A "Some Like It Hot" book .... for the Carolinas

I recently picked up a book at the library that thoroughly explains sizes, bloom colors, shrubs, ornamental grasses, vines, etc. for our areas. The book was published by Wyrick & Company in Charleston, SC. Authors are P. J. Gartin and F. Brian Smith. They grew up in the Carolinas and are now in professions dealing with horticulture. I found the book had just enough information for me who moved from the north to the south. It is a great reference book to use over & over. The catalog number is 635.9 and listed under the name Gartin. The ISBN number is 0-941711-749. I'm not sure about the catalog number staying the same, but I know that the ISBN number does not change if you happen to see it at Amazon.com. Also, other libraries would have it listed under the same ISBN number. I really like the way it is organized and will probably make it my first book purchase in NC. "Some Like It Hot" by Gartin & Smith.

Karin

PJ Gartin has a new book out titled "Some Like it Hot - Flowers"`which is terrific also.

Greenthumb: Just came across your post. Thanks for the tip on the book. Another one you might find useful (I know I have) is, The Southern Gardener's Book of Lists: The Best Plants for All Your Needs, Wants, and Whims
by Lois Trigg Chaplin. It's available cheap on Amazon et al. It has lists like "The best daylilies for the coastal south" and so forth. Has categories for trees, shrubs, flowers, groundcovers, vines, etc.

Deb

Greenthumb, I think that Brian Smith was once with Clemson Extension Services. I heard him speak last year and found him to be well informed on what grows best in our neck of the woods.
Another good reference book is by Jim Wilson, former host of Victory Garden. You may be too young to remember him but he lived and gardened in SC for many years. His book is titled "Bulletproof Flowers for the South."
B

For you near the coast I found Garden perennials for the coastal south by Barbara J. Sullivan to be a good book.

I had trouble finding a decent book because most books dealing with SC plants were for upstate (colder cilmate).

I have almost all of the books mentioned above, and I second their value. I would add the SOUTHERN LIVING GARDEN BOOK to the list. I kept a list of all the things I'd tried to grow and failed over the years and when I checked that list against their recommendations, invariably my failures were not listed as suitable for "coastal carolina". When I see something I want now in a catalogue or on the web, I go to that book to see if it will work in coastal carolina. If the Southern Living book doesn't recommend it for coastal Carolina, I don't buy it because I know it won't grow here.

Our Master Gardener Association is comprising a book for gardening in Coastal SC. It will have a monthly planning section and plants, scrubs, and trees that are suitable for the coastal area. Also a section on turf for this area and how to care for it. It has been written by gardeners who live in this area in conjunction with Clemson Ext.
Would you be interested in more info? I think it should be published within the next month.

StonoRiver, you are so right about the Southern Living Garden Book. It is also one of my favorites.

This message was edited Jun 30, 2007 10:23 PM

A monumental undertaking, BSD! A Hurculean task, given the jillions of "Micro Climates" that abound in "coastal Carolina"! But I'd buy it in a New York minute. Nothing beats the wisdom of first-hand experience over the years.

Me too!

Another good one for this area is "Gardening in the Coastal South" by Marie Harrison.
There is a gem of information in every book I read and many gems here on DG.

That's one I don't have Ardesia. Thanks for the tip!

A friend gave me the "Gardening in the Carolinas" month by month by Bob Polomski for my birthday. So far it has been a good read and I have cross reference several items with the Southern Living Garden Book and they agree.

My hopes are this book will work well because I am switching to a whole different climate. I am going from a 9b to a 7b, sand to clay, dry to humid, 4" of rain per year to 45" and 120 degree August temps to highs typically ranging in the high 90's.
Getting to know what the typical changes are month by month should at least give me a head up to what is coming.

I also own the The Best Plants for All Your Needs, Wants, and Whims by Lois Trigg Chaplin. This book was suggested to me by a volunteer at Daniel Stowe's Botanical Gardens. My house is about a 30 minute drive from there and he claims that it is a good beginning gardeners book.

I am going to check out my book store for "Some like it Hot".
Thanks for the tip Karin.

Well, I love Trigg's book of lists so I think I will have to have this one too. Thanks

Hey All-

I agree with the books above, they are the most dog eared on my bookshelf. One of the ones I got last year that is joining the mangled is "A Guide to Wildflowers of South Carolina" by Richard Dwight Porcher & Douglas Alan Rayner. One of the largest sections in the book is on the Coastal Plain.

Carat I didn't think "Gardening in the Carolinas" was very useful for me. It was a lot about upstate plants and trees but not much for the coast. On the other hand I'm as far south as you can get in SC, that plus being close to the ocean gives me more a Jacksonville FL climate than let's say Columbia SC climate.

I planted a small orchard this year and the problem was for citrus I was a little to cold so I had to find the most cold hardy and for peaches and apples I was almost to warm so I had to find low chill hour fruits. It makes it more fun to actually pull off some of these plants and trees because the local landscape guys want to plant tried and true plants so they don't have problems down the road. I get questions all the time on what growing becuase I go for the uncommon things. Next year is work on the "jungle" lol, we'll see what I can get that to look like next year.

Core, I agree that it does seem to center its topics more to upper SC and lower NC. It really works well for me since that is the area I will be living in.

I am still amazed at the difference in the zone changes as you travel downward. Here in the west where I currently live, zones don't change quite as quickly and there is a definite change in altitude or proximity to the ocean when it does occur.

I also love to challenge the zones with plants. I have three lilac's here in Las Vegas. It is a chore to prep them for winter with icing them down slowly and forcing them into believing its freezing outside. Growing tropicals are bit easier in my opinion because those conditions can be altered with shade and misting systems.