Here is an heirloom crinum, cultivar unknown, that came out of a family garden in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is a very compact form-
And here is the spectacular Erythina bidwillii, which I found last year at Hewitt’s Garden Center out on Hillsboro Road. They were selling it as a patio plant, but having had its parent, Erythina crista-galli, in my old Bellevue garden for over a decade, I knew its potential.
This is a die-back shrub in Nashville. It comes back from the roots, even after the horrific 2014 winter- Southern Living magazine says it is not hardy away from the Coastal South, but they are wrong. Tony Avent’s Plant Delights nursery sells it, and they rate it a Zone 7.
One of these would be enough in any garden-
Some other bloomers and scenes from today-
The biggest job in the front border this month is not weeding or watering, but is cutting back spent and untidy iris foliage, as is well illustrated in the next to last photo-
Tales of a Nashville Gardener 