Favorites in an Atlanta Garden

Starting with a clean slate (the one-story ranch house had a lawn in front with one large silver maple, a small crape myrtle and very poor soil), Sloan began planting around the perimeter of the property to screen off both the noise and the headlights. Evergreen trees such as cryptomeria, leyland cypress and other conifers were mixed with deciduous shrubs and small trees like viburnum, wiegela, butterfly bush and vitex. A thick band of ornamental grasses also serves as a buffer. A circle of lawn is now enclosed by mixed borders. Perennials like purple coneflower, rudbeckia and garden phlox are interwoven with ferns and annuals like zinnias and deciduous shrubs, including callicarpa and hydrangea.

Instead of the typical row of evergreen foundation plantings, Sloan has placed an eclectic assortment of tropicals, deciduous shrubs (like a fairly rare form of Hydrangea aspera var. villosa), mophead hydrangeas, hostas and 'Casa Blanca' lilies in front of his house. In summer the bold foliage of elephant ears contrasts with the riotous leaves of coleus.

The mailbox at the end of Sloan's short driveway has become a major focal point and a delight for passesby. Here he has interplanted his favorite 'Casa Blanca' lilies with red banana, golden creeping jenny, black millet and yellow black-eyed Susans.

Sloan loves enhancing his home landscape with groupings of containers, which he plants with dwarf conifers, groundcovers, annuals, perennials and vines. Next to the entrance to the transit authority's corporate offices near downtown Atlanta, he has also installed several huge containers with a wild assortment of plants that will withstand the harsh conditions and extremes of hot and cold.

Some of Sloan's favorite plants are: