A Rock Garden in the South

In "A Rock Garden in the South" Ms. Lawrence returns to her greatest strength. I don't think anyone has ever understood rock gardens as well as Ms. Lawrence. And if you're concerned about water scarcity and drought, knowing about rock gardening is quite pragmatic. Although the book was written some time ago, and released after her death, it was edited by Nancy Goodwin and Allen Lacy, so the contents are solid and up to date. The contents read somewhat like an annotated plant list, but Ms. Lawrence writes beautiful prose so it's not at all dry and boring. In fact, her writing is useful and entertaining. Ms. Lawrence believed you could make a rock garden almost anywhere--even if you didn't have rocks. The key is to plant things that will grow in your area. Most of her writing in this book is useful for the middle South -- Zones 6-8 -- but if you look at a garden book showing the USDA growing zones you'll see they extend clear across the country. The book contains a great deal of information about plants and their likes and dislikes. There are no photographs, this is solid text, however, if I want to know what something looks like I find a catalog from Wayside Gardens and poke around. Some of the more esoteric items may not be pictured in any garden catalog with photos, but sometimes it's worth the gamble to just try something on faith. Several pages showing plant requirements (will it work in dry shade?), as well as sources for seed exchanges and nurseries are located in the back of the book.