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, The Well-Kept Lawn, Fruit in the Landscape, Vegetables Year Round, Annuals, and Perennials Indoors and Out, and Southern Gardening Month by Month.