Mississippi Library Association

Southern Shade: A Plant Selection Guide

Kellum, Jo. Southern Shade: A Plant Selection Guide.
Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2008.
144 pp. $25.00 (paperback)

Gardening for shade is a tough challenge for many gardeners in the South. Shade changes from morning to night, from season to season, and from yard to yard. Landscape architect, garden writer, and photographer Jo Kellum provides expert guidance for southern gardeners in Southern Shade: A Plant Selection Guide.

Kellum has taken care to craft a manual specific to the southernmost regions of the country by carefully choosing plants that can handle the South’s climate and, specifically, the shady areas of any garden or landscape. Plants are grouped into bedding plants, shrubs, trees, groundcovers, and vines. Each individual entry is a well detailed sketch of all facets of the plant. Kellum includes a thorough description of the plant’s desirable and undesirable qualities, the scientific genus and species, common names, optimal growing conditions, and suitable plant pairings. Tips on how best to create shade and protect plants from harsh sunlight are abundant.

If Kellum’s written descriptions are not enough to help with plant selection, the accompanying photographs should do the trick. Kellum’s masterful photography captures each plant with amazing clarity. Many plants are shown in varying degrees of growth to better assist the gardener in choosing the right plants to enjoy for years to come. Additional tips can be found along with the photographs to correlate what is being shown.

Though this guide is by no means an exhaustive account of all your plant possibilities, Kellum has included a wide range of many useful shade plants. With this book, the novice gardener can discover the right way to begin gardening for shade, and the seasoned gardener can utilize Kellum’s incredible knowledge to expand on the shade plants they already enjoy.

The stunning visuals, easy-to-read language, and incredible depth of gardening and landscape knowledge make this guide a must for any collection. Kellum’s vivid descriptions and photographs of each plant help take the guess work out of picking the right plants for the right spots. This handy manual can help turn tricky gardening into a day in the shade.

Blair Booker
Assistant Librarian
Holmes Community College

Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: March 31st, 2009