Right Plant, Right Place, Go Native!

Gardening in Georgia can be both rewarding and frustrating. The long growing season affords many opportunities to have flowers, foliage and fruits throughout the year, but extended periods of drought and extreme heat present challenges for both plants and gardeners alike.

Hiring a professional garden designer to help you develop a plan is a great start, but educate yourself, too. Do a little research. Look around your community and take note of plants that thrive in situations that are similar to your own.

No matter what size garden you have, success begins with selecting the right plants for the right place. Start by grouping plants with similar needs in the same area and remember that sometimes the simplest solution for a problem is to work with existing conditions rather than trying to change the environment. This is especially true if you have soils that are saturated, periodically flooded or very dry.

When choosing plants for your garden, think about what individual plants offer, both aesthetically and practically. Combine trees, shrubs, herbaceous plants and bulbs for the best effect.

Avoid or remove invasive exotic plants, including English ivy, kudzu and Autumn olive, Eleagnus umbellata. All of these are rampant growers that crowd out other species that need light to grow.

As you replace plants in your landscape, consider choosing native selections suited to tolerate particular conditions in your garden. Your landscape will be not only beautiful, but sustainable. By using native plants, your garden will provide critical food and habitats for birds, bees and other critters.

There are plenty of native plants that do well in sun and shade. By incorporating some of these plants into your landscape, you’ll be well on your way to creating an oasis for people, plants and animals that will reward you throughout the year.

Plants for areas with damp soils or periodic flooding

Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) is a large deciduous conifer that thrives in wet or dry soils. The fern-like foliage turns from green to russet in the autumn. Once it sheds its leaves, the orange-red bark stands out, especially in the winter landscape.

Henry’s Garnet’ Virginia Sweetspire (Itea virginica) grows in sun or part shade. The green leaves turn garnet in autumn.

Sweetbay Magnolia (Magnolia virginiana) is a large shrub or small tree with lemon scented flowers. Mostly evergreen, the silver undersides of the leaves shimmer in the breeze.

Winterberry (Ilex verticillata) is a deciduous shrub that produces masses of red or orange fruits in winter.

Plants for sunny areas

Arkansas Bluestar (Amsonia hubrichtii)

Beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana)

Chokeberry (Aronia arbutifolia)

Fringe Tree (Chioanthus virginicus)

Georgia Aster

(Symphyotrichum georgianum)

Native oaks (Quercus species)

New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus)

Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum)

Plants for shady areas

Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)

Florida Leucothoe (Agarista populifolia)

Foam flower (Tiarella cordifolia)

Maple Leaf Viburnum (Viburnum acerifolium)

Phlox (Phlox divaricata)

Royal fern (Osmunda regalis)

Small Anise tree (Illicium parviflorum)

Sweet Shrub (Calycanthus floridus)

Yellowroot (Xanthorhiza simplicissima)

Special Events

Valentine’s Day Meet & Eat

Tuesday, Feb. 14, 12 p.m.-2 p.m. Enjoy a delicious catered meal and celebrate as the Reminiscents perform live. Wear your red, pink or purple outfit and have some fun at this fundraising event that benefits the C. Freeman Poole Senior Center. $12 for Cobb residents; $14 for non-residents. Freeman Poole Senior Center, 4025 South Hurt Rd., Smyrna, 30082. Call 770-8013400 or go to www.cobbcounty. org for details.

Opening Reception: Mario Petrirena

Friday, Feb. 24, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Artist Mario Petrirena was born in Cuba and raised during the political upheaval of the 1960s. He was one of 14,000 children evacuated to America during Operation Pedro Pan. Petrirena’s work, a combination of ceramics, installation pieces and collage, reflects both the struggles and the value of his dual identities. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for seniors and children ages 6-18. MOCA GA (Museum of Contemporary Art), 75 Bennett St., NW, Atlanta, 30309. For tickets and more info, call 404367-8700 or go to mocaga.org.

IN CONVERSATION ABOUT “Why Be Jewish?”

Thursday, March 9, 7:30 p.m. Ruthie Ellenson (author of the New York Times bestseller “The Modern Jewish Girl’s Guide to Guilt”) and Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta’s (JFGA) CEO Eric Robbins invite the community to be part of a compelling conversation about philanthropist Edgar M. Bronfman’s “Why Be Jewish? A Testament,” published just weeks before Bronfman’s death in December 2013. Part of the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta Book Festival series, this event is presented in partnership with the JFGA. Free and open to the community with RSVP. Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta, 1440 Spring St., Atlanta 30309. Call the MJCCA box office at 678-812-4005 or visit www.atlantajcc.org/bookfestival.

Performing Arts

And Then There Were None Feb. 10, 11, 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 & 25, 8 p.m.; Feb. 12 & 19, 3 p.m. A classic Agatha Christie murder mystery comes to the stage in Sandy Springs. Ten guilty strangers, trapped in a house on an island, are accused of murder and one by one they start to die. Tickets are $23 for adults, $20

Heritage Winter Classics: SympVibes & Nothin’ But Treble for students and seniors 65+. Act 3 Productions, 6285-R Roswell Rd., Sandy Springs, 30328. Order tickets online at act3productions. org, or call 770-241-1905.

Sunday, Feb. 12, 4:30-6:30 p.m. Enjoy an evening of superb a cappella music. SympVibes (Sympathetic Vibrations), an allmale a cappella group founded at Georgia Tech, arranges all their own music, mostly pop and classic rock. At the other end of the musical scale, Nothin’ But Treble is Georgia Tech’s all-female, award-winning a cappella group. Tickets are $5 for members, $10 for nonmembers. Heritage Hall, 6110 Bluestone Rd., Sandy Springs, 30328. Call 404-851-9111 or visit heritagesandysprings.org.

Elvis Lives

Thursday, March 9, 7:30 p.m. Bill Cherry, Dean Z and Jay Dupuis, winners and finalists of several Ultimate Elvis Tribute Artist Contests, are featured in the ELVIS LIVES 2017 tour. They’ll be joined by a live band, back-up singers and dancers, and an AnnMargret tribute artist. Graceland is providing rarely seen restored video and photo assets from its archives. The Fox Theatre, 660 Peachtree St NE, Atlanta, 30308. Buy tickets at the Fox Theatre on page 20