The joys of my home zone!

I recently visited friends in Charleston, South Carolina, and had the rare opportunity of visiting a number of gardens which are rarely open to the public. They were inspirational and filled with exotic Ginger lillies, blue plumbago plants the size of mini-vans, and hyacinth bean in blooom hanging from trees all over the gardens. It was amazing, and inspiring. And, in some ways, depressing. It has taken many years for me to appreciate the limitations--and many gifts-- of the area in which I reside.

I live in the ubiquitous Zone 7a/b, which winds its way through Atlanta and much of the Southeastern Piedmont/Apppalachain region. Seed and plant catalogs tease us all winter with their descriptions of specimen hardiness through our Zone, but fail to mention that our hot, humid nights will wilt a host of "hardy" plants in a New York minute. I have learned many a sad lesson watching mail order plants melt away. I keep hearing rumors that the USDA is working on a humidity index for all of the Zones. ( Wouldn't that be terrific?)

I can always take a trip to South Carolina...and still enjoy the Lenten rose and winter Sasanquas here at home in the meantime.

There have been a few surprise successes with my catalog plants , but by and large I 've found that old stand-bys from my Grandmother's garden and abandoned homesteads across the South, have proven themselves better than anyting from a glossy catalog. Among my personal favorites are Crinum lilies, grape hyacinth, asters, deutzias and hydrangeas. These are the "repeaters" from many old-fashioned gardens, and their specie and cultivar specimens are beginning to enjoy a long awaited comeback.

We may not have the fancy tropicals of the Southern coast in Zone 7, but our bloom period is virtually year long, when planned and planted with all twelve months in mind. That is a gift indeed.

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