You should be able to get good advice from the staff at Clegg's, Harb's Oasis, Louisiana Nursery, and my personal favorite Naylor's.

And plan on attending Hilltop's Annual Fall Sale. Go with a list and get there early!

Here is a link that might be useful: Hilltop Arboretum PlantFest 2007

I like Clegg's plants.

All of the Nurserys listed above are good sources. I personally shop at Cleggs and when I have time I really like to to to Naylors, special places like that are getting harder to find. The couple that runs it are great and very knowledgeable. One of the reasons that many of those plants you see in magazines etc. , are hard to find here is because they don't do well in the summer heat and hummidity here. The Hilltop sale is a jewel, staffed by volunteers but knowledgeable. Many of the growers who supply the plants help with the sale along with other landscape professionals. The selection is excellent, featuring many native plants, unusual and hard to find plants, but all suitable for this area. The plant sale preview in September is also great (I'm a big Hilltop fan, incase you did not notice).

Bob

One thing I forgot to mention. You really need to invest in some good books about Southern plants and gardening. As a start I would recommned Southern Plants for Landscape Design by Neil Odenwald & James Turner, many of us here consider it the authoritative book for southern plants but there are other. This book and others can be found at any good bookstore but I would recommend going to the Book and Nature shop at the Hilltop Arboretum.

Bob

I had a chance to check out Clegg's and Louisiana Nursery this weekend. Both had a great selection. Louisiana seemed to have more staff and could spend a little more time answering my numerous questions. Have not made it to Naylor's yet, but hope to make it out there next weekend. Thanks for the advice. As the project presists I am sure more questions will arise. The Hilltop sale looks like a blast. I'll be saving my pennies.

FYI ... Naylor's is having their spring festival sale next weekend where you can redeem "Naylor Bucks" you might have accrued earlier in the year. I'm never been, so don't know if there are other deals, but I'm sure of one thing it probably means a crowd and the place isn't very big. If you can visit during the week you'll have a better chance of talking to some of the staff. Anyway, I plan on stopping by on Saturday to redeem my bucks. Maybe I'll see you there.

Wow Natal that hilltop sale looks great. I've already started throwing money in a jar for it. One question though, the hodge podge list is for 2006. Do you know if the plant offerings will be the same for this year (or is it about the same each year?) I'm on page 8 so far and making a list of the plants I want. I'm either going to have to thin the list out or get a bigger money jar ;)

Pie, they post the new list about a week prior to the sale. Offerings should be similar to last year's though.

I thought the participants in this thread might be interested in the June 16th plant sale at Hilltop. I could not find anyway to forward or paste in the informational email I received with an attached plant list, however I think if you send an email to Hilltop they would send you the current plant list for the Hodge Podge sale on June 16th. The sale is from 9:00 a.m to 3:00 p.m.

Bob

Just thought I'd chime in with my personal favorite nursery in the Baton Rouge area! I love Pineywoods nursery in Walker...very friendly & helpful staff. Their plants are in terrific shape and the woman who owns the place is extremely knowledgable! Definately worth a look! - Marianne

Do you all have any joseph coates shrubs