Oh, you are making me blush. I do think we have much to gain from having you around, you are knowledgeable and have a way with words, it is a pleasure to have you posting here.
shrinking your growing zone
This site has some interesting plants I think might grow here.
http://www.phoenixtropicals.com/
Indian Paintbrush is the Oklahome state flower, it usually thrives in poor soils, taking what it needs by twinning itself to other plants, The Texas BlueBonnets are a lupine form of flower, and they arent the bluebonnets I remember from my childhood, but LadyBird Johnson wanted a flower of the state in more places than the old Bluebonnets grew, and we have the one everyone knows today. Newtons- You live inside a VERY large city zone, and that affects the growing zones a huge amount, it is actually warmer than, say Hillsboro for instance- and while Dallas south is humid, Weatherford is closer to hi plains weather, or was, I notice the city is spreading out these days- Dallas North is also totally different than the midcities areas. You are in an anomaly actually.
It takes time to transform a yard and that is what I am doing now. Hopefully when I clear out enough grass I can plant some annual wild flowers.
C
Last year I had Irises on the west side of the house with afternoon sun. They came up late and lived a little bit then died back. I moved them the the east side, mostly shade, and they have already come up. Hopefully they will blossom this year.
I guess location is everything. I haven't really grown any iris since I moved here but I do love them, especially the odd colored ones. How long do the flowers last in our heat?
C
Last year they didn't get a chance. Seems the temperature needs to be low enough for them to grow. With this earlier start hopefully they will do better. Winter Irises?
My bearded Iris lasts about 3 weeks in the Spring, not each flower, but they open in sequence so they last a good length of time.