Favorite Plants for a Garden Decorator

Interior designer Susanne Hudson's garden in Douglasville, Georgia, is built on 3-1/2 acres around a 19th-century Greek Revival house that she restored. Flanked by two giant magnolias, the white-columned house has a front porch fitted with mosquito netting and a comfortable assortment of chairs and swings.

Hudson had always wanted a garden where she could pick flowers like she did as a child at her grandmother's home. The first area she cultivated, though, was an herb garden. More paths were eventually added to accommodate hydrangeas, which had been a mainstay of her grandmother's garden.

A collector at heart, Hudson has embellished the garden with found pieces that serve as furnishings for outdoor rooms. On the multi-level, expansive deck, salvaged church windows form tall see-through walls for the living room section. In the adjacent al fresco "dining room," an electric crystal chandelier hangs over a table.

Throughout the garden, trellises and arbors provide structure. Many of the objects used in the garden were found on the property. Old rusty farm implements have been welded together to form an arch. Plow parts have been lined up as a border along a path. As she was installing a fence in another area, Hudson uncovered two garden pools that had been buried for decades. She restored them and created seating areas nearby. The tables are topped with electric lamps for relaxing nighttime reading. One of the most unusual structures in the garden is a large greenhouse made completely of old windows pieced together and painted French green.