Hey Flowrgirl! That's lesson #1...everyone down here says "hey" instead of "hi". I'm not in Winston-Salem, I'm about 2 hours south in Fayetteville, and I'm a transplanted Yankee, too! WS is a beautiful area, I have friends there and they love it. Winters are mild compared to MI, and summers tend to be hot and humid (but not as bad as where I'm at!), you'll be able to grow just about everything you do now, plus others, with ease. Bring your iris with you, they'll love it down here! You'll fall in love with the spring time down here, and you'll be amazed at how early our spring actually comes. It was the first thing I noticed when I moved here. My iris start blooming in March, and I've seen some as early as February when the winter has been exceptionally mild. Second lesson is to never let anyone tell you "you can't grow that down here". Just keep trying until you find the spot where it will grow! Only thing I fail with is lilacs, but after 15 years, I still try! Again, welcome, to the GP and NC! Maryanne

My other house is in Matthews. I'm in Weddington, for now. If I knew your price range I could point you in the right direction. Mecklenburg is high tax, average services,rising water bills etc. Matthews used to be a really feisty,independent town always fighting from being dominated by Charlotte/Meck politicians. I say, 'used to be'. Still, the taxes are lower than Charlotte even with Meck taxes added on and you get great services from town police and fire while getting Mecklenburg service for power/water/garbage and trash pickup. First thing to remember not to be impressed with is the cost of living vs. 'up nawth'. It only seems cheaper until you get your paycheck. Cost of living is tied to local wages. Now Waxhaw..I live near Blakeney and Prov. CC but in Union Cty. and Waxhaw 'address' but Waxhaw the town is a fur piece down the road and I've yet to make it there in 15 min. from 51 and Sardis or Rea and Providence. I'd say, if you stick to looking north of Newtown Road and in the proximity of access to Providence Road you'll have your hands full in any price range you need. Much south of Newtown and you'll have to get up half hour or more earlier to get to work because most of Union residents travel Providence or Hwy 74 to get to Charlotte businesses. I know, too much information. If you want great service from an agent you have to do some of the leg work first. Gas prices being what they are now, few agents are going to give you the whole tour to familiarize you with the area unless you define the area first. Wish I still had my license but glad I don't so I am free to tell you what to avoid without getting in trouble. One note, Mecklenburg just reassessed for property taxes and the values are wacko out of line. Way too high. Union is pretty stable because, as the fastest growing county in NC, it has exploded with new construction in the last 10 years. Be cautious with newer homes. Too many were thrown up in haste on fill soil that didn't have time to compact. The better builders took their time and did it right. Another thing, when you find a house you want to make an offer on, be SURE to make it also contingent upon determining where the water pressure reduction valve is located. You want it installed within a foot of your in-ground water meter on your side of the meter..no closer to the house or at the house. Union's fast growth has them buying water from all sources out of the county and the pumping pressure to get to all these new developments means higher pressures in some areas and pressure spikes that blow out your underground water lines. I had a $450. water bill last October before the leak surfaced between the expansion joints of my concrete driveway. Killed off a gorgeous evergreen so it had been seeping for a while underground. In a hot summer you expect high water bills so it went unnoticed until the tree up and died. I had a lucky solution that didn't involve having to tear up my driveway and repave it but other folks I know weren't that lucky. Find out where that pressure reduction valve on the main water supply line to that house is. Don't let the seller tell you they have a pest control contract in lieu of a 'clear termite letter' when you go to close the deal. If a house is listed with a Realtor they must provide you with a seller's disclosure form..things about the house and property you might not think to ask about. Builders don't have that requirement nor do 'for sale by owner' sellers. Schools...I can confidently say that Marvin Ridge middle and high schools, Weddington High School and any of the north west elementaries are better than the rest of Union and certainly better than the Mecklenburg mess they've made of their schools. Expect crowded schools..even the brand new ones. Union is still growing. Sorry all for such a long post.

I recommend the smothering/lasagne method too. I've done this before on areas of traditional lawn that I wanted to convert to native wildflower patches, and it works well. Then you could either direct-sow native wildflower seeds, or winter-sow the native seeds in containers and transplant them into your wildflower area (see post from Sue/Chemocurl above). Winter-sowing in containers helps prevent the seeds from being eaten or washed away over the fall and winter. I just started winter-sowing native seeds in containers & transplanting this past year and have been amazed how well it's worked so far. Seedlings are all growing nicely. Just keep in mind you may not get much flowering the first year from native perennials grown from seed. Also, if you winter-sow in containers, you will have to dig holes for the transplanted seedlings. Not always easy on the back or the knees... Whether you direct-sow or winter-sow in containers, those "wildflower mixes" from the bigger stores are notorious for containing non-native wildflower and non-native grass seeds. You might want to try purchasing the seeds of the native wildflowers you would like in individual packets. Some native wildflower seeds need a period of cold, moist stratification to germinate, so they are best direct-sown in the fall, or winter-sown in containers. Some will germinate best when sowed in the spring. Most native seed companies will tell you the best time of year to sow each kind of seed. I got my native seeds from Prairie Moon Nursery, and Bowman's Hill Wildflower Preserve in PA. North Carolina State University has info on growing natives on their website: http://www.ncsu.edu/goingnative/index.html If you're not sure what kind of seeds to get, check out the information sheets (see link below) from N.C. State University that you can download. These sheets list N.C. native plants and wildflowers and what kind of growing conditions they need. Good luck! Here is a link that might be useful: NC State University: Going Native

Personally, I just dont think that VB, or anywhere in that general area along the immediate cost is going to suffer that kind of super killing cold snap. The power of the ocean and the gulf stream is just too great. Even areas of the Chesapeake bay coast are suitable for naturalisation of S. Minors and R. Hystrix, as are areas of the large cities of the mid Atlantic. As I said, and Brooklyngreg has also apparently seen, they are naturalising in the DC area, and not just downtown. In fact, the windmill and the S. Minors and Needle palms in front of the Air and Space museum are doing SO well, and naturalising so much, that it appears ( based on what I saw last summer) that the flower/ seed stalks are now being removed, and there are literally hundreds of volunteers beneath all of these palms. There are now 3 needle palms in the national arboretum that I could count on my trip there last weekend, and it appears that two were offspring of the 50 year old palm, and have been moved to other areas. I do remember there were more than just the big one in the asian valley section, and now there is just the big one by itself again. at the very minimum, S. Minor and R. Hystrix already are ( and probably will) naturlise in the mid Atlantic & DC and quite possibly so will some Windmills. That said, I just dont think that Sabal Palmettos will ever be able to naturalise this far north / indland. Perhaps on the lower coastal areas of the delmarva peninsula but I dont seem them going much further than that. They just are not hardy enough IMHO. In very protected locations sure, they could survive, as does saw palmetto here, but just out in the open, probably not.