Hey, everybody! Vicki will soon be moving to Magnolia Springs, according to her post on another forum. I told her to get over here for a real welcome!

Vicki, you will soon learn that Alabama is a very 'tall' state and encompasses many different types of climate and soil conditions. Your new location is in a deep southern part of Alabama. I, on the other hand, live in the northern part of the state, very near the Tennessee border. My soil is hard, red clay. If you were to move to this part of Alabama, you would not be in store for many changes. and it's not about the soil but the climate. The climate of the deep South is absolutely nothing like that of a St. Louis summer.

You will be able to have your kitchen garden, but you'll need to learn about the timing of planting. Many of the garden plants you're used to will require planting in the fall or winter for you to be able to enjoy them at all. You'll soon learn about cool season veggies, especially if you explore the Alabama extension website. (I'll attach a link.)

The sand will really not be much of an issue, just make sure that you keep it well mulched at all times. Of course, the amendment of your entire planting beds will be a good thing. You can grow almost anything in sandy soil as long as you keep the soil watered and mulched. Hopefully, you won't be moving to an area of that blue/gray gumbo clay that can be found in some coastal regions. A call to your local extension office will help you discover if salt water intrusion is a problem for gardeners.

As far as other plants go, you will need to learn which of the plants you simply cannot have in this climate. It usually be not because it gets hot and humid 6 or 7 months out of the year, but because it doesn't get cold enough in the winter. People don't plant blue spruce or towering sugar maples because they don't like those plants, but because they can't go them there. No Rhododendron and Mountain Laurel (though there are plenty of southern azaleas to take their place), no fragrant lilac or Philadelphus. You'll soon learn that planting drifts of tulips is a waste of time and money.

BUT! My goodness, you will have a huge variety of other options available to you, plants that can thrive in the very long hot season and don't require a long, cold dormant season. I vividly remember my big move to the deep south (coastal SC) many years ago. It was difficult at first...I mean having to run the AC during Thanksgiving, really! But I fell in love with the people and climate, and hopefully you will, too.

I've attached a link that will take you straight to the ACES (Alabama Cooperative Extension Service) link for Baldwin County.

Here is a link that might be useful: Let's go exploring

I live very near rhizo, I think, and I don't have red clay, but a silt loam. There are a lot of different conditions here, so you may not have sandy soil where you settle.

You'll have new challenges, but you'll also get to plant things you couldn't in zone 6 and if you grow edibles fall/winter/spring is wonderful for gardening here.

If you have some treasured plants you'd like to bring clippings of, if you list them maybe people down south AL can chime in if they grow well for them?

Oh thank you so much for responding. So if I understand right, vegies are grown every season except summer. It looks like from zone maps that the crops start a month earlier then St Louis. Are insects a big problem for gardening in the deep south? Our 2 sons live on Ft Morgan island and the only bugs Iv'e experienced are the ones munching on me! I am excited about being able to grow different things and annuals growing longer. Does anyone know if trees and shrubs grown in deep south show fall color?
Thanks for your patience,
Folks from the south truly are friendly.
Vicki

Your assumption about growing veggies in the summer is not correct. Certain KINDS of vegetables will do fine, for the most part. Again, it's all about making a list of what you want to grow and then looking up the planting dates in your location.

I don't happen to think that insects are any more of a problem in the South than anywhere else. They may have a longer season, though, and some (like aphids, just for example) can be active all year round. But the beneficials are just as active.

You'll need to educate yourself about fire ants, of course. But even they can be managed.

Fall color can be a bit illusive but there are plants that supply that requirement. Just remember that most of the plants in the urban and native landscape are probably going to be evergreen (broad leaf). Your environment will go from green to....green. ;-)

I live in the Dothan area. Oh my gosh you are so going to enjoy gardening here. For one thing that more sandy soil is way easier to dig in than some soils. I don'T do much vege gardening but many friends do. All the plants in my yard bloom....my husband insists on this and I SO love him for that!

Herbs do well. If you want lavender, I understand the only one that will be happy is Spanish lavender, Tropical plants do really well. Peonies is one of those plants that won't bloom here because of the lack of cold. I do grow tulips. But there are few kinds that will repeat bloom.

I do not understand the comment about evergreen plants, tho I think you are referring to autumn color. There are some that will change. Certainly not nearly as many as further north. More folks down here are now planting Japanese maples and so you get color from those. There''s a tree called pistache that changes colors and is very pretty. Ask for recommendations at a local nursery after you move. One thing that you will love is that you can have something in flower year round. So although you won't get tree leaf colors, you can have plenty of blooming flowers in the
fall.
Dell

Tropicals that do well are bananas, gingers, salvias, big leaf magnolia, palms, figs, hibiscus, coleus, amaryllis, and angels trumpets.

Dell, I was reminding 'kept' that, in his/her new location, most of the plants will be broad leaf evergrees, such as azaleas, hollies, magnolias, palmettos, fatsia, cleyera, rapheolepis, jessamine, Trachelospermum, and a HOST of others. There are some terrific plants that offer flashes of fall color, however, and they are worthy of adding to a sub-tropical landscape.

Plants that offer fall color will be deciduous.

Vicki;

The Gulf Coast is semi-subtropical. We never have an issue with frozen ground but just enough frost that the bananas and some citrus are not happy here. We are also too warm for apples, peaches, some pears, aspens, tuplips, etc.

Bill Finch, the garden editor of Mobile Press-Register and head of Mobile Botanical Gardens is an expert on what will grow in the Mobile Bay area. You should try contacting him if you get a chance.

South Baldwin County has a large amount of commercial farms so you will be in a great area. They grow a lot of tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, blueberries, strawberries, muscadines, onion, peppers, greens, beans, cucumbers, and watermelons.

When do you think you will be here?

Thanks everyone for your responses. I'm feeling a lot more confident that I can have a beautiful garden in the deep south. It will be 3 years at best before we will be moving south. Many things have to happen first but when discussing the move with my husband the first thing I thought of was missing my St Louis garden. It is a comfort to know that I will be able to grow many things down there. I will be planning for the next three years and figuring out what communities look the most green.
Thanks again,
Vicki

If you ever want to know for sure how nice coastal gardening can be, Google Bellingrath Gardens. It's located on the west side of Mobile Bay at almost the same latitude as Magnolia Springs.

Oh yes was there about 10 years ago! I don't remember the exact names of plants but remember thinking it was so beautiful there! Thanks again Calhoun. You have been very supportive.
Vicki

Vicki I understand what you mean about leaving your garden so very well. Literally walked around crying as I said goodbye to the garden at our old house. But then I discovered something....a new location means all the fun of a new garden and the chance to correct old mistakes and discover new plants and apply the knowledge you have gained the hard way over time. You are just going to do love having something blooming all year long.
Dell