I think my garden style could be called, Greedy Guts, or, Quart into a Pint Pot style. I have been used to a much bigger garden than this one, and have yet to learn that there simply is not going to be room for everything I want to grow. I keep trying to squeeze more and more in. The poor roses and other plants have to take big breaths in to accommodate their neighbours. I still haven't laid the paths or steps. At this rate, the paths are getting narrower and narrower, but there will be plenty of flowers! Daisy

Some varieties are indeed prone to spider mites and to cotoneaster bagworms. Spraying down the foliage on a regular basis with a strong stream of water should help. Otherwise there are many great groundcover forms of this plant. It is pronounced "coe-tone-e-aster". Don't feel bad - one of the most mispronounced of all botanical names :-)

Water doesn't help. If anything, rainy/wet conditions brings on the infestation more, this is because they hide between the petals and in the creases of new growth. Conserve SC is the best product for thrips. The uptake takes about a day or two, although my money is on the thrips being attracted to the taste/smell of the chemical, ergo they come out to feed on the poison. I've heard of placing a small amount of sugar to an insecticide mix to draw them out, but I've never tried this. My problem with Orthene and Bayer Advanced stuff is that you eliminate many beneficial insects that feed on the thrips. This leads to bigger infestations, but when the numbers are high you sometimes have to attach head on. If you have common thrips, you should consider yourself lucky that your only damage is discolored blooms. A good cutting back and proper disposal of the cuttings is often a good tactic (but then you don't get to see your plants bloom. By the by, I've seen chili thrips as far north as Virginia. I went to a Lowes while on vacation and spotted them on a few rose plants (I recognized the damage to new growth right away and went in to examine further).

Depends on the region specifically in the South/zone but all of these are pretty Southern I think (though, not all can be grown everyone in the South). List is going to be heavily biased towards Deep South, but that's usually people's idea of a Southern Garden. Trees: Pecan Dogwood Magnolia Crape myrtle (if it's a good garden they won't prune them to nubs! I hate that so much absolutely ruins the lovely elm-like loose canopy and interesting peeling bark) Pines Southern Live Oaks Red cedar.. or whatever kind grows here Wax myrtle (Florida specifically?) Peaches & Plums Shrubs/Larger Flowers: Hydrangea (native oakleaf or chinese ones) Azalea (native woodland/graceful ones or hot pink and white cultivated ones) Hostas (especially large dark foliage ones with white flowers) A lot of indiscriminate hedges and whatnot Dahlias Even some types of roses Smaller flowers: Zinnias Lantana Spiderflower, ornamental onion-relatives My grandmother who is from a long line of people living in rural Georgia also is obsessed with begonias and daylilies but I'm not sure if they're "quintessentially Southern" (I know daylilies are popular where I go to school in New England) You might see columbine and fuchsias too Vines: White jasmine vines Trumpet honeysuckle (native) Chinese honeysuckle (don't recommend growing this one, it's horribly invasive despite it's beauty) Trumpetvine (native) Muscadine grape (native, if a tree isn't being covered in kudzu it's being covered in this vine) Other: Liriope/lilyturf (dark green or variegated most common) Vegetables/Crops/Herbs: Okra Pawpaw (uncommon but not unheard of in cultivation) Cucumber Watermelon Rabbiteye blueberry Anything heirloom, traditional, and locally grown fits here Style/Look: Overall design is a bit of a juxtaposition between the very formal and the lush, wild, and 'unruly'. This is due to the intense sunlight and humidity which enables plants to grow quicker and allows epiphytes like 'Spanish moss' to proliferate versus what I believe is an inspiration from noble/formal English gardens. I say the second because wealthier Southerners often aligned more with the English in the Revolutionary era than their northern counterparts and I think this is reflected in the gardening styles and in certain customs (most obvious is their love of tea). I see plenty of gardens that make use of both copious amounts of trees and more "wild greenery" with stately paths and geometric hedges. Yard ornaments that are more grand than rustic, like stone grey and white fountains are common. Basically, think of a lush woodland clearing with a bunch of manicured hedges and a fountain or statue in the center. Add in some Spanish moss and any of the plants mentioned above and it is very 'Southern'. Hope that helps and sorry for being so long-winded haha