I grew up in zone 6. Gardened for two years in 7b, now holy toledo! Made an offer on a house yesterday on a sandy lot, zone 9a!!?! Good grief!
How does one garden in humid, hot, zone 9a?! Do you guys *ever* stop watering? I sent some of my 7b perennials to "babysitters" when I first moved, unsure if I could ever get them back. Now I'm really concerned.... soo hot here in the summer! The yard does have lots of trees, so I can assume that the shade will help, right?
Looked in PlantFiles, found the classifications I put in the advanced search a bit overwhelming. So help me out, you Texas natives! I don't know where to begin! The yard's pretty plain now, and I don't have a TON of space to garden.... will be planning a veggie plot (probably won't be this year, I don't think). I love daylilies & herbs, and anything that's scented. In SC (7b), I had a "sensory garden" area - stuff that's stickie, pointie, fuzzy, prickly, stinkie. "touchie feelie plants".
Good Golly... zone 9A?!?
Anglesong, you are leaving Victoria?
Nope .. Staying here.. but this is 9a, according to the map that Dave's got linked on here...
Oh, ok. The zones can get fuzzy down here in this end of TX. I used to know a lady in Victoria. We shared plants. She had quite a few flowers.
I think it is more humid there than it is here. You guys don't get the constant wind do you?
It's pretty breezy, yes ma'am ... It's not always 30 mph, but I don't think we've had too many "still days" since I've moved over a year ago.
Angelsong,
A great start would be to check out the native plants on the threads in this directory: http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/528122/ . Natives are alreay hard-wired to handle our weather, and many are drought-tolerant, so don't need lots of watering. I would also check with your local extension office, they usually have lots of plant lists and other helpful flyers that give advice for what grows well in your specific area.
Let us know how it goes!
I'll check the link, but probably won't visit the extension office... I was posting here because I know people here have grown up in the south-TX area, or at least have lived here a while, and garden a lot. I was looking for first-hand experience - and I know a nearby county extension office has people in it that don't know squat about growing flowering plants. (They can't even keep track of their 4H clubs... not to mention daylilies! =)
You could consider the tree shrubs listed on another thread a little farther down the page on this forum, they perform just great in the heat and drought, and bloom all summer.
Josephine.