In midwinter, one of the best ways to get ideas for your yard is to attend the Southeastern Flower Show. This year, look for plants that have made it through the drought, as well as ways to gather water for the garden (the Georgia Perennial Plant Association will have a rain barrel set up to show you how it works). Here is a sampling of what you can expect to see at the World Congress Center Jan. 30 through Feb. 3. Be sure to bring a camera and a notebook.
Container gardens: Oftentimes, some of the simplest plantings are the most beautiful. Last year, I particularly loved a doorway with assorted planters containing a rosemary standard (a standard is a shrub trained into tree form), a dwarf boxwood, a gardenia and mixed succulents (the latter were grouped in a shallow concrete basin on an iron stand). It reminded me a lot of Charleston or the West Village in New York.Must-have plants: I never fail to find something I've never seen before in Hort (that's what the seasoned volunteers call the division where people bring in plants they've grown).
One year, the late Jitsuko Johnson brought a branch of stachyurus that caused a sensation. Hardly anyone knew what it was. The odd-looking shrub has long horizontal branches with 5-inch or 6-inch chains of creamy flowers.
A short list of favorites: blush-pink Camellia japonica 'Magnoliaeflora'; dark maroon hellebores; Burfordi holly with yellow berries, orange-fruited yaupon holly; daffodils with reflexed (swept back) petals. Some of the begonias people bring in even make you want to try houseplants.
Garden vignettes: An iron bench flanked by camellia standards, espaliered fruit trees, moss peacock spilling over a rock border, herbs planted in the top of a wall, a tree stump planted with ferns. Take a photo of your favorite garden scene for inspiration.
Easy walkways: The year I helped with a display garden, I brought some large flat orchard stones I'd had stacked up for years to create a path through the 20 foot by 20 foot space.
When the show was over, I came home and made a walkway on one side of my house. At the flower show, we set the stones on pea gravel; at home, I put them on sand — easy to do. I can't believe I had never thought of it before.
Borders: Just the other day, a friend asked me what I would do with a long, narrow space between her driveway and a fence. My mind went immediately to borders from last year's show. One display garden had a gray-green border with strawberry plants, parsley, lavender, dwarf iris, lamb's ear and rosemary. Beautiful and worth copying.
Raised beds: You don't have any choice at the flower show. Everything is raised. Note low, stacked stone retaining walls and simple, upright paving blocks used to delineate a flower bed or vegetable garden.
After the flower show, go ahead and make a raised bed at home and fill it with good soil and compost. In March, plant some different kinds of lettuce to enjoy in salads all spring.
Plant combinations: Lime green and burgundy are always popular. A photograph I took last year shows Heuchera 'Citronelle' next to Ajuga 'Chocolate Chips'.
Garden seats: This year, vow to put a bench or swing somewhere in your yard. You'll see all sorts of garden seats in displays and for sale.
One of my fondest memories from childhood is of sitting on a swing underneath a water oak with my mother. She would read to me or hum tunes from long ago
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