Looking for plants that will thrive in Georgia's red clay and fast-changing climate? Here are some ideas from Fayette County Master Gardener Judi Kubitz.

Each year the Georgia Nurseryman's Association names a set of God Medal winners that have met tough standards of testing.

These plants must be easy to grow and maintain, drought tolerant, disease and insect resistant. A tree, shrub annual and perennial are selected by a committee of certified nurserymen and horticulturists from around the state and the Horticulture Department of the University of Georgia.

This program began in an effort to identify hardy plants for Georgia and to create new interest in gardening. Here's a list of plants from 1995 to 2001.

Annuals

Sun coleus — Plant breeders at the U.S. Department of Agriculture and elsewhere have taken advantage of the coleus species discovered in tropical Asia and selected new cultivars for American gardeners. These coleus plants thrive in the heat of the tropics and in full sunlight. After a few years of trials, Sun Lover coleuses were released. Now they have been identified as the Gold Medal annual for 2000.

There are now more than a dozen Sun Lover coleus. The selection includes Amazon, Solar Sunrise, Alabama Sunset, Red Ruffles, Cranberry Salad and Solar Flare. The colors range from blood red to sunset orange. There are bicolor and tricolor forms and some combinations of deep brick red and tan.

One favorite is Solar Flare. It grows fast and can reach three feet. This dense coleus bush has deep brick-red leaves with light tan centers that gradually blend to yellow and then white.

Care: Sun coleus is easy to grow. They are warm soil plants. Best time to plant is late April and early May when the soil temperatures are above 65 degrees. They love consistent fertility and ample moisture. Use general 10-10-10 fertilizer every three weeks. These plants prefer evenly moist but not soggy, well-drained soil. The plants will need watering every other day in the extreme heat and would benefit from drip irrigation and a pine straw mulch.

Pinch all new growth just after plants recover from planting. A tip pinch is best. It will insure a well-branched mount by midsummer. The plants are fast-branching and will improve with tip inching through the summer.

Plants need two feet of growing space. A few will go a long way.

These plants are pest-free. Mealy bugs may be seen but can be washed off with a spraying of water. Few diseases affect the coleus. It is important to water in the morning and not crowd them. Unlike the shade coleus, they do not need much deadheading. These plants do not produce many flowers and they can be removed or left on the plants.

In late fall, you can take a six-inch tip cutting from the nonflowering stems and root them in a glass of water, and then transplant the plants for placement in a sunny spot in the house during the winter months.

Perennial

“David” and “Robert Poore” phlox

These summer blooming perennials will be a stand-out in the garden. They grow well together.

Place “David” two feet in front of “Robert Poore.” David is a great white phlox that grows upright and has a fairly large flower head. Robert Poore is a deep purple.

When planting these plants with annuals, you can use vinca and other upright annuals in front of David for a nice color effect. Davis is the perfect plant to brighten a dark garden corner. It requires several hours of sun, but will bloom well in partial shade (three to four hours of sunlight).

Care: These plants prefer to be planted in the fall and lightly fertilized in early March just as the rosettes emerge from the bases of the stems. Use a general 10-10-10 all-purpose fertilizer. For best results fertilize again during the plant's rapid growth phase just after the blooms fade.

Phlox are tough but must be watered thoroughly in extreme heat. Even though they resist mildew, it is important not to water too often or too late in the evening. Water only in the morning, then let the plants dry out. Don't be tempted to water late in the afternoon if the plants look wilted. These plants naturally wilt in the late afternoon and will revive when the hot sun subsides.

Divide phlox in the late fall or very early spring. Clumps of three to five rosettes produce the best flower show. You can propagate phlox from root cuttings by cutting four- to six-inch lengths of roots and laying them on a flat filled with moistened potting soil or a peat-lite mix. Cover them lightly with vermiculite or perlite to prevent drying or exposure to too much light. Keep moist and the roots will generate shoots in a few months.

In the fall, after the frost, cut back summer phlox to within two inches of the soil. Do not damage the bases of the stems. Do not mulch phlox heavily in the winter as next year's rosettes need sunlight all winter.

“Alice” oak leaf hydrangea

This oak leaf hydrangea is a striking bold deciduous shrub. The large, oak-shaped leaves and 12-inch spikes of white blooms will get you hooked. These shrubs fit into borders, mass plantings or edgings along the fringe of woods and are really under-used in Georgia gardens.

Alice will create interest in the garden year-round. So it can be used as a specimen shrub or a border. Because it is a native shrub, at home at the edge of the woods, particularly when it gets the afternoon shade, it forms an effective summer screen.

The plant is hardy from zones 5 to 9. It is a large shrub that will mound up to 12 feet and is nearly as wide when it matures. In the spring, the plants are covered with leaves six to eight inches long, with five to seven lobes. Then, starting in June, the plant will be nearly covered for three to four weeks with 10- to 14-inch spikes of white flowers. The petals are creamy white and one inch across. As the petals age, they fade to rosy pink with a more subdued look.

The large, dark green leaves change in the fall to a rich wide or burgundy. The fall color holds until November or December.

As the leaves fall, the branches with their exfoliating bark are revealed. The once dense shrub becomes open and airy with branches covered with strips of papery cinnamon bark. These shrubs now look like winter sculpture.

Care: Alice will grow in full sun but are happiest in partial shade. They require well-drained, acid soils that are irrigated during drought. The plants are fairly drought tolerant once established. Plant at their original depth, being careful not to plant too deep. Add two to three inches of organic mulch to the planting beds and water the shrubs weekly until they are established. Fertilize lightly with 10-10-10 in mid-spring and again in midsummer to encourage growth.

Prune the shrubs after they flower. The flowers are produce on old woods but will not appear until late spring or early summer. The plants will set new buds in the early fall for next year's blooms. Prune young plants to encourage low branching on the stems.

Little Gem Southern magnolia — Only the flowering dogwood may be more strongly associated wit the South than is the magnolia. The Little Gem is a cultivar of the Southern magnolia. It flowers in the first year, whereas the Southern magnolia may take up to 15 years to flower. The Little Gem grows only 10 to 20 feet tall, whereas the Southern may grow from 60 to 80 feet tall with a spread of 40 to 50 feet. An evergreen specimen tree, the magnolia has dark, glossy, green foliage. The flowers are large, white and very fragrant. They appear from late spring to early summer. The tree produces a fruit that has an unusual, pineapple-like texture. These trees prefer sun to partial shade and prefer rich, moist, acidic soil.

Care: For best results the tree can be planted in the fall while the ground is still warm or in the early spring when the ground will soon become warm. Midsummer is not the best time to plant since the tree's leaves require more moisture than its roots can provide during this time of year.

Plant a hole at least five times larger than the root ball and no deeper than the container is tall. Add one cup of lime per foot of hole diameter and one cup of 10-10-10 fertilizer to the soil before planting. Add organic matter to the planting area as well to create well-drained soil.

Use at least two inches of mulch over the entire planting area. Small amounts of fertilizer applied regularly will help the young tree grow throughout the summer. In the spring an application of azalea fertilizer will benefit the magnolia as it likes the acidity and the iron contained in this fertilizer mixture. Measure the thickness of the trunk four inches from the ground. Apply one cup of 10-10-10 per inch of thickness late in March, May and September.

Once the tree becomes mature, little fertilizer is needed. Some people like to remove the lower limbs of this tree, which can be done in January or February. Others like the magnolia to have branches from the ground level up. Watering should be done at least during the first two seasons after planting.

During the summer, the tree should be watered once a week, less often during wet or cool seasons, and during the winter if the water levels are low. A magnolia will require more water in the winter than will a deciduous tree. Summer watering may be necessary on established trees (older than two years) during a drought. Water the tree deeply, applying the hose for two to three minutes for each foot of height of the tree. Be sure to water over the entire bed area of the tree.

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