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South Region - Inspiring Garden Ideas For All Gardeners

Selecting plants suited to the climate of the South region is a key step to success.

Various initiatives have taken place to determine how well plants would withstand the cold winter temperatures (Plant Hardiness Zones) or when plants would start suffering from the heat (Plant Heat Zones).

The South region lies in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 6-11 and in AHS Heat Zones 2 through 12. Except for a few high-elevation areas, most of the South experiences extremely hot summers with high humidity, and mild winters. Because of the intense heat and humidity, perennial gardening is mostly confined to lightly shaded areas.

If you know your hardiness zone and heat zone, find the best plants or exciting garden ideas for your geographic area.


A Lovely Backyard Retreat with Achillea, Festuca and Grasses

A plant combination which is long-lasting, drought tolerant and low care. Enjoy weeks of color while doing virtually nothing!

A Charming Plant Combination for Shady Gardens: Hydrangea, Japanese Maple and Boxwood

Easy on the eyes, this simple and elegant plant combination is a pleasure to live with. Perfect for the shade garden, its refreshing plant palette of green and white plants provides a cooling and pleasing effect. An easy and remarkable scenery to enjoy from spring to fall. Most plants are rabbit resistant and have been granted the prestigious Award of Garden Merit by the Royal Horticultural Society for their outstanding qualities. Enjoy!

An Eye-Catching Spring Border with Irises, Foxgloves and Poppies

Easy to replicate and relatively low maintenance, this plant combination is deer resistant and will put a smile on your face for many weeks! Most plants have won prestigious awards and make excellent fresh cut flowers that can be pleasantly enjoyed at home.

A Californian Retreat

Isn't this spectacular plant combination a real masterpiece with its staggering reddish rosettes of Paddle Plants (Kalanchoe Luciae) providing a strong architectural and exotic presence in this border?

Flowers and Herbs for a Rock Garden

This charming rock garden combines easy-to-grow annuals, perennials, and herbs in a pretty mix of forms and colors. All plants are deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and low maintenance. Some make lovely fresh bouquets to be enjoyed at home and others will give a magnificent taste to your cuisine.

A Long-Lasting Summer Garden Idea with Marigold and Sage

This summer garden idea combines easy-to-grow annuals and perennials in a pretty mix of forms and colors. All plants are deer-resistant, drought-tolerant, and low maintenance. Most make lovely fresh bouquets to be enjoyed at home!

A Casual and Impressionistic Planting Combination

A scenery that reminds of Monet's Poppy Field in Argenteuil, where colorful blobs of paint start from a sprinkling of poppies. This casual and impressionistic planting combination is fairly easy to re-create and requires little maintenance.

A Beautiful Duo with Agave 'Blue Flame' and 'Blue Glow'

Simple but stunning, this Mediterranean duo includes two spectacular Agave hybrids. Imagine how gorgeous this duo becomes when backlit by the sun in early morning or late afternoon! 

A Lovely Mediterranean Border with Lavender and Lilies of the Nile

Rich in texture and interest, this fragrant garden border features a fresh color palette of blues and purples with the intent of cooling and calming down an outdoor area overheated after a warm summer day.

A Spectacular Spring Border Idea with Tulip 'Heart's Delight' & Crocus 'Remembrance'

A fabulous flower carpet in early spring! Prior to the blooming of the majority of the perennials, the crocuses will be happily and busily cheering up the garden

A Four-Season Border with Evergreen Conifers and Japanese Maples

While a single Japanese maple can provide a striking focal point, when combined with other maples of different graceful habits, elegantly cut leaves and extraordinarily colorful foliage, the effect is spectacular. If you add a few evergreen shrubs, trees or herbaceous plants, your garden becomes a place of outstanding beauty all year long.

A Glowing Winter Border with Dogwood, Heath and Grasses

This incredibly pretty planting includes plants of great winter interest that will lift your spirits during the dull days of winter.

A Cheerful Winter Border Idea with Hellebores and Cyclamens

Low care, Hellebores and Cyclamen are invaluable additions to the shade garden and provide gardeners with some of the greatest pleasures in winter.

A Traffic-Stopping Spring Border Idea with Bold Tulips and Muscari

Get creative and cheer up your mid-late spring garden! Cobalt blue muscari and glowing golden yellow tulips adorned with fiery scarlet edges, make a bold impression together. Fairly easy to replicate, even for the beginner gardener!

An Eye-Catching Winter Border Idea with Colorful Twigs and Cyclamens

Low maintenance and fairly easy to replicate, this planting includes top-performing plants which have been awarded prestigious awards. Enjoy a glorious and colorful spectacle from winter to even spring!

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