Transplanted Floridian

16 years ago

I'm originally from Florida but currently reside in North Texas.

My husband and I bought our first home last year and I am really looking forward to creating a garden to enjoy. I have been doing a lot of reading and learning about gardening in North Texas and I finally feel like I will be ready to redo my front bed in the fall. I've been doing a little bit of planting and experimenting but I am a long way away from being happy about it!

As I have been researching what kind of plants, shrubs and trees to put in the front bed it occured to me that I keep getting drawn to "florida" looking ferns, palms and big tropical looking leaves.

I discovered, after finding a holly fern that will be hardy to my area, that I found my garden theme. Since I miss Florida so much I want to try to bring a little bit of it to my home here in Texas.

So, if you all don't mind, I'm going to hang out here on your forum from time to time to see what's going on in your gardens. Maybe from time to time I'll find a plant that will survive in our unpredictable weather.

Nice to be here:-)

Rebecca

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (13)

katkin_gw
16 years ago
Well, Hi there and nice to hear from you. We all love to garden here and love to 'enable' others to catch our addition. :o) So you are always welcome.
goldenpond
16 years ago
I was just thinking about gardeners and moving.
Isnt it funny that many X northerners yearn for lilacs and tulips and with all the wonderful things we southerners CAN grow they STILL want their lilacs. I think it is great to create memory gardens and themes with fill ins for things we cannot grow.
Personally,I want it all!
I hope you enjoy recreating the Flora and Fauna from the sunshine state but stay open minded about the rich wonders that your new home state will provide you with.I hear the butterflies in Texas are to die for!!!!
Related Discussions
General Info on Eastern Redbud seedlings
Q
Comments (9)
there are a couple types of rebud ... and w/o a proper ID ... it is hard to give any specific info on its future performance ... second.. trees.. in general .. like a very high draining media in the pot ... and almost any bagged media is going to be too high in peat to favor the tree ... if you are limited to buying media... you should look into a cactus mix ... otherwise .. many peeps here like al's mix.. which is homemade.. perhaps someone has a link to that ... up here in MI ... Cercis canadensis .. the eastern redbud.. seeds wildly .. onto my wood mulch.. which is on top of mineral sand ... and which is usually about as dry as dry can get ... and i get hundreds of seedlings per year ... with no watering beyond what nature supplies... which leads me to the conclusion that ERedbud.. does not mind being dry ... which i tell you.. so you dont drown them in your pots ... and if you stop drowning them [not that you are, just meaning excessive watering] .. then you might not need much fertilizer ... but if they are off color.. so be it ... isnt redbud near native in NY .. the thought that you need to carry it from FL to NY.. cracks me up .. regardless.. live your dream ... good luck ken Here is a link that might be useful: link
...See More
'Trumpet' Vines?
Q
Comments (9)
welcome to NC! ok- as far as the honeysuckles the one you want to avoid is the japanese one, lonicera japonica. you can plant coral honeysuckle which is vigorous, but not invasive, and unfortunately not fragrant. it's lonicera sempervirens. it's a gorgeous coral red with yellowy throats that the hummers adore, and blooms heavily in spring then on & off all summer through fall. there are some yellow flowered cultivars of it. there are some other honeysuckles and i'm sorry i can't recall the names, that look a bit more like the jap kind, but are flushed with pink and gold and behave well and have fragrance that the hummers enjoy. campsis radicans, trumpet vine-aka cow itch-aka trumpet creeper is a native vine, but it is pretty invasive. i have it on my prop and let it grow up into one tree for the hummers, but keep the rest mowed off at the ground. it's like maypop- it comes up far and wide form the original from underground runners. cross vine- bignonia capreolata, is semi-well behaved. it's a native, too- and it's everywhere for me, and hard to eradicate where you don't want. it likes to climb high and flower- it flowers at about 40-60' in my trees. i think the improved versions like tangerine may flower more profusely for you than the straight species. hummers love both cross and trumpet vine, and i have both growing up big trees and flowering very successfully. they also like carolina jessamine, another native that can get a bit unruly. it's yellow, unlike the others, and so it could offer some contrast. another thing you may not have considered for hummers, is coral bells, heuchera species (look for the ones with red or pink bells- so many now have smaller dingy white flowers). and most of the salvias are magnets, too, even the blue ones like guaranitica. they like annuals like petunias, morning glories and million bells, too. more uncommon vines like manettia and mina lobata tickle them for later in the year. all that said, i'd be cautious about planning to plant too much this year though, with the drought. the likelihood of it continuing is too great, and water too scare to water much. if you are going to plant, do it soon while the earth is still moist and the things can get well established before it gets too dry. even with that, there's a good chance you'll lose much of what you plant now. i think i'd be content to get 2 or 3 feeders and hang those to draw in the hummers this year. best of luck with your gardens!
...See More
coconut temptation
Q
Comments (12)
Hey there, thanks for the replies! Gary, I'm part of the "Gilligan's Island" kid generation; I grew up wanting to have coconut palms years before I ever cared anything for gardening. I know coconuts are big, messy, and fussy about the cold. They're also unmatched for that quintessential tropical look and feeling! To be sure, I do want more and different palms at my place, though. This is exactly why I bought a home on a triple lot -- with virtually nothing planted there except grass! What other palms do you favor, Gary? So far I have two cold-hardy chamaedoreas (in pots, waiting to go into the ground until I can get some shade grown up). I have some ptychosperma elegans, and want some macarthuriis unless someone can steer me toward an even better clustering palm with that "bamboo look" for half- to full-day sun. I have some veitchias, young ones but they're doing great. I have two flamethrower palms, one of which is still too small to plant out. My licuala grandis are NOT going out into the landscape! I'm planning to ditch my 2 ancient queen palms, one of which is almost rotted in half thanks to wounds from Hurricane Charley. And I plan to ditch the Christmas palm trio out front -- big, pretty trees, but the 2 winters I've had here put more burn on 'em than I'm willing to tolerate. (Happy to trade these to a palmsman!) I want to ring my circular drive with Royals. I've found someone in Loxahatchee with ribbon palms, something I've never seen before but really love, which I'd like to put down the property line. I hear they're completely cold-hardy here. I'd love some more ideas for palms. My Archontophoenix Cunninghamias are burning badly in the full sun, even after a year. I just added a young cecropia nearby to try to cast some shade their way in the next year or so. And my foxtails are Normanbyi, which doesn't seem to be so vigorous here as Wodyetia ... sigh. Lzddr, that is great advice on the condition of the palm rootballs! I feel much less fearful of acquiring these coconuts now. Makes sense that they might move with much less shock than something purely field-grown/not containerized. I know this is a long post/reply, but I'm very fired up about my yard this spring, and about the early warm weather that has stayed. I've got visitors coming in April for the first time since I moved here, and want to make a big impression when they arrive. So thanks again guys!!
...See More
Where to find cold hard palms
Q
Comments (10)
Yep, There are plenty of palm growers in Tennessee. In fact some of the folks on this forum are the ones that got me interested in originally trying to grow palms. So far its been pretty succesful. Nashvillejon, Deltatropicsguy, Mountain grown(Rob), and Buckn21 are all avid palm growers in Tennessee but havent seen them around on the forum for a while now. While looking at the latest catalogue from Plant Delights Nursery this winter I came across a palm that they were offering that was listed as a Trachycarpus 'tennessee form'. They gave credit for the seeds that they used to start these palms with to Will Taylor of Athens Tn. Will, I believe, is Buckn21 on the GW forums. Thought that was pretty cool. One of the places that I got most of my big palms from was a guy in Texas(no website) that was recommended to me by another palm grower in Arkansas. We also make a trip down to Myrtle Beach almost every year for a Daylily hybridizers meeting and we'll swing by True Blue Nursery just south of there. Plant Delights also has several palms that they offer Doug Here is a link that might be useful: Plant Delights Nursery
...See More
mistiaggie
16 years ago
Hey, where in N Texas? I'm from North Richland Hills and my parents are still there. In fact, going home in a few weeks for a visit. My dad grows banana tree's and has for 30 years. Some of the wetter and hotter summmer's we've had fruit. My mom is now getting into orchid's and keeps them outside in the summer and brings them into the bathroom where there is a skylight in winter.

Anyway, hope you enjoy Texas! :)
rebecca150
Original Author
16 years ago
Mistiaggie, we live in the Denton/Frisco area. Lots of new developments are going up in the region.

Goldenpond, the butterflies up here are quite impressive. Our back yard has butterflies in it everyday. They just flock to the buddleias and lantanas I have planted for them and they have even taken a liking to the cucumbers and cantaloupes.

I don't mean I want to re-create Florida in my yard. I believe that a garden should not only be a reflection of its owner, but it should be a reflection of the region as well. I plan to plant some texas natives. But I also want to reflect the love I have for florida plants too. I can just see it now, a texas redbud tree, a sabal minor, a black eyed susan, a dwarf banana plant and some rose campion. All together. An unlikely combination of texas, florida and cottage gardening!

Coleus does quite well here but it does die back in winter. I'm not sure if the roots stay hardy through the winter, that's one thing I have to test out, with rooted cuttings as back ups of course! I believe I saw a picture of all the coleus that Marcia(?) has and I was impressed with all the different types. They treat coleus like a bedding plant here and I haven't seen many varieties. I'd like to do a variety of coleus and mother in law tounges combined with texas succulents with containers of native rocks that have been dug out of my yard. See, I'm full of ideas now! I just had to think "florida" plus "texas" plus "cottage" to get inspired!

Anyway, enough ramblings for now. Thanks for being warm and welcoming!
mistiaggie
16 years ago
Ah, ok, isn't that where the big mall is now?? I'm always amazed at the development when I go home. Half of my inlaws live in the Plano area. Anyway, good luck with your garden! :) FYI: All that rain is very unusual. Usually it's 100+ for days on end, more like month's on end. And dry. But it's such a different heat than Florida.
pnbrown
16 years ago
I'm a transplanted floridian also, but few if any perrenial plants will grow here and in florida. I think possibly some species of oak and pine.
last_mango
16 years ago
When I was researching putting in a pool in Florida, I found the perfect example of what I wanted in Texas! Here is a pic I've kept in my computer files for years labeled as "Texas Tropical Pool":

I'm not sure what all the plants are, but I've already planted the banana and candlestick cassia by my pool. Maybe someone else can identify what some of the others are - elephant ears, heliconia?? - and what zone it might be from...
mistiaggie
16 years ago
You could probably try plumeria in a pot, and the ee's will work. My mom did caladium's yearly as well. They'll die back but they usually come back. Maybe look around for some amarylis, and what about passionvines? I don't know about bougie's that might work but not sure on their hardiness.

Ooh but you get to have hollyhock's! Mine just continually give me leafs and no flowers. Boo. Hibiscus will probably be ok in pots. You might have a nice container garden! LOL
goldenpond
16 years ago
I like that garden but I would add red button ginger.EASY!
drewsmaga
16 years ago
Hi Rebecca! I still lurk here almost 2 yrs. after moving to N. of Houston from the Jacksonville area (it's the same zone, but WAY different conditions!) I MISS Florida! Anyway, you might want to start hanging out at the Texas gardening forum -- we get a good number of posters from the DFW area, who might be able to answer questions for you. And, if you haven't already, make sure to get in touch with your Cooperative Extension Service. Happy Gardening! Pat

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas gardening forum
rebecca150
Original Author
16 years ago
Drewsmaga, thanks for the Texas link. I did check out that forum recently and got lucky enough to find an informal swap going on tomorrow. Plus we have a couple garden clubs near where I live.

That's an awesome pool pic! I think the Texans that live a little further south can get away with more tropical stuff. I wish I could have oleander! I got some cuttings last year and they rooted really well but then I discovered that with kids and pets, I better not.

Passionvine is definetly on my list! I love the way those things smell. I'm still thinking about the hollyhocks. The spread like mad here I am told.

When I do my front bed at the end of summer I'll have to remember to take a picture for the forum. Texas gardening, Florida style!

Rebecca
mistiaggie
16 years ago
Oh yeah, oleander do well in south Texas, Houston, Galveston etc. Galveston has them everywhere. I even think some that they planted after the 1900 hurricane are still around.

:) Have fun with your garden.
garyfla_gw
16 years ago
Rebecca
from what i'm seeing on the news many Texas gardeners are getting into water gardening in a really big way lol.
I think it's probably better when most of the water is kept in the pools lol
How come it's raining there and we're in a severe drought?? Anyway hope you're avoiding that problem and good luck with your new garden. gary

Transplanted Floridian

Comments (13)

katkin_gw

goldenpond

Related Discussions

mistiaggie

rebecca150
Original Author

mistiaggie

pnbrown

last_mango

mistiaggie

goldenpond

drewsmaga

rebecca150
Original Author

mistiaggie

garyfla_gw

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Transplanted Floridian

Comments (13)

Related Discussions

rebecca150Original Author

rebecca150Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

rebecca150
Original Author

rebecca150
Original Author