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March 31st, 2002
The Southern Heirloom Garden

The Southern Heirloom Garden: The Heritage, The Plants, The Designs.
William C. Welch and Greg Grant.
Taylor Publishing Company. Dallas, Texas. 1995.

The first section of The Southern Heirloom Garden is a historical overview of the various cultural influences on Southern gardens. The second section contains plant profiles of “the most commonly cultivated plants in early Southern gardens.” Together they are directed at those gardeners who need to preserve or restore the heirloom gardens of the South. But the information just as is useful for the rest of us.

The Appendix includes a list of sources for Southern Heirloom plants.

Dr. Welch has made some of this information available online.

by M Sinclair Stevens

2 Responses to post “The Southern Heirloom Garden”

  1. From Ginnie Stapelfeld:
    October 9th, 2002

    Volunteer gardener at the Bellamy Mansion in Wilmington, NC. Would like information on the history of Loropetalum and the non-variegated Liriope in the mid- 19th century (1850-1875). We will be on the Azalea Festival Garden Tour in 2003.

    Loropetalum chinense is an acid-loving plant originally from southeast China, the Himalayas, and Japan. It should grow well given the same conditions as azaleas. To grow it here in central Texas, however, we need to amend our akaline soil with peat moss. However, you should have not problem with it in North Carolina. For information on Liriope muscari, you might try researching its old name Ophiopogon jaburan. It is originally from Japan. — mss

  2. From Shelia Hamilton:
    March 16th, 2006

    I want to help my mom create an old southern style garden. She has a Victorian style home and I would like to keep with the theme. Can you please list all the plants we would need and the best way of grouping according to soil.

    Sorry, no. I don’t work for nothing. If you wanted to pay me a couple of thousand dollars to do a landscape design…maybe. You don’t even mention where this garden is. Unlike furnishing a room, where you can put the same furniture in any house in the country, gardens are specific to place. So, I’d suggest that you spend some time observing the space you are in and then read this book for advice. — mss