I'm not a midwestern transplant, but I was a transplant from the VA/DC area, and originally, NYC. Some random thoughts... A plus of gardening here in San Antonio is the long growing season. A negative is that you need plants that can tolerate droughts AND lots of rain when it decides to pour. (Never thought I could kill mint, but forgetting to water....) Herbs are a little more of a challenge to grow here. The soil depends on where in San Antonio you live..the North/ NW parts of the city, where I am, are mostly caliche...very hard and clayish. Raised beds are a great option. Some of the plants I loved to grow (many bulbs, or plants that like acidic soil) I gave up...it's possible but a hassle. On the other hand, I get to grow some neat tropicals and xeric plants...

There are lots of very active gardening groups, both volunteer and social, here in San Antonio. I am a member of both the Gardening Volunteers of South Texas and the Bexar county master gardeners and can recommend both groups.

A last note...many of the trees down here are very scruffy particularly the live oaks, and for a Northerner, you may think they look like large, straggly shrubs, lol. But they grow on you :-) ... it's a different color green here...more of a yellow-y green than the deep green of the Northern trees.

All in all, I like it. Where else would you find a front yard where they decorated the agave by fitting the open end of Christmas balls over the spine tips?

Good luck!

Lyn

"Where else would you find a front yard where they decorated the agave by fitting the open end of Christmas balls over the spine tips?"

Why didn't I think of that?!

I could be wrong about this, but San Antonio always seemed to be more gardening focused than Dallas. There just seems to be more of an idea of the natural landscape than in other places. For example, the river walk: Rather than just ignore a river that runs through town, they made it into a gorgeous area that highlights the river. Anyway, that's just the way it seems to me.

In San Antonio you can grow citrus with a little work, and you have a some plants that will bloom only after it hits the mid to upper 90's. First thing I would recommend is that you forget everything and relearn gardening, I moved here from Southeast Texas, and it is a whole different world just 200 miles away.

Trixie-

We moved from MN to the Austin area just a couple of years ago. I have yet to miss the winters!

One word of warning, we re-landscaped our entire yard when we got down here with all these cool zone 8 plants we always wanted to try. First off, digging a hole in the ground was an adventure with all the rocks. I became very handy with a pick and pry bar. Not only that, but with all the limestone, the soil is very alkaline so acid loving plants like gadenias and azaleas just don't perform around here.

That said, there's all kinds of neat plants that thrive in the heat, drought and poor soils. I listed a bunch of my successes an failures in another thread. Despite the challenges, it's alot more fun than MN just due to the fact you have greenery all year!

I grew up in San Antonio, learned to garden there, and then spent two years in Montana. I'll give you a little overview.

As someone mentioned, raised beds are important in north San Antonio because in many places, there is no soil. There is an inch or three and then bed rock limestone. Which is fine, you just have to get used to it. A GREAT benefit of this is there are no moles or gophers (unless they have diamond-bladed incisors) and you don't have much of a weed problem like you do in the north. In Montana, I spent much of the three month growing season cursing purslane and declaring I'd never have an in-the-ground garden again.

San Antonio's climate is very similar to the Mediterranean. There are people who grow peaches, grapes, olives, and even a lavender field near San Antonio. The soil is not just rocky, it's rock. This makes the rivers that run through the hill country so crystal clear and beautiful, but it also keeps trees bonzai'd and scrubby. South of San Antonio is a bit lusher, but brushy or scrub savannah is how I'd describe the environment.

You have to water.

You have to plant the right varieties and become educated as to when to plant. A lot of northerners who move to Texas (I current live and garden in Houston), have preconceived notions of how to plant things and when to plant things. There's not so much a huge spring rush to get things going here, because summer is just a couple months away. A lot of things die in the summer here, including tomatoes, green beans, and the like. The trick is learning when to plant so you get tomatoes and green beans in the fall and spring, and plant crazy summer vegetables for the sizzling months, like chinese long beans and okra. Unfortunately that means certain heirloom varieties of veggies, and certain ornamentals will not thrive here.

My dad always thought you couldn't grow tomatoes in Texas. I gave him some advice as to when to plant, and now he's harvesting several pounds a day (Yes, in December.)

My thoughts are this. If you like a traditional garden with summers out in the yard and winters spent indoors, don't move to Texas. If you're creative and like interesting new things and don't mind breaking from tradition, you'll probably like it here. :-)

Oh, and don't forget the Mexican food. :):)

From a native Texan: Our Minnesota relatives cannot believe I am weeding all winter. Try to go north or to the mountains in July and August. When it is cool enough to go outside in the evenings the mosquitoes attack. Have you ever heard of chiggers? Although, in theory, the growing season is longer, many things keel over in the heat. Bugs and pests are much worse. (I am still amazed that my mother-in-law has a garden in north-east Iowa without bugs eating up everything.) San Antonio is in one of the most attractive areas of Texas, however, and has a wonderful history and lovely people who will be friendly and helpful.

San Antonio, TX January 2009
{{gwi:1334947}}

{{gwi:1334948}}

{{gwi:1334949}}

Oct. 2008
{{gwi:640666}}

{{gwi:685624}}

July
{{gwi:1334950}}

March 2008

{{gwi:1334952}}

Feb.

May/June

The secret is to use the lasagne method and tons and tons of leaves.
I moved into this house Nov. 07. The yard was 90% St. Augustine grass. In May/June this is how the soil looked.

{{gwi:602357}}

I got yard of the month in September.

{{gwi:685622}}

Wow! That is GORGEOUS!!! I love it when flowers are the focus and sod is a path instead of the traditional sod with a couple overplanted,scraggly plants.

Minnesota welcome to TX. I'm from the desert of CA so I actually have cooler temps and more water here.

Watch the heat it can sneak up on you (really honest).
Don't drive if it's icy/snow because nobody else knows how.

Peonys,Fushia,gardenias,hydrangea and camelias won't grow here without a lot of money and frustration. PJ

Plantmaven:

WOW! I am so envious of your gorgeous garden! What is the purple bush type thing in the 4th picture?

I'm doing something similar with our front yard. It was originally sod, vinca major, ivy and a few ornamental bushes and trees. Oh, and a weeping willow. Ugh. I will be rototilling the evil out this weekend and laying down newspaper and mulch. I cannot wait to plant in the spring!

This is great information-- on all my visits to Texas, I have been most impressed with the friendliness and everyday kindness of Texans, and you all are true to form.
I've been reading everything I can get my hands on; I've got Dale Groom's Texas Gardening Guide by my bedside-- but libraries in Minnesota are sadly lacking in gardening books specific to your region. Any recommendations? It would be great to be reading some "idea" books right now on landscaping. I love the photos posted, thank you. And about insects-- don't talk to me about mosquitoes until you've been to Minnesota in the summer!

Liesl, thank you, those lavender flowers are asters. Here they seem to be a pass-a-long, but sometimes I see them in nurseries. I started those 6 cuttings in March/April.
My son said,"those sure are big ass-ters".

We will be having a plant swap March 21 in San Antonio. Should you be in the area that day, I will be glad to share with you.

Trixie. If and when do you think you might be here? Plan to attend the plant swap if possible. I will be most happy to start plants for you.

I learn more here on this site than any where else. Most books don't seem to be specific for any one area of TX. There is a tremendous difference in growing conditions over the state.

Be sure to check the conversation and gallery links above. They are a bit slow right now, but will really pick up as we get closer to our (San Antonio)spring. Feb. 14 is the time to prune the roses here. We usually don't have a killing freeze after that date. Light frosts mostly after that. But this year is very weird. We will probably get the first killing freeze next week.

I have gardened is San Antonio for 35+ years.

Kathy

I am in Houston. San Antonio is one of the most Beautiful Cities in the US.
I can't believe people live in the north. We can grow anything. We are outdoors all the time. Happy and enjoying the winter.
You can grow any tropicals, lemons, citrus. I have palms. There is a beautiful area in SA, alamo heights. We have the most wonderful time gardening all year round.
The only negative about SA is that there is not much rain.

Kathy, it is looking like the move itself wouldn't be happening until July at the earliest-- things are moving very slowly! I will get the chance to watch my MN garden come to life one more time, which I will treasure. In the meantime it's been fun reading about SA history, checking out the lovely neighborhoods and housing prices, doing virtual drives via Google Earth.
This website-- the Upper Midwest version-- has always been very helpful for me as well. I look forward to spending hours following the conversations on the Texas Gardening forum.

Trixie-

Not to get off topic, but as a fellow born and bred Minnesotan, I wholeheartedly agree that "real" Texans don't know what "real" mosquitoes are! The ones they have here are docile enough to be kept as pets compared to the MN variety.

Feel free to ask me any garden questions you may have as I was in the same boat not so long ago. Even though I'm about 100 miles north of where you'll be, the challenges, particularly with soils, are about the same.

One night I heard voices outside my bedroom window. It was two skeeters. One said, "should we eat her here or take her home?".
The 2nd said, "if we take her home the big ones will take her away from us".

A tall Texas Tale from my Daddy, who tends to stretch the truth a tad.

{{gwi:79147}}Before and After Lawn

I know that I don't live in San Antonio but that's how it looks like up here in south of Dallas where we sit on top of limestone bedrock. I practice organic. To be honest, I never thought it'd turn out that good like that. I got tons of earthworms. White dirt turned into black stuff in the top 4-6 inches after 3 years. My neighbors still have terrible soil. No earthworms. Nothing. Rock hard soil. I am convinced that organic program is the way to go. I water st augustine every 10-14 days during the summer depending on the rainfall. You just have to understand the importance of deep but infrequent watering along with organic fertilizer every few months.

You might want to get a book called gardening success with difficult soils by Scott Odgen. It lists plants that can grow in that kind of soil...

Here is a link that might be useful: Soil Food Web

Here is a before and after from my last house.

{{gwi:1334954}}

My current home Dec. 2007

{{gwi:617850}}

Lou, thank you for the photos of the progression of your landscaping; it looks absolutely lush.
Kathy, in your first photo posting, what are the container plants under your banana tree? I am very impressed with your before and after pictures of your last home.
It snowed again last night. I spend a lot of time looking at seed catalogs; last year I did quite a bit of winter sowing in milk jugs on my deck to jump-start spring planting. Heck, you probably don't even have to bother with that in Texas, do you?

Those are plumerias. They have to be kept in the garage during the winter. Those now live at my son's. They became too heavy for me to handle.
If you end up here I will get you cuttings. I have one on the kitchen window seal right now.

Winter sowing is not big here in SA. I can start things out side and bring them inside for a day or two. Or over night. The lowest temp for the next 7 days is supposed to be 38. So all my babies are still safe!

We do overwinter marginally hardy stuff in Texas. We also start spring flowers and vegies inside.
Texas has 2 growing seasons. One season is spring. The other is fall. The summers are brutal so plants look pathetic and just cling to life! The problem isn't water (you can always irrigate) it's that they lose more water through their leaves in serious heat than they can take up in the roots. This will kill plants that aren't heat/drought tolerant. It will also make plants that have enough water on the roots start wilt dramatically. Morning glories in August are a great example of this. They usually looks so ratty I cut them down for the season.
Winters are mild so many plants do much better planted in late fall or even in winter.
Many plants that are winter hardy in this area cannot tolerate alkaline soil. It starves them of iron. It's a HUGE pain to amend. The water is alkaline too. Just because the label says it's hardy here doesn't mean it will grow. Still Texas has a great many plants that do well here. It will be very different from Minnesota and will take some getting used to. PJ

Waaay back in January I wrote about being approached for a job in San Antonio and asked for gardening advice; I'm now here in SA, my job starts on Monday, I sold my house in MN and signed a purchase agreement for a house here already, pending inspection. This morning I walked near my apartment, revelling in the lush landscaped yards (yes, even in stage 2 drought restrictions), birds noisy in the treetops, seeing plants that I haven't a clue what they are. It feels tropical. All in all, this is a great adventure. I look forward to getting back to gardening!

Glad you made it Trixiej! San Antonio is a beautiful city and I know you'll love it!

Don't even think about getting out in the heat to garden. I try to get my gardening done by 9 am and I'm 250 (give or take) miles north of you. Good luck on closing on the house, I hope it is everything that you want!

Welcome to Texas!!!

Pam

Pam's right. Don't worry about doing anything except mowing in the morning or in the evening when it cools down. Also weeding. Just your typical maintenance stuff during the summer. I do most of work from fall till winter. Just sit back in your chair under the tree shade and drink your favorite beverage during the summer... Winter in San Antonio is very pleasant. You will love it.

Welcome to Texas!

Oh yeah, winter is project and outdoor time for me. We're digging a pond next winter.

Pam

Welcome to San Antonio. It's not always this hot. I've been to Minneapolis in January and can say I'd rather live here even with the summer heat. Find things to do inside for a few months and then spend the next eight months outside. You will get lots of help here on this site, so don't hesitate to ask. Our weather in San Antonio isn't as tropical as it seems in the summer, we can get hard freezes in the winter so you have to choose plants that can handle both heat and cold or move your plants around accordingly. The big difference is that the next day it will warm up again.

A GW San Antonio plant exchange is planned for Oct. 10 and we would love to see you there. Look for more info as it gets closer. Also on October 17 is the Herb Market and plant sale at Aggie Park. Master Gardeners are there to answer questions. When you get a chance check out Rainbow Gardens for excellent advice on plants that work here.

I tried to post the link below in the URL box so you could just open it, but GW rejected it. It's a list of garden events you might enjoy in San Antonio.

http://gardeningvolunteers.org/phpweb/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_printable&PAGE_id=10&lay_quiet=1

Trixie:
I moved to TX in 2000 from PA and love it here. I strongly urge you to use native plants wherever possible if you end up in Texas. (Someone may have suggested this already...this is a long thread.) I'm between San Antonio & Dallas where we've had no rain in over a month and temperatures have been over 100. My natives are doing well.

See if you can get your hands on Sally Wasoski's book, Native Texas Plants. It's a good gardening guide for the various climates down here and the photos will give you an idea of what a native plant garden can look like. Southern Herb Growing by Hill/Barclay/Hardy is what you'll need if you want to grow herbs in the South.

Good luck making your decision!

Here is a link that might be useful: Native Texas Plants

Thanks for your kind welcomes, book and website recommendations! I will put the plant exchanges on my calendar. So far I am actuallly liking the heat-- I don't experience this kind of tropical climate unless I'm on a winter break in the Caribbean, and so my body and mind thinks that I'm on vacation. I know, I know, just wait a year and then talk to me again.

I figure it will take me the fall to get settled into a house, and winter to plan my first garden projects-- what fun! I agree that native plants, or at least drought resistant plants, are the way to go; as I walk around the neighborhood I see lots of dried-put boxwood and burned-out lawns. Stay tuned!