Here's a link to the thread: Thread on Louisiana and Mississippi forum

Good work, Rosie. Here's the link straight to the plant list. They are accepting both plants and seeds. I will try to get more information for anyone who wants to send them anything. I'll post the information as I get it. I encourage anyone to take a look at the list - many of the plants they need are common plants that most of us have. Here is a link that might be useful: Seed List

I printed out a number of threads from the forum for dh to read. Piqued his curiosity and he then called to speak with salesmen at East Teak and Advantage Trim & Lumber. We received a sample board last week and really like the way the stuff looks and feels. Would love to find someone in the area who's used it. Anyone out there?

I would suggest Louisiana irises for a foundation planting. They look great all year round, evergreen, lush but tidy. Not a very long bloom period, but I think you'll prefer having a foundation planting that never gets scraggly at any point of the year. I have the "Black Gamecock" variety along the west side of my house in Houston, and have been very happy with them. They come in a lot of colors. Bulletproof, very happy with wet feet (which so many plants hate), and after the first year I basically never water them. All I do is pull out some dead leaves once or twice a year. Agapanthus could also be good--I see it here a lot planted in a similar way, but I don't have it myself so I can't speak to how easy to grow they are. Don't bother with lavender--I can only keep it alive in pots. It can't handle any sogginess at all. Check out salvias (but not all of them!), coneflowers, inland sea oats, and native hibiscus (aka swamp mallow--does that sound like LA or what?) for a cottage garden look in a gulf coast reality. This ain't England, so don't be imitating those pretty little houses on Masterpiece Theater. I agree that you shouldn't change the grading. If you really must, definitely get a company specializing in drainage to do the work, not just a landscaper--and not the cheapest one either. Gulf coast houses live and die by good drainage. Don't do anything until the autumn, except spread Microlife 6-2-4 fertilizer to activate the biology of the soil. It's really too late to plant at this point--3/4 of whatever you put in will get fried.