N’awlins gardening joie de vivre: Part Two

In yesterday’s post, a 10th-generation gardener from just north of New Orleans named Felder Rushing felderrushing.net shared his perspective on the lush and lovely vegetation that abounds in the Big Easy.

Today Felder talks about plants to choose from if you’d like to add a dash of Southern spice to your garden gumbo.

Felder Rushing on creating a slice of NOLA
New Orleans gardens are much more than the hanging baskets and carefully tended but hidden inner courtyards of the French Quarter. A leisurely walk or drive around the Garden District off St. Charles – any month of the year – will inspire and quicken the pulse of even the most meticulous gardener. There is something for everyone, from terraced mansions with Old World culture and style to outlandish cottages with innovative twists.

Yet there’s something about New Orleans terroir – the sounds, the tastes and smells, the undeniable effect of the climate on skin and attitudes – that keeps it from being a cacophony. If you create a slice of its look and feel in your own inner garden, you’ll know when you get it right when you catch yourself thinking, if not saying, “C’est la vie!”

New Orleans container garden

New Orleans “style” gardens could include:

Annuals: castor bean, basil, cleome, coleus, impatiens, pentas, pepper, ornamental sweet potato, zinnia, hollyhock and begonias.

Perennials and bulbs: caladium, canna, miscanthus, ajuga, artemisia, daylily, ferns, mallows, sedums, violets, yarrow, mint, gladiolus, hosta, iris, amaryllis, dahlia, elephant ears and lantana.

Tropical plants: Asparagus ferns, phormium, philodendrums, spider or airplane plant, sago, fatsia, aucuba, palms, rubber tree, dwarf schefflera (Arbicola).

Shrubs: agave, azaleas, conifers, boxwood, elderberry, hydrangeas, lilac, pyracantha, rose of Sharon (althaea), everblooming shrub roses, buddleja, camellia (C. oleifera and Ackerman hybrids are cold tolerant), hollies, and magnolias (especially M. grandiflora ‘Little Gem’ in a large pot). Also include hardy vines such as ivy, fatshedera and climbing roses.

Note: Many of these plants are considered invasive weeds in other parts of the country; garden responsibly and keep them contained! (New Orleans gardeners simply don’t care – we have to weed our gardens regularly ANYWAY!)

New Orleans courtyard

About the author
Felder Rushing, syndicated garden columnist, author of 15 garden books, and host of a public radio gardening program, is a 10th-generation Southern gardener from just north of New Orleans. He is a contributing editor for Horticulture Magazine. For more tips on “N’awlins’-style” gardening – in or out of the South – e-mail him at felderrushing.net.

Flower Fact of the Day: Are you a fan of dahlias? Then here's a London Times must-read, contending that "dahlias are a bit like Winston Churchill or John Travolta." It's a hoot and writer James Alexander-Sinclair uses the word "kerfuffle," which made my day! Read it at: http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/property/
gardens/article3521311.ece

Jacqueline - Editor

April 11, 2008

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