Successful Southern Gardening: A Practical Guide for Year-Round Beauty

Ladendorf, garden columnist for the News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C., has grown ``lilacs and asters in Connecticut, raphiolepsis, calochortus, and ceonothus in California, and hardy rhododendrons and sweet peas in Michigan,'' and is now ``luxuriating in the beauty of azaleas, lycoris, crinums, and numerous southeastern native plants'' in Chapel Hill. Her experience gardening in such wide-ranging climates has helped her screen hundreds of species for their adaptability to her North Carolina home. Making no attempt to recommend plants for the far reaches of thevast and varied area called the South, Ladendorf restricts her counsel to zones 7 and 8--but knowledgeable gardeners in other parts of the South can apply her advice to their own turf. She counts on and quotes from a superb network of amateur and professional horticulturists, including those associated with the North Carolina Botanical Garden. Her book is accurate and delightful to read, though meant for gardeners with a greener-than-average thumb; beginners will have to grow into it. Illustrations. (Mar.)