Plan now for beauty this summer

Like most gardeners, you're probably in the middle of making plans for your summer garden now. You've been through all the seed catalogues and you've placed your orders, but there are two more things you need. The following two books will help you get the most mileage out of your early spring plantings and the most enjoyment out of your summer garden.

Reviews by Pat Regel

American gardeners have consulted the USDA Plant Hardiness Map for years in order to select plants that can survive local cold temperature extremes. But gardeners also need a map that tells what plants will survive the summer heat. Such a map is now in print and in an easy-to-use text for the first time. Heat-Zone Gardening, by Dr. H. Marc Cathey, is something for every serious gardener's bookshelf.

Heat-Zone Gardening contains the new American Horticultural Society Plant Heat-Zone Map that will help you choose plants that will thrive in your particular region's warmest weather. No more guess work: now you can now create a garden that fits your climate and landscape no matter where you live in the United States.

This handy reference divides the United States into 12 color-coded zones based on how many "heat days" (temperatures over 86 degrees F) each region receives annually. Heat-Zone Gardening also shows gardeners how to assess the landscape, use mulches to cool plants, create cooling shade, and choose a watering system.

Dr. Cathey, a renowned research horticulturist, provides Plant Profiles with heat zone information for nearly 500 commonly used annuals, perennials, trees, and shrubs. But Cathey also explains how to design your garden wisely. He takes into consideration lawns, hardscapes, slopes, container gardens, wildflowers, and native plants. Simple step-by-step instructions show you how to help your plants beat the heat.

If early spring is the time you take on garden projects, then you'll want a copy of Southern Living's Garden Projects. This book will save you not only time but money with its 34 do-it-yourself garden projects. Some of these projects include: making topiaries and ivy sculptures; creating wreaths, floral arrangements, and garlands; constructing garden pools and fountains; laying stepping stones, walkways, edgings, and stone walls; and making window and planter boxes, trellises, and lattice screens.

Each project is laid out in an easy-to-follow format that takes you from the tools and materials needed, to the "getting started" phase, and onto the how-tos of the project itself. Colorful photos illustrate each process, and for those interested in the strictly horticultural aspects of garden projects, there is a chapter that instructs you on establishing ground covers, repairing your lawn, pruning trees, transplanting trees and shrubs, and more.

In addition to a handy glossary for the uninitiated, there is also a short section on the basic techniques for creating landscape structures. Southern Living is known for its practical instructional series. Beginners and advanced gardeners will use this book for years to come.


Pat Regel, author of The Houseplant Survival Guide (Taunton Press), writes and gardens in Nashville.

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