Southern Gardens

New Orleans City Park

In honor of New Orleans' win last night, all those tempting gardening catalogs I'm receiving, and the fact that I'm just tired of the cold.... I thought I'd take a quick look at Good Southern Gardens.

A good Southern garden has some structure to it, achieved with shrubbery and trees- in addition to some man-made structures. I love boxwoods too for their evergreen.

Southern Accents

Savannah Getaways

Tara Dillard


Flannery O'Connor's garden via Garden and Gun

One can't mention structures and gardens without referencing Pearl Fryar's Topiary garden in South Carolina.

Pearl began his topiaries, reportedly, in an effort to win a neighborhood garden award. He certainly succeeded and his passion and art are amazing.

photograph by Pat Hartley

When I think of Southern gardens, I also think of statues- adding a bit of gothic to the setting. This one is in Dothan Botanical Gardens in Alabama.

photography by cablebreak (flikr)

Mixed with Hydrangeas- another very Southern view.

via A Southern Garden- Phillip Oliver



Garden in Savannah via This Eclectic Life

And amid the dreaded Spanish Moss.

Afton Villa Gardens

Pests are a given... Spanish moss is evil, evil, evil but I can't help but romanticize it when in reference to Southern Gardens. Below is a photo from Magnolia Plantation, which has been open to the public since the 1870s. This is a long time for Americans!

photo by Carl

Can't you just feel the humidity?

This photo from Afton Villa Gardens in Louisiana is a great transition to Azaleas, another Southern staple.

Azaleas (the old school variety; I've found that the the new, highly-advertised ones just don't up to the Southern heat). A great example at Goodwood Museum and Gardens in Tallahassee, Florida.

photos by Karl Gercens and the Goodwood Gardens (center)

And while I'm leaving out numerous Southern gardens and plants, I can't not mention two of my favorite plants with their cool white flowers- Magnolias and Gardenias. Evergreen, so you have some winter interest, and lovely scented blooms in the summer. Can you get any better than that?

AJC

Learn2Grow

leonardj446

Clemson Extension

OK, sometimes Magnolias are pink.

via Moosey's Country Garden

Check out Garden Visit to find gardens to visit. For more on Southern Gardening, you must visit Phillip Oliver's blog (his gardens are amazing!) and Tara Dillard's blog (I was fortunate to have taken her class on Southern Gardening at the Atlanta Botanical Gardens).

For more resources, great books include The Southern Garden by Lydia Longshore and A Southern Garden by Elizabeth Lawrence.

Have a great day!

Emmie

READ MORE - Southern Gardens

Why I Love Miami

It's no secret to the folks I visit for work that I would LOVE to live in South Florida. I understand that this area is not for everyone. It's crowded, loud, sometimes dirty... but it's also vibrant, fun, WARM (usually), and a whole big mix of everything.

I'm up late working tonight, but had to share a few of my reasons on why I love Miami (or Ft. Lauderdale, where I'm actually staying).

You can pull off colors in your home like these and not look completely derranged or being the talk of the town in a negative way.

via Fast Real Estate

via real estate listing

via Miamism

Lifeguard stands are a testament to the hippness of the area...

Travelogue

Water, water, everywhere

Lush, green landscaping...

via Pink Shovel Landscapes

and bougainvilleas year-round!!

Art in many forms... architecture, statues, art in museums...

via Wandalust

Artist Boris Posavec via GalleryNOW

The FOOD!

Stone Crabs (and other seafood)

Mojito (must have the sugarcane!)

Plantains (either sweet or crispy fried)

Cuatro Leches cake (I am a total sucker for this... had a larger piece than I should have this evening in fact!)

And one quick bit of business. I received an email from a well-informed Atlanta resident correcting one of my posts. The "Atlanta White House" is not in Druid Hills, as I had previously reported. Thank you for the information and I apologize for the error.

via Atlanta Fine Homes

Hope y'all are having a great week!

Emmie

READ MORE - Why I Love Miami

Meet This Atlanta Power Couple

Alisa Barry and Smith Hanes via Country Home

We had a lovely weekend with the girls and tons of fun (a little too much fun Friday evening... the wine was flowing freely and before you knew it, we had gone through many many bottles. How old am I???).

On Saturday, we headed out to Virginia Highlands- a great little area of shopping, dining, and super-cute houses. (Note to self: home tours in December, which I missed last year. Must do in 2010!).

For me, Virginia Highlands is one of those great areas that you should get to often, but somehow don't. Saturday, I made the great discovery of Bella Cucina...

Their mission? "To enhance the lives of our customers everyday through the spirit,
beauty, and sustenance of artful food."

The shop is actually part of an enterprise, created by Alisa Barry because of her "passion for food and all things Italian." She also has a blog, The Art of Food, which I encourage you to check out! Note that her last blog posting was on Meyer Lemons. Yes, I think we have a connection.


Needless to say, this little stop had me at hello. Their fabulous little sauces are not cheap but they are delicious and the store offers several recipe cards to make the most of their little jars of heaven. While checking out, I chatted with the clerk about the decor, which I also loved, and found out that the shop owner's significant other (husband? I'm not sure) is a designer and was behind the shop's decor.


Meet Smith Hanes.

Smith has also been involved of the design of Serenbe, this amazing little community centered around smart development and protection of greenspace.

Blue Eyed Daisy Bakeshop

The Farmhouse at Serenbe

And one of my favorite restaurants, JCT Kitchen.

Smith is not limited to commercial projects, either, and brings this modern country farmhouse look to Atlanta residences.













Alisa and Smith's home, a 1908 Sears kit house, has also been featured in design magazines. These photos all courtesy of Country Home. The couple's love for art and modern flair is evident throughout the house.





And there we are. I hope that you enjoyed this little introduction... Off to Miami today for work!

Emmie

READ MORE - Meet This Atlanta Power Couple