<!--<p class="category">Gardening--> <p>Do you want your garden to have four seasons of bright, colorful flowers? Do you know which plants will perform best? <p> In <I>Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South</I> the award-winning horticulturist Norman Winter gives the answers. Taking the guess and the gamble out of plant purchases, he names ideal annuals, perennials, bulbs, grasses, and vines for any Dixie weather. <p> Via television, newspapers, magazines, and daily public-radio spots, Winter regularly reaches more than two million homes. For his wide audience he showcases plants that are good buys and good performers. <p> Among the unbeatable southern stalwarts he recommends in this book are four o'clock, Bouncing Bet, and summer poinsettia. New award winners he touts are scaevola, angelonia, and Jewel of Thailand ginger. His discussions of these and many more are enhanced by some 200 full-color photographs that will assist in identification and choice. <p> Included, too, are a guide to U.S. planting zones and a color wheel that will lead gardeners to exciting floral combinations sure to create dramatic effects. Along with a photograph of each flower come precise guidelines for proper light, water, bed preparation, fertilizers, and maintenance. In addition, Winter, a gardener with an eye for aesthetic placements, suggests companion plantings to give the landscape striking hues and lush foliage. <p> As coordinator of the acclaimed Mississippi Medallion Program, Winter is one of the best-known gardening experts in the South. <I>Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South</I> offers over 170 hardy bloomers, including award winners from such programs as Arkansas Select, Florida Plant of the Year, Georgia Gold Medal, Louisiana Select, Mississippi Medallion, Oklahoma Proven, TenneSelect, and Texas Superstar. <p> Winter's recommendations perform well in any of these award-program states and throughout the South and border states. <p>Norman Winter is the author of <I>Paradise Found: Growing Tropicals in Your Own Backyard</I> and <I>Mississippi Gardener's Guide</I>. He is the host of the popular television/radio show <I>Southern Gardening</I>. He also writes a weekly syndicated column on gardening. Known to many as the Southern Gardening Guru, he is one of the most sought-after garden lecturers in the region.