Last weekend, when my buddy Sheila and I were checking out what's new and what's coming soon at our favorite nurseries, she picked up a pot of goldenrod.

In Indiana, goldenrod is considered a bad weed, and I felt compelled to share a little Hoosier wisdom. "That will make you sneeze, you know."

She assured me that wasn't true.

It seems one woman's weed is another's flower.

That thought returned Sunday as my better half and I pulled and cut and hacked away at a bed of English ivy that I have big plans for. The folks who built our house probably planted it several decades ago, believing it was pretty and a good ground cover. My new mission is to eradicate it from our yard, or least from my soon-to-be (I hope) new flower bed.

That is a long-winded way to reach this week's topic: what's new and what's coming in time for fall planting. I wanted to see what might need a good home in a few weeks. It won't be goldenrod or Queen Anne's lace, however.

At Bedford Greenhouses, we fell in love with Mexican fire bush. It's one tough plant that laughs at the heat while most other things look blah.

Owner Milledge Peterson and his wife, Joanne, just got back from the Independent Garden Center Show in Chicago. They went wild for all the new varieties of cora bells, one of which looks as though it's been sprinkled with pink paint, he said.

Most plants should be planted at the same level as they were in their pots, but Mr. Peterson suggests planting cora bells higher.

The Petersons plan to have a variety of fall vegetables ready for the planting season. A new one this year is red scallions, which are pretty in the garden and edible. They also plan to offer an assortment of lettuces, and some varieties of Chinese cabbages that I'm excited about.

In a few weeks, Bedford Greenhouse will start the pansies growing, some 200,000 plants, which means I can leave a few for others.

Sheila and I also visited Nurseries Caroliniana in North Augusta, because it always seems to have something fabulous. Besides stumbling into a sale, we were mesmerized by Merlot majok mimosa, a variety of the mimosa tree developed by Nurseries Caroliniana. It's deep red, like a dark and rich merlot wine.

Although I think it's too hot to plant right now, and we still have several saplings and even a couple of ax-size trees to take out, it's a good time to plot out what new plants will be coming home soon.

Reach Sandy Hodson at (706) 823-3226 or sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com.

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IN THE GARDEN

In The Garden is a roundup of gardening events, club meetings and seminars. Send listings to sandy.hodson@augustachronicle.com, or post on the Garden Gnome at blogs.augusta.com.