aware of time in the natural sense. Everything has its rhythm and its cycle. Although the cycle is continuous, we think of it beginning in early spring.
Early spring in the South brings mild days. Days that strike some inner chord. Days that tell you that the mystery of life again reveals itself to you if you are looking. These are days you brush away the leaves to catch the first glimpse of the plants waking up from winter.
In the shady areas, the ground cover ajuga puts forth bright purple spikes, while in the sunny spots, spring phlox shines periwinkle-blue. Forsythia, if a late winter cold snap does not zap it, adds brilliant yellow to the scene.
Come April, irises and daffodils and tulips burst into color for their brief but spectacular show.
The colors intensify as more and more plants wake up. Peonies, white, red, ruffled pink, do their thing and when the blossoms fade, remain as sturdy yet graceful background plants.
And in May, roses begin their color display-­red and pink and yellow and white and all the shades and blends in between. Bachelor’s buttons and nicotiana burst forth.
In June the Shasta daisies and daylilies put forth their once-a-year production. Many perennials start blooming at this time: Cleome, phlox and bee balm. In the background the flowering shrub, oakleaf hydrangea, contributes to the scene.
The coneflowers, black-eyed susans and gloriosa daisies show their blossoms in July and August. With September come chrysanthemums-bringing the last massive color display.
As the flowers finish their production, the berries on the evergreens start turning bright red. Nandinas with their graceful loose foliage and grape-like clusters of berries complement the hollies, crisp and formal.
And when all the color fades in the cold dreary days of winter, the evergreens--the boxes and yews- - stand out. These relatively unchanging plants in the rapidly changing landscape of the total garden soothe the eye and spirit and reminds us, that life goes on. And it will not be long before it is spring, and the cycle starts all over again.

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