CJ Lotz Diego
CJ Lotz Diego is a Garden & Gun deputy editor. A staffer since 2013, she wrote G&G’s bestselling Bless Your Heart trivia game, edits the Due South travel section, and covers gardens, books, and art. Originally from Eureka, Missouri, she graduated from Indiana University and now lives in Charleston, South Carolina, where she tends a downtown pocket garden with her florist husband, Max.
Books
A new book reveals a forgotten chapter of Southern history: Alabama’s “Fly Girl,” Ruth Elder
SPORTING
Travel
Celebrate National Lighthouse Day by supporting some of the South’s most endangered beacons
Good Dogs
One entrepreneur in Charleston, South Carolina, turns her love of dogs into a new business
Food & Drink
An exclusive look at how the popular burger joint plans to go native in Music City
Arts & Culture
New books out this month, including Appalachian noir, a definitive sports biography, a coastal mystery, and a cookbook that’s quite cheesy
Arts & Culture
At 78, the oldest still-performing siren shares stories of Florida’s Weeki Wachee mermaids
Music
The musician’s third album bounced out of a Kentucky rubber factory and is poised to snap up new fans
Arts & Culture
The Savannah native had a knack for memorializing the Southern sensations of heat and humidity
Arts & Culture
Summer is here and so are new novels, a collection from Julia Reed, beach lit, a beautiful typography book, and one wiggly memoir.
Books
We’re halfway through the year, but still just getting through our pile of great Southern reads. Make time for some—if not all two dozen—of these novels, cookbooks, and coffee table tomes before the second half of the year brings even more goodies for book lovers
Arts & Culture
Fabergé Rediscovered, a new exhibition at Hillwood (and book of the same name) shares nearly 100 of Marjorie Merriweather Post’s priceless pieces
OUTDOORS
What one man did when nature came a little too close for comfort
Food & Drink
The James Beard Award–winning pitmaster shares three of his best tricks
Arts & Culture
Welcome summer with a stellar new book haul, including buzzy debut novels, a visually stunning tour through mezcal territory, and two story collections by Southern authors that are perfect for poolside afternoons. Oh, And a Bottle of Rum
City Guides
Chefs, family, and friends pay tribute to the pioneering New Orleans restaurateur Ella Brennan, who died May 31
Good Dogs
You can check out any time you like—but you might leave with a forever friend
Land & Conservation
A Southern tradition and a fun hands-on summer project