Brian,

Sometimes I have a double purple datura live and come back for two or three years but it is, technically, only a zone 9 plant.

However, there have been anecdotal reports of them surviving winters as far north as Wisconsin, so I guess it must be possible. Mine do better when they are in perfectly well-drained soil, and they'll come back if our winter temps don't drop into the single digits. I lose them, though, if we drop into the single digits or if a "blue norther" comes in and the temperature drops quite drastically before the plants have had a chance to gradually acclimate to cooler weather.

I still have brugmansias and daturas blooming in pots that have survived this year down to 16 degrees, which is colder weather than they "normally" can handle. Usually, by mid-December, they are dormant and waiting out the winter in the tornado shelter. I have carried them into the barn on some of the coldest nights. I think that Sunday night/Monday morning may get them, though, as we're expected to go down to around 10-14 degrees.

And, as for springs and wells: The Red River is less than a mile west of us (and 9 or 10 miles south of us and 3 miles east of us, so we're surrounded) and we have several springs on the property. They have been there many years, but sometimes they dry up. Sometimes they stop running and never start up again. Sometimes a spring stops running in one location, and a new one pops up hundreds of feet away. People who've lived here forever tell me this is "normal". So, be aware that just because a spring is there now doesn't mean there always will be one.

Our newest neighbor spent several thousand dollars having a well company attempt to drill a well and was sure they'd find one because "everyone here has springs". No well, and they finally gave up and paid to buy into the rural water co-op system. So, do your well research carefully.

Have you researched the annual rainfall for the Tulsa area? I think they consistently get more rain than most of the rest of the state. I'll link the OCS page for you and you can research your area's averages.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: OK Climate Data by County

I did research the rainfall here ... and we do, normally, get more rain than some other parts of the state. But July and August are relatively dry and they certainly were this year. Rain the first week of July and then nothing until the 2nd week of August. The reason I think there may be a spring under the property is that during heavy rains water comes bubbling up out of the crayfish burrows dotted around the yard. I also had some pier work done under the main part of the house and the guys said they didn't have to dig far to hit water when putting in the footers. Out of curiousity I dug holes in several spots around the yard and I generally had water filling the hole within two to three feet ... and we haven't had much rain this fall in east Tulsa ... most has gone around us to the north and south.

There's no way I'd spend the money to drill a well ... but sand points are supposed to be fairly economical to install from what I've heard. It's not something I'd do right away ... and I'd definitely do more research. I was more curious if anybody had tried one and what problems they may have encountered. Then again, even running soaker hoses for most of the day in July (over the pen where the chickens stayed) my water/sewer/garbage bill from the City of Tulsa was only $85. I'd probably be better off not worrying about it unless there's a drought in the area at some point. Tupelo Creek also runs along the southern boundary of my place and while it did dry up by the time we got rain in August, that was the only time. Maybe I just have a high water table around here.

Several years ago, we were installing a new septic system and everywhere we dug, water would soon fill the hole. A neighbor called the septic folks over and had them look at his yard and said he thought he would need them next. He was trying to blame us for his problem, but he is uphill from us. We later learned that he had a BAD water leak just below the surface of the ground and it was filling his yard and mine. Of course, a lot of my property has limestone just a few feet down, so the water had to go somewhere when it hit that limestone. He was a renter and moved soon after telling me he was not going to pay that water bill. It sold and the new people are nice, but are only here on weekends. We have never had a saturated yard since, but put in a new septice system anyway.