and e.v. is 16 this september. boohoohoo. she gets to start dating. boohoohoo. haha the jackman is going to be 15 in feb.
May move to Dallas from 60" (Mississippi) and 3 meters rain
Oh, my goodness. Who was it who referred to "Sachse/Rockwall/Fate" and said, "At least it isn't like Garland?" I live in Garland. 1/2 mile to my north is Rowlett. Drive on, re-enter Garland, go a little more north, and I'm in Sachse. Rockwall is 5 miles across the lake to my east and Fate's on the other side of that.
The point I'm trying to make here is, there is no such thing as "Sachse/Rockwall/Fate." They're not next door to each other. To get from Sachse to the others, you will have to drive through Rowlett and/or Garland. None of them are really separated, except by the lake. They are historically all small towns that are growing, just like Plano did (which I remember when it was a farm community of 2,000). For that matter, there's really no separation between Dallas and any of the other areas mentioned. It's all city these days, and it's all growing. And, like any place else, there are good and bad areas of all of them.
To zonkel, I can understand the trepidation of moving and changing gardening habits--I think we all can. But, first of all, as you've already been told, this area certainly isn't desert. We are farther away from Big Bend than we are from you, and that distance is reflected climactically as well. The only thing near my house with thorns is my roses.
Here's the other thing, which is a little different. I'm a native Texan and have lived in the Dallas area most of my life. But I've lived on the east coast and the west as well. Speaking as a gardener, there are good things and bad things about anywhere you live. In Maryland I could grow my beloved delphiniums, which can't survive the Texas summers, and tulips, and lupines, and much bigger hostas. But here I can grow brugs and gingers and salvias and hibiscus and one lupine that won't grow in Maryland (bluebonnets). In California I could grow the CA poppies and other pretty things (that I can't remember the names of, LOL), but not azaleas or sweetgums. There is no one place in the U.S. where a person can grow everything. But for every plant we suddenly can't grow, there's another pretty one that now we can. A large part of the fun is learning about them.
I think I was one of the ones talking about my water bill over on the B&B thread. Summer water bills are a fact of life in Texas, if you want anything to stay green. But I suspect that the summer electric bills (for a/c) are a much bigger culture shock than the water bills. On the other hand, my New Hampshire friends pay $700 a month for heat, for about 6 months of the year. My heating bills are less than $600 for the entire year.
So, what I'm saying is, there's good and bad wherever you go. You will have way better barbecue and Mexican food in Texas, not to mention great music--LOL! It's an adventure. :)
You are sooo right Pattie.
Pattie, you need to make a commercial for Texas. I have lived in the Dallas area all of my life and it is so large and diversified it would be difficult to describe it to anyone. First of all we are part of the black land called The Grand Prairie, problem with that is it is more like black clay. Best cotton fields in the world. I live in the Southwest region of Dallas/Ft.Worth and if you dig down 2 feet through the clay you hit white caliche. Cement plants all over within a 50 mile radius. The month of August is the worst of the climate. We are now 19 days of over 100+ and the forecast is for at least another week of the same. Even my Texas natives are drooping and I water everyday with a sprinkler system. But was it ever gorgeous this past Spring and I know this is what we will have to deal with every August from now on. That's when I catch up the ironing, mopping, sewing,........
My side of Dallas has rolling hills, creeks, and lots of native trees. North of Dallas, not so much, more flat and that was where the cotton fields did best. I love all of it. So much so that we have been in this same home for 44 years, expecting to move every 5 years. Couldn't find anywhere we liked better.