Le Jardin

My name is Mary, and I live in Southeast Louisiana, where the winters are mild, and the summers are scorching.  Gardening can be difficult here.  We are listed in Zone 8b, but plants frequently identified as suited for Zone 8 do not survive here, due to the intense heat and lack of cold in winter.   Through trial and error, I have learned some of the things that will not make it here, and the things that will.  We do have the advantage of growing many tropicals here in this sub-tropical climate.  Things such as bananas, Angels Trumpet, cannas, gingers, etc., that in other climates can only be grown potted and brought in for the winter, here can be planted in the garden.  Some things will freeze if the weather gets that cold, but are root hardy and will come back from the roots.  I just started gardening extensively last year, so I am a beginner, so to speak.  Although I have grown potted plants for years, very successfully, I just ventured into gardening outside last year since I moved into a home with a nice 1/2 acre lot that had some good beginnings of foundation shrub plantings, etc.  It just needed some sprucing up.  You can follow along as I get the yard the way I want it over the next few years.

I recommend the following books about gardening in the South and general gardening information. I have to give credit to these books below as they were the primary source of my cultivation information on the individual plant pages on this web site. No one book has it all, but with a combination of the books below, you should be able to find just about anything you need.  They are well written and I couldn't do anything without them. In association with Amazon, you can click on any of these books to go directly to Amazon.com and purchase them at excellent discount prices.

I started this web to keep a record of my gardening.  I hope this helps.    This is only a very small representation of what we have growing in our yard.   As I add new pages and pictures, I will update this site.  Some things will not be added until they start blooming this year, as I want to include a picture that shows the bloom.

I also plan to add notes to each plant page as various things occur, such as moving, pruning, or any other significant event in the life of that plant.

If you would like to comment about my site, good or bad, that would be appreciated.  You can email me at maryhaik@bellsouth.net

This picture is a view of "Island Bed 2" from the West end

This picture is a view of "Island Bed 1" from the West end

Not a real good picture, but this is the "Rose Bed"

Although I haven't featured my potted plants on this web site, I also love to care for these.  We fashion a make-shift greenhouse each winter by enclosing our screened porch with plastic and bring these tender plants in.