In Gardening Southern Style, Rushing’s down-home manner and his practical philosophy that urges a harmony with nature and the value of local resources for solutions have made him a household name in his region. Whether it’s trouble with “southern blight,” noxious weeds, nematodes, or aphids, or sage advice about what, how, and when to plant—when question arise about problems or maladies in the garden, many immediately say, “I’ll ask Felder!” Having lived in Texas, Virginia, and Mississippi, Rushing is a horticulturist whose knowledge is linked to the Magnolia Zone, a region shaped, he says, somewhat like a sweet potato, with Austin on the western border and Shreveport, Jackson, Montgomery, and Richmond on the east. Gardens just a few miles north of the Gulf Coast, from Houston to Pensacola, fall within this zone. Rushing focuses each chapter on one aspect of gardening south of the Mason-Dixon Line: Planning the Successful Landscape, Choosing and Caring for Trees and Shrubs