As most of my readers know, I
love traveling around the country for my fictional books. Whether my research
takes me to big cities like Charleston, Savannah, New Orleans or Memphis, small
towns like Natchez, Mississippi or Jesup, Georgia, or forgotten mountain
hideaways like Balsam, North Carolina, I’m enchanted by the South. I love the
slower pace, the slower speech patterns and the wonderful food. This past year
I learned to love cheesy shrimp and grits, steamed oysters, and she-crab soup.
But since I’m a country girl who loves getting her hands dirty in my garden, I’m always intrigued by the plants which grow where the winters don’t get as cold and snowy as (northern) Ohio’s. Here are eight of my favorite plants that don’t grow where I live, plus the magnificent magnolia tree, which does grow here, but is far less common up north. (My photo is from one of my neighbor’s two magnolias in her front yard. Some people have all the luck!) All photos except the magnolia were taken on the coast of Georgia. (1-4 on left, 5-8 on right)
But since I’m a country girl who loves getting her hands dirty in my garden, I’m always intrigued by the plants which grow where the winters don’t get as cold and snowy as (northern) Ohio’s. Here are eight of my favorite plants that don’t grow where I live, plus the magnificent magnolia tree, which does grow here, but is far less common up north. (My photo is from one of my neighbor’s two magnolias in her front yard. Some people have all the luck!) All photos except the magnolia were taken on the coast of Georgia. (1-4 on left, 5-8 on right)
l) camellias – they were blooming
everywhere in February! What a treat!!
2) saw palmetto – used often in
landscape borders. According to one landscaper, it’s the berries that are being
used in prostate research. Fan-shaped plant must have the “saw” teeth in order
to have those berries.
3) palmetto palms – close to the
ground, grows abundantly in all coastal natural areas
4) loblolly pine – aka, southern
yellow pine. I saw huge forests of them in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, South and
North Carolina. For timber industry, it’s the most commercially important tree
in Southeastern US.
5) yaupon holly – waxy leaves,
red berries, grows wild in maritime forest, but the bush is a nice addition to
yards too(top right)
6) palm trees – I just learned
some get coconuts, some don’t. Majestic trees, but don’t stand up well to
hurricane force winds.
7) live oaks – the tree which most
of us Yankees associate with the deep South. Cute little acorns. Keeps its
leaves year-round, which means it’s always losing some year-round, so you’re never
down raking or blowing leaves. And you 
9) magnolia – quintessential “Southern”
flower (but it does grow up north too.) (on very bottom of post)
I know there are plenty of other southern plants that I didn’t include, but I saw these everywhere I went on St. Simons Island and Jekyll Island, Georgia.
Happy Spring, Mary Ellis
