Growing Zone 9

Tender inner stalks bring true Thai citrus-ginger backbone to curries, broths, and cocktails that dried lemongrass simply cannot deliver.Lemongrass grows into a big architectural clump in one Alabama summer, then dies back hard below about 20F. In 8a, either grow it in a large...

The cleanest, loudest lemon flavor of any herb - one leaf perfumes a whole pitcher of tea, syrup, or sorbet base.Lemon verbena is a frost-tender South American shrub, so treat it as a container plant in zone 8a and move it into a garage...

Bright lemon-and-thyme perfume that seasons roast chicken, butter, and shortbread without any of the sourness of actual citrus.A low, woody, evergreen sub-shrub that holds its leaves through most Alabama winters and keeps cutting through the cold months. It resents wet feet far more than...

Feathery fronds and crisp anise-sweet stems that lift roasted fish, pork sausage, and citrus salads from spring straight through fall.This is herb fennel, grown for its fronds, pollen, and seed rather than the fat bulb of Florence fennel. It is a strong perennial across...

Strawberries fruit their first season from a small bed or a few containers, and homegrown berries taste nothing like the firm shipping types.In Alabama the traditional method is an annual planting: set June-bearing plants like 'Chandler', 'Camarosa', or 'Sweet Charlie' in the fall, mulch...

Satsumas are the one citrus that genuinely fruits outdoors in central Alabama - seedless, zipper-skinned mandarins ripening right before Thanksgiving.A mature satsuma on trifoliate rootstock is the hardiest edible citrus available to us, taking brief dips to roughly 18-20F once established, but it still...

Pomegranates handle heat, drought, and poor soil, then repay you with flame-orange summer flowers and leathery red fruit in fall.Pomegranates are well suited to zone 8a heat, though our humidity and late-season rain can cause fruit splitting and less than perfect skins - flavor...

Persimmons hand you honey-sweet fruit in October after everything else is done, on a tree that needs almost no spraying and glows orange in fall.Asian persimmons are the ones to plant for eating fresh: non-astringent 'Fuyu' and 'Jiro' can be eaten crisp like an...

Pears are the low-maintenance fruit tree for Alabama yards - long-lived, heavy-bearing, and productive with far less spraying than peaches or apples.Fire blight is the one thing that kills pears in the Southeast, so stick with resistant Southern types: 'Kieffer', 'Orient', 'Moonglow', and 'Warren'...

Nectarines are peaches without the fuzz - firmer, more aromatic, and ripening right in the heart of Alabama's summer fruit season.Nectarines grow like peaches here and want the same conditions: full sun, fast drainage, and a variety matched to our roughly 600-800 chill hours,...

Mulberries crop heavily within a few years, feeding your family and every songbird in the county with sweet berries through late spring.Mulberries are practically carefree in Alabama - fast growing, drought tolerant once established, and unbothered by the disease pressure that plagues stone fruit....

Figs are the most reliable backyard fruit in central Alabama - no spray schedule, no pollinator needed, and honey-sweet fruit by midsummer.Common figs are self-fruitful and thrive in our heat, with Southern standbys like 'Celeste', 'Brown Turkey', and 'LSU Purple' fruiting on well-established wood....

Elderberry gives you creamy summer flower plates, dark berry clusters for syrup and jelly, and a native shrub pollinators and songbirds work all season.American elderberry is a fast, suckering native shrub that tolerates the damp, heavy spots most fruit refuses - ditch edges, creek...

Blackberries are the easiest fruit you can grow in Alabama - a short row of thornless canes yields gallons of berries by early summer.Modern thornless erect varieties like 'Ouachita', 'Natchez', and 'Navaho' were bred for Southern heat and humidity and need no trellis, just...

Tea olive scents an entire yard with apricot-sweet fragrance in fall and spring while working year-round as a dense evergreen screen.Tea olive, or sweet olive, is a broadleaf evergreen with small, inconspicuous cream flowers that carry an extraordinary fragrance across long distances. It grows...

Rose of Sharon delivers big tropical-looking hibiscus flowers from midsummer to frost, exactly when most flowering shrubs have quit for the year.Rose of Sharon is an upright deciduous shrub that blooms through the hottest part of the season in white, pink, lavender, or blue,...

Mountain laurel opens clusters of cupped pink and white flowers in late spring above leathery evergreen leaves that hold their looks all winter.Mountain laurel is a native evergreen of Appalachian slopes, prized for intricately marked flowers and handsome year-round foliage. Be honest with yourself...

Loropetalum holds burgundy-purple foliage every day of the year and covers itself in hot pink fringe flowers each spring.Chinese fringe flower is an evergreen shrub grown as much for its deep plum or burgundy leaves as for the shaggy pink blooms that cover it...

Gardenias produce creamy white blooms whose fragrance carries across an entire porch, set against thick, glossy evergreen leaves year-round.Gardenia is the signature fragrant shrub of the Deep South, flowering heavily in late spring with scattered rebloom through summer on many varieties. It wants acidic...

Flowering quince lights up the bare end of winter with scarlet, coral, or white blossoms on leafless branches weeks before anything else opens.Flowering quince is an old Southern dooryard shrub that blooms in late winter, long before its leaves appear, and its cut branches...