Mar and Frenchkitty, have either of you visited the Purple Martin Conservation site? It's a great source of info. I'll link it below.

We used to have a Purple Martin house and for a few years had birds. The problem in our yard was too many trees (unfortunately that's now changed) which obstructed their flight path, and the never-ending battle with sparrows trying to nest in the house. Make sure you buy a house with a telescoping pole, so you can lower it regularly to clean out those unwanted competitors' nests. Also, the timing for opening the house can be tricky. Too early or too late and you won't have birds. At least not the ones you want.

Here is a link that might be useful: Purple Martin Conservation Association

Natal, thanks for the info on Purple Martins, I'll read up and see when to put up the house. looks like I might need to wait a bit! I posted to your other thread re: bamboo, I will be following that with interest! I think we could use some here if it isn't invasive and would tolerate the salt.
Frenchkitty... I am sending you an email.

Yes, Natal, thanks for the info!

Mar, I haven't been home long, but no email yet...

FK,
Call me slow-poke, but check again! I got bogged down with other stuff! :)
Mar

Helloo back. I'm in Chas., SC not gulf at all but grew up in NO, La and the climate is very similar. A wonderful hot-weather high-humidity rose here is called Noisette. It is a lovely old bush rose that blooms for me from Mar-Dec. It can get some black spot but I just ignore it and it keeps blooming.

What a great idea for a new forum! I am in Houston, not right on the coast but I have no doubt this will be a great resource none-the-less.

I look forward to checking back! Good to see you all!

I just noticed this new forum. I live in the country on 5 1/2 acres just north of Wiggins, MS, and I'm still cleaning up after Katrina! We used to live in the middle of a dense, mature forest, but after losing hundreds of big trees, things just don't look the same. I'm still picking up, cleaning up, and planting new trees and bushes. My husband and I are originally from Hattiesburg, but we lived in Gulfport from 1966-1996. The house we lived in in west Gulfport close to the beach when our children were little was damaged but we rebuilt it - it was so badly damaged from Katrina it's since been razed. So, at least we don't still live there!
I used to have a fenced in vegetable garden, but I've really gotten into butterfly gardening, so I don't even have tomatoes in there any more, just host and nectar plants for the butterflies. I'm also into planting native plants for wildlife, mostly berry making plants and such - I really enjoy the birds and other critters, too.
Hopefully we can exchange information!
Sherry

djco, roxy, and Sherry, hi! I for one am definitely going to need all the help I can get as I look over this barren wasteland of a yard! I love flowers, fruit trees, vegetable gardens, birds, butterflies, etc., and hate fire ants, stink bugs, mold, fungus...well, join the crowd, right? I think I am going to have to concentrate on one section at a time in my yard and pace myself so as not to get overwhelmed. But I would like to know what kinds of things are good for this area that others have had success with instead of too much trial and error.

Well, for starters, Frenchkitty, the trees that have stood up to hurricane winds on my property (or other peoples' property) are southern magnolia/magnolia grandiflora, live oaks/quercus virginiana, and, oddly, long-leaf pine. I had lots of real tall pines on my property, and after I read that the long-leaf pines fared better than other types I checked it out, and, sure enough, the long-leaf pines are just about all still standing, and the loblolly pines are almost all gone - I lost a lot of slash pines when I lived in Gulfport during hurricane Elena, so they're not good either. So those three trees would be a good start. I've also noticed that my southern red maples and tulip poplars stood up well, and they're both easy to grow and they grow fast!
If you don't mind caterpillars eating some of your plants, you could plant host plants for butterflies, like passionvines for gulf fritillaries, citrus or rue (an herb) or ptelea trifoliata or hercules club/zanthoxylum clava-hercules for giant swallowtails, swamp bay/persea borbonia for palamedes swallowtails (swamp bay stood up well in the hurricane, and it only makes a small tree), some wild black cherry trees for tiger swallowtails and red-spotted purples (WBC is also a good hurricane tree), and sassafras for spicebush swallowtails, another good hurricane tree. These trees also make fruit/seeds that birds love. Unfortunately, many of these trees aren't available in local nurseries, they have to be ordered from mail-order nurseries, or you have to start them yourself from seeds or cuttings from wild plants.
Pass Christian and Bay St. Louis were both so devastated by Katrina! I've got quite a few antiques in my house that I bought in those two towns - I loved them both!
Sherry

Sherry, yes I know. I live in the Pass, and I have things from both those towns, too.

I do have some wild black cherry trees, and most of our trees are water oaks, but they are tall and spindly mostly from there being so many so close together for the eons before we built here. Where do you usually shop for the plants you cannot find around here? And when you have butterfly host plants, do they pretty much stick to those plants and not eat up the others around them? I love roses too, and there is a nursery nearby that sells antique roses that do well here, but I emailed the owner, and she says since the storm, all her potted roses have sprouted so many weeds, and the landscape fabric now has some kind of funky fungus on it. Don't know if that would be an easy fix or not.

There are two mail-order nurseries that I really like - Pine Ridge Gardens in London, Arkansas, and Mail Order Natives in Lee, Florida. Their plants are reasonably priced - you can't believe how many shrubs and trees I bought from them last fall, grew in pots over the winter and summer and then planted this fall. And I've got still more that I ordered this past fall to plant next year!
I know which nursery you're talking about, Countryside Roses. I'm interested in antique roses myself, and, believe me, around here it's best to stick to the old tea and china roses. I've got the best of the many I've tried still growing in my garden - Mrs. B.R. Cant, Souvenir de la Malmaison, climbing, Marie VanHoutte, Lamarque, and General Gallieni. Modern hybrid teas all get blackspot so bad here that no amount of spraying will keep them thriving.
Butterflies are very host specific, unlike moths, which will eat a much wider variety of plants. They won't bother any plants other than the ones I mentioned.
Have you got all your fallen trees sawed up, picked up, and hauled off? It took us lots of money and back breaking work to get this property back in presentable condition, and I've still got some dead loblolly pines that died during the drought after the hurricane. They can just come down naturally, though, and I'll pick up the pieces.
The websites for the two nurseries are:
http://www.pineridgegardens.com
http://www.mailordernatives.com
There used to be, and maybe still is, a nursery somewhere north of the Pass that sold a lot of native plants - I can't remember the name of it. If it's still there, you might could get some good plants there.
Sherry

Hi coasters,

This forum is a great idea, especially since the Gulf Breeze forum (on a different server) shut down.

I'm also in Brazoria County, TX in Lake Jackson about 8 miles from the Gulf and 55 miles south of Houston. Moved here about 1-1/2 years ago and I love the heat and humidity! Me and my 'Goldfinger' bananas want this arctic front to go back to Minnesota where it belongs!

Since I have a typical suburban sized lot I concentrate on plants that flower most of the year and I love architectural foliage.

Garden on!
Monica

I am glad to find y'all!

I live in Jackson Co. on the Texas Coast, about half way between Galveston and Corpus Christi.

Lots of interesting subjects.

I have been a Master Gardener for the last 8 years, and am a Plant Propagation Specialist within the organization. They trained several of us for this, so we could go out and teach other MGs. Rooting stuff is one of my favorite things to do.

In that vein, plumeria is easy to root, provided you know one crucial fact about it. Most plants need to be kept moist while it is rooting, but not the plumeria. Cut it, let the end dry, (even for more than a day) and stick the end into rooting hormone powder. Then stick it into a hole made with a stick or pencil in moist medium. Medium can be peat/perlite, vermiculite, potting soil, or whatever you choose. The secret to rooting them is DO NOT WATER! They will rot and will not root.

Roses are just the opposite. You can't let them dry out, or they will die and will not root. LOL

This will be a fun forum.

Glad to meet you all!

Janie

Just found this forum tonight, and it looks like it's gonna be great! I live in Lafayette, and love to grow plants that love heat and humidity. They're not so happy right now! Moved here from Nebraska quite a few years ago, and having schools closed for tomorrow because of the cold is pretty funny (there they only closed when the country roads were under water, or I think maybe once or twice the few years we lived there for major blizzards. My son occasionally thought it wasn't entirely fair to have to go to school in a white-out. Of course, ice was such a normal part of life everyone knew how to handle it.) Glad to meet everyone!

I'm so glad to meet y'all, too!
Gardening is my big passion, and since the hurricane, I've had plenty of it to do! I'd love to help any of you that I can, and I'm sure y'all can offer me some tips.
Sherry

Pensacola, FL here, I am 5 miles inland from the Gulf. I lost 13 huge pines to Ivan, lots more direct sun now so I have one huge butterfly garden that wraps around my property.
Misssherry, oh my did it ever take forever to get these trees cut up and hauled off! I think it cost us 3,000 cash, minimum the trees were humongous, its a wonder nothing hit our house. After the stumps were ground down I threw plain topsoil on top of them and 2years later have some good dirt to play in. I have several pin oak that have hanging limbs, they can just fall down whenever, everytime I look at them I see dollar signs as in I am done with spending money on tree removal...I am glad to hear you recommend Mailorder Natives, I have looked at them but not ordered from them. I visited a butterfly preserve called Biophilia in Elberta, AL and bought some of my starter butterfly plants... learning to 'winter sow' has been quite helpful with getting enough plants going, the butterflies can be quite piggy and I like to have replacement plants started.
little dani, I just started propagating from cuttings, buddleia honeycomb and guinivere, I took them in August and they are now all potted up and thriving, wish I had the nerve to do this before I could have saved a lot of money!
Nice to meet you all ...Susan/giverny

I live outside of Corpus Christi in Aransas Pass. Just watching the Temps. Pretty cold. I am a Brungmansia/Angel Trumpet person. Have 1 acre to landscape. I do some trading and am now awaiting shipment of Plumeria out of Florida. I use mostly large containers for growing the soil is sand here. I am about 1.5 miles from the coast on the highest hill in the area.

Good to see this forum as the microclimate here is a lot different than the rest of the US. Lots of heat and humidity.

Jim

Howdy folks,

Just found this forum. I live in Houma, about 30 miles from open water, but just a few miles from swamp/marsh. We are about 5 miles South of Hwy 90. We didn't have much damage from Katrina (with North winds), but when Rita came (with South winds) and broke the other half of the tree roots, we lost a few fruit trees and have a bunch that are now crooked. We lost a few Hackberry trees, which we count as no loss, just a pain to cut up and remove. We only had roof damage from Rita and now have a new roof. We stayed home for Rita as it was further from us than Katrina, but I got scared. I am interested in some unusual fruit trees/bushes/vines. I tried growing some Cherry of the Rio Grande and Strawberry Guava, but I think between the goats and the frosts I may have lost them. I am hoping they come back. I am hoping to continue planting a few types of fruit every year until the yard (5+ acres) is full. I am looking for a good blackberry/loganberry/boysenberry to plant this Spring. I planted a Conadria fig and a Fuyu persimmon already this year. I enjoy reading everyone's posts, but don't usually post much myself.

Susan, I've been to Biophilia in Elberta, too, and I know Carol, the owner, from the Butterfly Forum - she carries a lot of good butterfly host and nectar plants.
I lost hundreds of huge trees. We had 5 or 6 big ones on our house, but fortunately, we only had minimum damage to just one corner, which has long since been repaired. We have a metal roof, and there are indentions in the overhang where trees were leaning up against it - I was going to take a hammer and try to put them back in place, but I decided to leave them, so that if anybody wants to know where the trees fell, I can show them easily!
MissSherry

Jessie told us about this forum.
I'm in Galveston. Nice we finally have a forum where we can talk about the frustrations of gardening on the coast. Things we can't explain to those further inland, like salt spray and periodic flooding with salt water or hurricanes.
Ya'll stay warm, it's supposed to be back into the upper 50's here by the weekend. I'm dragging out the plants I dragged in earlier tomorrow. The stuff outside actually doesn't look all that bad, a few of the angels are beat up but looking better, still blooming!
Tally HO!

I followed the same path as Beachplant from the Texas forum into here. I'm half way between Houston and Galveston. Primarily I grow fig trees, pomegranates, 2 peaches and weeds (the naturally occurring kind, not the smoking kind). I am now growing my trees in containers. I've discovered rootknot nematodes on two of my in-ground trees. I have read we are more susceptible to them due to warm, muggy climate.

~james

Found this yesterday and have finally mustered the courage to post. Luv this idea! We've needed our own "neighborhood" on the net for ages.

We now live on the Eastern Shore of Mobile Bay, but for nearly twenty years, we lived on a river not far from Foley/Elberta. Ivan and Katrina (plus a few preceding hurricanes) changed life for us, too. We sold and moved to higher ground within weeks of Katrina, but we still miss the joy of gardening by the river.

When we first moved beside the water, we loaded our property with date palms, sagos, cannas, callas, pampas grass, gardenias, azaleas, crepe myrtles, camellias, roses, blue sky vine, ivies, Mexican petunia, Mexican heather, English dogwood, lily of the Nile, you name it. All were quite successful. We were pleased as punch with the ease of gardening by the riverside.

At first we weren't real fond of the cypress trees, but we tolerated them. Then one year when we got a late start on yard work, we noticed some birds eating something among some weeds beneath the cypress. Those weeds turned out to be natives that we've never been able to identify.

We were hooked and began to "allow" the yard to give birth to its native species. The more exotics we subtracted, the more natives we gained.

Cannas gave way to golden club, hurricane lilies, cardinal flowers, joe pye weed and many more. Native azaleas and mallows rallied. With controlled burns, waterside lawn converted to yellow eyed grass, sundews and pitcher plants. Blue sky vine was replaced by groundnut vine (apios americana---can't say enough about the beauty), trumpet vine, sweet autumn clematis, etc. Gardenias and camellias were succeeded by oakleaf hydrangea, native tulip trees, dogwoods, dahoon hollies, titis, magnolias, bays, etc. Oh, the hornbeams...luv'd 'em! All of the above were volunteers. Didn't have to purchase a thing. Bird and animal life flourished. Except for the beavers, we absolutely loved it! That's not to say it's for everyone.

If you're new to living by the water, take your time and decide which way you want to go. If you do decide to go with bulkheads, manicured lawns and exotic flowers, please, please, don't introduce overly zealous invasives like rice paper plants and most bamboos.

Also, even if you don't think you'll ever flood, put your veggies, herbs and fruit trees in window boxes or planters so they can be moved before high water or floods. Once they are contaminated by flood waters, they can't be consumed. If the soil has ever been under flood water, it's best to consider it unfit for food production (think contaminated lettuce in California).

Now that I've talked too much, better add that we can't get a dad gum thing to grow well in our new yard, but we're not yet ready to admit defeat. Need major advice on what to do to this potter's clay soil. It's not red clay. This stuff is white and can be sculpted into Robert E. Lee's likeness!

Sorry I've prattled on, but wanted to give some food for thought plus get some advice, too. Thanks for any help you can give.

Have a good one!
Gin

Hi from Pensacola -- It's great that there is a forum for the gulf coast. I usually spend time reading from lots of forums (Florida, Alabama, Miss/LA, Texas) to get things that relate to how we live here. Even after Ivan, I still love living on the gulf coast.

JR

Yay! I'm in Dickinson, between Houston and Galveston, in a very suburban neighborhood. Just moved here from the Midwest a few months ago and I feel like a babe in the woods! LOL!
I know nothing about the growing season here and only slightly more about tropicals.
I'll try not to be a pest, but spring time is coming and I already have an itch to plant. I just don't know what! :)

Hi! I'm from Jay, FL about 30 miles north of Pensacola. We have the same heat and humidity, but a little colder in the winter (zone 8b). I think just about everyone along the gulf coast are facing new gardening challenges, as we've all lost a lot of shade trees either during a hurricane or for fear of another one. My once shady yard now has little to no shade and I'm being very cautious about what I replace them with. I don't believe long leaf pines are the answer. In our area there were many areas where whole forests of long leaf pines were snapped in two. Where I work at NAS Whiting Field, about half of the long leaf pines that were left standing are now dead two years after the hurricane most likely due to beetles infesting the damaged bark. Live oaks fared well, but it takes at least 30 years to start producing any shade. I've come to the conclusion that the best answer is plant whatever you like, just make sure it's not going to grow up to be within reach of the house. So I'm planning to plant trees that don't exceed 30' or so in height such as redbuds, dogwoods, crepe myrtles, Japanese maples, etc. We've already spent over $11,000 in clean-up, mostly borrowed money and still have 4 stumps in the yard that need to be ground, so I need to get that done first I guess. Anyway, since I have plenty of sun now, I'm trying a few roses. Have been very, very pleased with Knockout. In 1-1/2 years it's grown 3 foot tall and wide, stays bushy and green all winter, no blackspot, blooms off and on through the winter (has rose buds right now). I like it so well, that I'm seriously considering pulling up my Bonica's which tend to get leggy and replacing them with Knockouts. I rooted cuttings of three Austin roses last spring and was well pleased with The Prince and Heritage. As for bogs/marshes, I agree with Gin from Mobile. Lot's of things will grow there, but to be a good steward of the land, I think natives are the way to go. Because things grow so fast in wet areas, the exotics would soon take over and choke out the natives. I have a small goldfish pond in my backyard that I have some exotics in. But I don't plan to put anything but natives in our new larger 1/4 acre pond that is down near the creek and swamp on our property. Being near a creek on a rural property that the county didn't spray (until West Nile Virus became a problem), we used to be overrun with mosquitoes. We found the best natural control to be a goldfish pond without moving water. The mosquitoes like to lay their eggs in still water. When they hatched, the fish ate the larvae. I don't that would help much with deer flies & no-see-ums. Luckily we don't have them this far inland. Gin, we have the same kind of clay as you on parts of our property and it tends to hold water during rainy weather. That's why we decided to put in the pond and redirect the water flow toward it. It seems to be very acidic too, lots of gallberries, blueberries, sweet gums, native red maples, ti-ti, and bay trees growing in those areas.

Gin, about 15 or so years ago, when my husband and I were staying at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, I bought a butter dish from a potter who had a store in the hotel - I'm still using it! They said the clay was local, probably some of the same clay you're talking about.
You mentioned hornbeams. Hornbeams don't grow naturally on my property, so I ordered two of them from Mail Order Natives and potted them up - I'll probably plant them next fall. The scientific name of the type I got is carpinus caroliniana, and it has a lot of common names - musclewood, ironwood, hornbeam, and blue beech. There's a type tree called hophornbeam - it's scientific name is ostrya virginiana. Do you know which type you've got? I'm anxious to see how quickly mine grow.
Sherry

Alex9179, you could be growing stuff right now! We have a full garden, picking broccoli, cabbages, cauliflower, lettuce, greens, onions, and peas. Also, calendulas, roses, and sweet peas blooming out there. And hardy herbs are happy- borage, dill, fennel, rosemary, sage, thyme, mint, Mexican mint marigold, comfry, and cilantro. And my hollyhocks are growing like weeds!

I am not far south of you, and we garden 12 months out of the year. I hate this weather, hate cold, hate cold and wet more. LOL

Gin, if you have a cotton gin around where you live, that trash from the cotton is wonderful compost to mix in with that clay. The clay is usually very fertile, it just doesn't have much air in it, and you are going to have to add a lot of amendments to your soil. We have black clay here. Black Gumbo, it is called, and it will grow just about anything. On the alkaline side tho, so I have learned not to covet azaleas.

Good Luck!

Janie

You can google for Antique Rose Emporium, they do a right big mail order business on roses and other plants. They have the old roses, antique varieties, and those that have the antique characteristics. they have a real nice catalogue, too. Ask them to send you one.

Janie

Hello! I'm Jim, in Alvin Tx., 35miles south of Houston and 17 miles from the coast, in the coastal prairie. I'm a perennial gardener. Don't do many tropicals and don't do vegetables. I just don't have room to do everything right, on a city lot. My gardens will be two years old in May, and are beginning to get full and lush. I really enjoy propagation and have just finished building a cold frame, and am building a mist table now, for starting cuttings. Until now I've been starting them on the ground, in flats, under a red oak tree.

Alex--I have lots of plants that I can share with you. Send me an e-mail. You should also come to the Galveston Co. Plant Swap in May. Doesn't matter if you don't have plants to trade. I promise you'll leave with a ton of plants.
Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Galveston Co. Plant Swap

Dani and Jim, I just got goose bumps at the thought of starting my garden! :) I should probably let the soil get somewhat close to non-soggy, though.

The previous owners have a couple of areas on the south side (front) of the house with plantings. I have a nice sized agave with some babies. A sago palm planted close to the drive and garage (don't those get really big?). Some elephant ears, cannas, and a couple of spiky plants I don't care for...they're mean! I'd like to fill that bed in more.
Another bed has tapioca plants, red hibiscus, and some kind of amaranthus, I think.
I also have what I've termed "palm island". 4 of them bunched up in the middle of a circle bed.

My backyard is on the north side, but the fence line seems to get a fair amount of sun. That's where our view is from inside the home and I'd like to start some beds with sturdy plants. We have 3 dogs, two of which are quite large and don't give a whit about the time and effort I put into my garden.

I'm grateful for any help you can offer! Thank you!

Hi everyone,

I live in Panama City Florida. I am a native..born and raised here in Panama City. My husband and I have just had our house built on the 3 acres we own, been in it a year. I grow over 200 roses so far...almost all of them are antique roses with some David Austin roses thrown in for good measure. I have a "pot ghetto" of perhaps 20 pots that I need to get in the ground. I love to root roses, it is easy when you root the antiques. For some reason they just root easy.

Our daughter is over in Pensacola going to the University of West Florida. She loves Pensacola, says there is more to do there than here in Panama City. We go up there a lot to see her...she is in her 3rd year as a Bio-Chemistry major.

Deb

When I was first here I met a man who was an expert on trees. I told him we had a large lot with no trees and I was wondering what to plant to get some shade--there were half a dozen live oaks about five or six feet tall (which I knew were ridiculous on a city lot even if it is a large one) but I did think I might like to keep one. Just wondered if I would be able to enjoy it in this lifetime! He said that while live oaks are very long-lived and are considered slow-growing, they really aren't for the first twenty-five or thirty years, especially if you give them a little attention like mulching and maybe water in a dry spell. I left the one oak that was in a line between the morning sun and our glass patio door. First couple years when you'd come out in the morning it would be major heat pouring through that door. I don't think it took more than three or four years before it was helping with that, and now we're completely shaded from the morning sun. Planted another tree that came highly recommended out front which is cutting the afternoon heat. It's a chinese fringe tree--Chionanthus retusus--and it's shaped rather like a live oak but much smaller, much wider than tall. Has masses of fringy white fragrant flowers in the spring that actually stop traffic (and they can't even smell it!) and large numbers of small blue berries in the fall that the birds really love. Can't recommend it too highly! We are far enough from the coast that we didn't get much damage from either Katrina or Rita, but Lili did quite a bit--lost my southern crabapple--Malus angustina I think--that you'd think would make it. Lost the top third of my spruce pine--Pinus glauca--that I dearly loved, and it died after a few years.

I know what you mean, Greenelbows, about live oaks growing quickly when they're young - they do! I planted two of them in open, well drained parts of my woods. And no tree, except maybe magnolia grandiflora, does better in a hurricane - spreading out wide instead of growing tall and top heavy keeps them from coming over on their own weight.
I've never tried Chinese fringe tree, but I've got several American fringe trees - mine sure are growing slowly, though.
Sorry about your crabapple - I lost several of them, too, but they're coming back up from the roots. I've tagged several to regrow.
And I'm also sorry about your spruce pine! There are several beautiful ones in this area, but they either got topped off by the hurricane or died shortly after, so I've taken them off my list.
Sherry

Alex, yeah sagos get huge. Most homeowners don't take that into consideration when they plop a small one down next to a sidewalk or front porch. I don't quite understand their allure myself. They look okay from a distance, but bump into one and Ouch!

Greenelbows, Chinese fringe tree is on my list. Great to hear that it grows so fast. My battle is the afternoon sun.

Ocean Springs, MS, here. Moved down (from North Alabama) about 2.5 years ago. Haven't had a lot of time for gardening because of the aftereffects of Ivan and Katrina, but I'm looking forward to this spring. Roses are my favorites (brought my pot ghetto with me) but I want to try some of the things I couldn't grow in Alabama next. Nice meeting you all.

Mark

About the 'native' fringe tree, which I dearly love (my mother had a gardening friend with a large one which she let mother cut to fill the church for my wedding!) Bill Fontenot, a native plant and southern gardening expert, says they are really native farther north than we are, and as such they are short-lived. Seems like he said ten years is about average, tho' mine is older than that. I planted mine several years before the chinese variety, and the chinese one was quite small (one gallon size) but started blooming sooner. It's still out there about 25 years later, but certainly isn't nearly as impressive. Apparently the chinese one has both male and female flowers, as it berries without any others near-by, but the native one has to have both male and female. I think the male is supposed to be showier and mine must be female--it's not nearly as showy as the one a friend of mine across town had. I thought the chinese one would have a similar profile--wrong!--and they're planted too close together, so maybe it's the shade.

I know Bill Fontenot, well not really. I know of him and met him briefly when I bought a couple plants from him at the St. Francisville Hummingbird Festival a few years ago. I'd love to make a trip to his nursery some day.

I've heard the same male/female info regarding swamp red maples. That's more good news on the Chinese Fringe. Did you have any trouble finding one?

Hi everyone! I live in the little town of Atmore,AL which is about 50 miles north of Pensacola,FL. I have become somewhat of a gardening fanatic over the last five years. I live on property that has been in my family for three generations and I have lots of very old camellias and azaleas that were planted by my great grandmother. I mostly have an interest in growing native plants. I was impacted heavily by hurricane Ivan and Dennis, and had lots of old pecan trees that were broken apart and had to be cut down. I planted about ten longleaf pines last year. I have been learning so much about this tree and the ecosystem that it evolved in. I will post a link to a website that I have found very helpful. I also planted some hybrid American chestnut trees, I can't wait for spring to see how they're gonna grow. I'm thinking of experimenting with some day lilies this year. I have never been much of a flower person but I'd like to give it a try. I'm so glad I found this forum, I'm sure I will visit it often.

Here is a link that might be useful: LongleafAlliance

Let's see if I can remember everything--need to go to bed! I got my fringe tree from Durio's Louisiana Nursery in Opelousas. They have a website--in fact I think they do more business mailorder than in person. At least in this area I think they may be a little more available now. Seems they're hard to propagate--don't grow from cuttings and you can't just plant seeds. However--when they pass through a bird's system they grow great! Had a friend who soaked them in acid--hydrochloric I think--and every seed germinated. Bill Fontenot said there is a lot of variation in seed-grown plants, tho', so it's probably best to see them in person instead of trying to grow them from seed yourself. If you want to visit his nursery it's best to call ahead. The nursery is more hobby than business and he has a day job as curator of the Natural History Museum. I think his wife is usually there days, and he's usually there week-ends, but not always. Good people!

Hello... I'm in Ocean Springs MS now but moving soon to Vancleave. The Vancleave land has scores of small live oaks that I am clearing the pines away from. My only big trees are down in the wetlands, with the remainder of the land a clean slate of sorts. Thankfully live oaks grow fast when watered. I will be planting lots of dawn redwoods, white oaks, magnolias, bald cypress, dogwoods, redbuds and something different: English oaks. Curious as to how they'll do. Nice to meet all of you! Terry

Nice to meet you too, Terry! Let us know how the English oaks do. I would think something English might not like our 'beloved' heat and humidity, but plants don't read the books, I've noticed. Never can tell without trying (but I'm getting a little discouraged about trying things that aren't rated for here!)
Nancy

HI Everybody!! SO happy to see this forum. I hope to learn a lot from everyone. I'm in LA on the Northshore, so not as close to the coast but close enough.

I have some input on hurricane protection plantings. We live in a 100+ year old house and whoever planned the plantings here really knew what they were doing. Along both sides of our house we have Camellia trees and all over the yard are Live Oaks and Pecan trees. When Katrina came through we only lost one Live Oak and it was leaning a little already from a tropical storm. Luckily the lean was towards the woods! Anyway our house had very little damage while most homes in the area had a lot of damage. I really think the camellias helped keep much of the debris from hitting our house (they were rather beat up afterwards). After Katrina I am anti-pine tree. We saw too many of them snapped in half afterwards.

I'm mostly a bulb and vegetable gardener myself but haven't been doing either for very long.

Hello from New Iberia. Cool topic and it is good to know you all. Cel and I moved from here from Gonzales 5 years ago, and shortly afterwards we bought our current 3 acre property we named New Dawn, which it did represent for us. Four years later I am still doing foundation plantings in lots of places. A few beds are starting to look complete. 3 acres is big and budgets are small. Maybe in 10 years,,,

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden, etc.

Mobile here. We are getting ready for the Azalea's. What a site to see, We are not called the Azalea city for nothing. Yall come see us and bring your camera. Our old Oaks and Azalea mix on the down town streets or a must. Hope you all have a great Spring.

Hi everyone! I'm in San Leon, Tx.Thats Galveston County. Between Kemah and Texas City.Right down the hwy from alex9179.So glad to see this new forum. Sure hope it picks up as spring gets closer. Gladys

I just found this forum by searching for +alabama +gulf +butterflies +"host plants". I even noticed some old friends here! My husband and I are restoring native ecosystems to 20 acres in Elberta, Alabama, just 7 miles west of Pensacola, Florida. We have a Grady wetlands that's part Black Gum Swamp and part Maidencane. On the uplands we've planted Longleaf Pines, and many other pines and hardwoods. But my passion is for the smaller plants from butterfly host plants to carnivorous plants. Actually, I even love the inconspicuous tiny grasses and "weeds" that are native here. I love to learn what's edible or useful, e.g. wild onions in my salad, violets on my cupcakes, and I make baskets from pine needles. I enjoyed reading about y'all!
Carol Biophilia

Mobile here. I know I'm a late-comer, LOL. I didn't know the Gulf Breeze Gardening forum shut down until now and noticed that this forum got established as a replacement, sorta.

I'm into palms and tropical/tropical-like plants. I love natives, too, and I try to mix the two. I'm so pleased with some of the posts of people being passionate about our natives and even replacing entire gardens of exotics with NATIVES. I must add that we have four native palms to play with: saw palmetto (Serenoa repens), bluestem palmetto (Sabal minor), needle palm (Rhapidophyllum hystrix), and cabbage palm (Sabal palmetto).

Hi all , recognise some names from the La, Ms, forum.I live on the coast Of Louisiana and have been a flood victim of hurricanes 4 times.

Hi All!

80 miles from Houston here.

I just spent 2 weeks RVing down I-10 to Florida.

I got some great ideas on plantings while tootling around. I am crazy for Palms and Tropicals.

Gayle

I live about 30 miles north of houston. I have a big interest in antique garden roses,brugmansia,gingers,epiphyllum. I ran across this forum and was really happy to have people close to where I live I could discuss plant problems with or just exchange plants with. I am a newbie here so hope to post more as I learn my way around. Also noted a post about a plant swap--it has passed but the post said something about one in the fall also? take care all.