Hi Jennifer and welcome. Gardening with small boys ... should be fun. Mine finally got old enough to mow the lawn and that's a help.

I'm a big fan of using native plants, especially for wildlife. I am thrilled to have a big crop of viburnum berries this year, including berries on my Arrowwood viburnum for the very first time. Serviceberry is a smallish tree whose berries delight the birds every year. It also has nice spring blooms and the fall foliage can be nice.

It's not too late to pull out that English ivy ... easier now than later, that's for sure. It probably should be considered invasive in Memphis too. It has taken over most of the urban yards in Atlanta at one time or another. I'm lucky that I haven't inherited any. Now japanese honeysuckle ... that's a problem for me.

Do considering joining the Georgia Native Plant Society. GNPS has a great website, meetings every other month, an annual symposium and a metro area rescue program for areas being developed.

Here is a link that might be useful: Georgia Native Plant Society

You can grow many of the same plants you grew in Memphis. My friend owns a nursery in Oxford, MS - not far from Memphis, and we grow so many of the same plants however, I think we are easily (in some places, like Atlanta) have a zone warmer.

You will find many places that still sell ivy, and I do grow some, but the types I grow are small and have not been invasive. Planted very carefully (like in the confines of concrete on 4 sides) I think it can be useful. I have a pot of it that I ignore and it survives, however, it is in a cement container.

Welcome!

girlgroupgirl