The Southern Gardener's Book of Lists: The Best Plants for All Your Needs, Wants, and Whims

Excellent resource for the wish-I-knew gardner. Will keep you from making plant selection mistakes.

Besides a great book about southern plants, this book is also very, very funny. I've been consulting it for a couple of years now--the categories listed always make me laugh. I also appreciate that book divides the south is divided into climate zones--coastal south, middle south, etc. It does make a difference. What I wish the author would do next is to create a CD to accompany the book that would cross-reference these lists. Right now, I'm hunting a tree that's small enough for a New Orleans courtyard, has good fall color, preferably fruit too, easy to rake leaves, heat and drought resistant, and won't topple over easily in a storm. See what I mean?

I bought this book years ago and refer to it often. I've also given it as a gift to several friends. If you garden under difficult conditions (i.e. heavy clay, shade) this book will make your life easier.

Finally, a concise book of lists for Southern Gardeners! Unlike most garden books that muse on the pleasures of gardening, this book presents information in an easily retrievable format. It helps to have knowledge of plant material to use this book. A good companion to The Southern Gardeners Book of Lists is Dr. Mike Dirr's book Manual of Woody Landscape Plants. As a registered landscape architect, I use these two books consistantly. I recommend The Book of Lists to all of my serious gardening clients.

This book is necessary for any serious garderner in the South. Chaplin has hundreds of plant lists, covering everything from "Trees with Inconvenient Litter" to "Vines for the Beach". Each plant is accompanied by the recommended best planting areas: All South, Upper South, Middle South and Coastal South. She also includes advice from area nursery owners and respected garderners. This book puts all the plants together in an easy to find format, which should be helpful to all garderners, whether amature or professional.