Bill Welch
Southerners have a unique opportunity to include plants in their gardens that are both historically important and easily grown.
Good examples include the many kinds of antique roses and perennials that are making a major comeback in Southern gardens,
in addition to crinums, old-fashioned narcissus, sweet olive, crepe myrtles, nandinas, flowering quince, mock orange, and
hydrangeas.
Plants are not the only tangible remnants of our Southern gardening heritage. Structures such as fences, pergolas, arbors, walls, and paths provide relatively permanent "bones" for our gardens, often bridging seasonal changes and contributing visual stability throughout the year. And for generations, successful gardens have included ornaments such as urns, sculptures, architectural finials, birdbaths, trellises, and benches.
Bill Welch is an Extension landscape specialist in the Department of Horticulture at Texas A&M University and a frequent speaker to gardening groups across the South.
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