Hello all of you “raring-to-go” gardeners! Surely, surely spring is here now after the longest winter any of us can ever remember in Mississippi! It’s not time yet, at least for the next two weeks, or until Easter passes, to put out bedding plants, but it is time to get the beds ready and to go to the numerous beautiful garden centers to whet your appetites. Planting containers is great for now, because the problem of the cold ground is absent, and if we do have that Easter cold snap, you can just throw some plastic over the pots and not worry about losing those tender bedding plants. So, to get your green thumbs ready, I’ve picked out a selection of my favorite “bibles” in the world of the gardener.

Those of you who live in Mississippi will probably agree with me that three of the very best garden books to have on your shelf for proven plants and flowers which can actually endure through our long, hot, humid summers were written by natives of the area: Felder Rushing, Norman Winter, and Nellie Neal.  I have used all of these excellent manuals  for quite some time.

Tough Plants for Southern Gardens: Low Care, No Care, Tried and True Winners by Felder Rushing gives lots of applicable information about “unkillable” plants. Vivid photographs, sidebars full of detailed information, plus notes on soil, sun, or shade requirements accompany each entry.

.

Tough as Nails Flowers for the South by Norman Winter offers over 170 proven performers of plants, bushes, and flowers. Each entry gives the origin of the flower, the method of propagation, light requirements and landscape use.  Also of added delight are the colorful photographs and a list of the color varieties of each plant and flower.

.

For those gardeners who are interested in learning how to grow what they eat, then Nellie Neal’s Organic Gardening Down South is a must. With chapters on essential soil preparation, growing strategies, and pests, this tiny, paperback, “no-fluff” manual gives much needed information.

I have two large excellent  reference books, which I use when I need to know the background and requirements of a particular flower, bulb, plant, bush, or tree.  Mid South Garden Guide: The Essential Reference Tool for Every Gardener published by the Memphis Garden Club,  now in its seventh edition, is a book which my mother introduced me to about 25 years ago, and I still use her earlier edition as well.   The second reference book, which I recommend every gardener have on his or her shelf, is Neil Odenwald and James Turner’s Identification, Selection, and Use of Southern Plants for Landscape Design, now in its fourth edition. Though only black and white photos accompany the large quantity of flowers and plants represented, the text is what is important in these two encyclopedic publications which will be of tremendous value for the serious gardener who researches each flower or plant to be purchased.

If you need help in Lemuria’s garden section, just ask for Nan. I have arranged the garden section with various categories and sub categories, so that books can be easily be found. There is a garden book for each and every want or need, and new publications are coming in fast and furiously each week right now. Come in the store and pick out a new gardening book to use this season, or if you can’t get in the store, call me or order a new garden book on line from our web site.  And as most gardeners know, garden books might great gifts for family members and friends. All gardeners know that we have a small window of  glorious opportunity from now in late March until mid June for fun designing and planting before gardening becomes too hot and uncomfortable in July and August.

……………………..Happy Gardening!  -Nan