Gardeners and landscape professionals in southern climates need plants that are effective and succeed in warm temperatures and humid conditions. Plants also need to show resistance to diseases and insects that become problems in southern landscape conditions.
The Athens Select™ program for commercial plant introduction, begun in 1999, strives to provide such plants. The Southern Living™ Plant Collection, introduced for the first time in spring 2008, offers plants that solve southern landscape challenges. Athens Select™ and Southern Living™ Plant Collection team up in spring 2009 to provide landscape gardeners with six flowering plants expressly suited to the southern U. S. garden landscapes.
Athens Select™
Athens Select™ is an offshoot of the Trial Gardens at the University of GA (Athens). This program markets plant materials selected by Professor Allan Armitage that are heat and humidity tested for two to three years in the trial gardens. In addition, all Athens Select™ growers propagate plants from virus-indexed (virus-free) stock.
Southern Living™ Plant Collection
Southern Living™ magazine, first published in 1966, has become one of the largest lifestyle magazines in the United States. Published monthly, it emphasizes the qualities and culture of the American south. Southern Living magazine, working with PDSI™ (Plant Development Services, Inc) of Loxley, AL, introduced the Southern Living™ Plant Collection in 2008 with eight plants advertised as “Basics for the Southern Landscape.” Listings of retail garden centers across the Southeast U. S. that sell plants from the Collection are available on the Southern Living™Plant Collection site.
Athens Select™ Annuals and Perennials selected for the Southern Living™ 2009 Plant Collection
All of the 2009 annual and perennial selections grow well as bedding plants (young plants grown in greenhouses from seeds or cuttings) to provide "instant color" in landscape situations. They also add distinction to containers and baskets.
They all bloom from spring or summer planting until autumn. Begonia 'Bonita Shea'™ and Setcreacea 'Blue Sue'™ grow well in either sun or part-shade, while the remainder need full sun to perform well.
- Begonia 'Bonita Shea'™ is among the best heat tolerant plants available for shade and as a result makes dazzling hanging basket displays. It is hardy in zones 10-11 and grows 6-10" tall in a well-branched, but compact, "Begonia mound." White to pink flowers are held over curly reddish-green leaves.
- Setcreacea 'Blue Sue'™ looks good in baskets and containers, but is especially handsome as a low-growing (6-8" tall) border plant. It exhibits blue-tinged foliage with a purple margin with contrasting pink flowers and is hardy in zones 7b-11.
- Cuphea 'Plum Mist'™ freely produces two-tone light and dark lavender flowers that are conspicuous against medium green leaves. It is hardy in zones 7b-11, and is low-growing (10-12"), making it ideal in containers and mixed planting beds, and as a border plant.
- Ruellia 'Rajin 'Cajun'™ possesses vivid red flowers and low growth (12-14" tall) with thin and delicate-appearing flower stems. It is hardy in zones 7b-11 and probably is best used in mixed planting beds and containers.
- Scaevola ‘Cajun Blue’ PP#16312 is more compact (8-10") and earlier blooming than other varieties of Scaevola. It is hardy in zones 9-11 and displays outstanding heat tolerance in mixed planting beds and containers.
- Heliotrope 'Azure Skies'™ is a low-growing (12-14"), freely spreading American native selection with light lavender flower bunches. It is hardy in zones 7-11 and like Scaevola, displays outstanding heat tolerance in mixed planting beds and containers.
More About Plants for Southern Garden Landscapes
Georgene A. Bramlage - Suite 101 Landscaping Feature Writer and Topic Editor Free-lance Garden and Landscape Writer and Consultant
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