Sally Wasowski - Gardening with Native Plants of the South

Southern hospitality is not a phrase dreamed up by some Dixieland chamber of commerce; it is real and it is alive and well. Andy and I encountered it everywhere we went during our two-and-a-half years of traveling, from East Texas across to the Atlantic coast and on up to the Mason-Dixon line.

But before I thank the many people we met along the way who gave us their time, their knowledge, and their friendship, I should acknowledge some people without whom this book would most certainly never have happenedbecause I would never have happened: my Southern ancestors.

My ties to the South go back many centuries; one of my early relations, Joseph Cobb, arrived in Virginia in 1613, and settled for a time in the second Jamestown colony. From there, the family spread out to North and South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and eventually to Texas. Have you ever visited Rocky Mount, in Piney Flats, Tennessee? This restored farmnow a popular tourist attractionwas built by William Cobb in 1770, and stands today as the oldest original territorial capitol in the United States. Young Andrew Jackson was a family friend, and visited often. But enough name-dropping...

The fact is, Ive probably got long-lost Cobb, Posey, Hudson, Hill, and Heslep kin throughout the South. And even though I am a Texan, and therefore considered (depending on whom you talk to) either a Westerner or Southwesterner, a good portion of my life was spent in the South. I went to college in Decatur, Georgia, at Agnes Scott, and recall those years fondly. And, at various times, I lived in Maryland, Alabama, and Virginia, where my attraction to native plantsdare I say it?took root. Even my Yankee husband and co-author can claim some ties to the South, having spent several childhood years in Fairhope, Alabama.

As a result, when we packed up our van for the first of many research and photography trips throughout the Southern states, we did so with a genuine sense of homecoming.

We also went with more than a little trepidation. Virtually everyone on our must-see listbotanists, landscape architects and designers, nursery owners, as well as knowledgeable weekend gardenerswas a stranger. We were literally at their mercy; if theyd had no time for us, or no interest in our project, we would have been stymied.

This book is ample evidence that such was not the case. Andy and I were touched by their willingness to drop whatever they were doing and take us around to favorite gardens, share their experiences and insights, and even, on many occasions, take us into their homes and treat us like favorite relatives. (Were also very grateful for their numerous tips on local dining; we sampled the best the South has to offer, from Chesapeake crabcakes to Atlanta soul food, from smoked trout in Bucksnort, Tennessee, to Cajun cuisine in Baton Rouge. Clearly, writing a regional gardening book is both fulfilling and filling!)

First mentioned must be my dear cousin, Hazel Cassel, of Nashville, to whom this book is dedicated. Aside from being a lot of fun, shes also one of the most unflappable individuals I know. One autumn day when it was pouring down rain on every garden wed planned to visit, she provided one of the highlights of our trip by taking us a hundred miles or so ahead of the storm to the Fiery Gizzard hiking trail. A dedicated bird-watcher, Hazel gave us wonderfully specific bird information for this book.

A big thank-you goes to Dr. Ed Clebsch of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, who checked all our slides to make sure wed shot what we thought we had shot. For the final determinations on which Latin names to honor, I thank him and Barney Lipscomb of the Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

For reading the early manuscript and catching our goofs, thanks go to Benny J. Simpson of Texas A&M University; Lynn Lowrey of Anderson Nursery in Houston, Texas; Mike and Barbara Bridges, owners of Southern Perennials and Herbs in Tylertown, Mississippi; and Ed Steffek, curator of the H. L. Blomquist Garden of Native Plants at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina.

For help in compiling the plant lists for habitats, thanks go to Bob McCartney of Woodlanders, Inc., a native plant mail-order nursery in Aiken, South Carolina.

Some gardens and gardeners were so helpful that we returned time and again. For the woodland garden, special thanks go to Louise Smith and her gorgeous indigenous garden in Birmingham, Alabama. Other splendid examples of woodland gardens and woodland gardening techniques were provided by Jenny Andrews, curator of the Howe Garden, sponsored by the Garden Club of Nashville, Tennessee, and situated at Cheekwood Gardens; Ed Steffek of the Blomquist Garden at Duke University; both the Mountain Garden and woodland trails at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and the private garden of Margaret Reid in Raleigh, North Carolina.

For the perennial garden, our gratitude goes to garden designer Kitty Taylor and her husband, Neil, for their magnificent double border in Collierville, Tennessee. Other outstanding perennial gardeners include Barbara and Mike Bridges with their invaluable demonstration perennial and herb garden in Tylertown, Mississippi, and Edith Eddleman, co-curator of the perennial border at North Carolina State University in Durham, North Carolina.

For Atlantic Coastal Plain garden information, were grateful to the Helen Avalynn Tawes Garden in Annapolis, Maryland; Al Hill of Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina; and all the staff at Woodlanders in Aiken, South Carolina.

For Gulf Coastal Plain gardens, thanks go to Lolly Jacksons garden, designed by Will Fleming, in Houston, Texas; Robert Poore and his numerous gardens in Jackson, Mississippi; Edward Blake, Bob Bruzek, and Chris Wells at Crosby Arboretum in Picayune, Mississippi; Johnny Mayronne for his home garden in Covington, Louisiana; Marion Drummond and Neil Odenwald for showing us around lower Mississippi plantation country; and Bill and Lydia Fontenot for sharing Cajun country with us.

Others who spent countless hours with us are Gall Barton and Richard Lowery, Gene Cline, Mark Gormel, Kim Hawkes, Carole Cameron, Nell Lewis, Mary Jo Modica, Darryl Morrison, Jim Neal, Carole Otteson, Carl Owens, Tom Pellett, Andrea Sessions, Plato Touliatos, Don and Sue Williams, Larry Wilson, Louise Wrinkle, and Matthew Dew, a charming sixteen-year-old who showed us around his parents Tennessee mountain gardenin a steady downpour!

Numerous other people also gave generously of their time, talents, and hospitality: Kathy Crye; Richard Evans; John Fairey; Carlene Jones; Lou and Betsy Kellenberger; David Lewis; Julie and Joe Mackintosh; Jane, Larry, and Daniel McGoldrick; Jan Midgley; Ned and Georgene Newland, and their sons Edward and Marc; Elizabeth Newland; Mike Mapstone; Bickie McDonnell; Randy McMullian; Dr. Stephen and Sally Pridgeon; Todd Stephens; James Turner; Pat Wells; Lundy Pridgeon Wilder; and Jim Wilson.

Special thanks to the excellent photographers who shared photos we needed for this book and were unable, for various reasons, to get ourselves: Geyata Ajitvsgi, Ritchie Bell, Barbara Bridges, Albert Hill, David A. Laster, Paul Moore, George Pyne, Benny J. Simpson, and Larry T. Williams.

Thanks also to Chris Holowiak, whose home was the basis for the landscape plans in this book, and to Jay West, who did such a great job turning my rough sketches into finished plans fit for publication.

If, inadvertently, your name is not here and should be, please be as generous with your forgiveness as you were with your time, and blame it on the panic we felt as the publishers deadline drew closer.