OK, I live in Wisconsin... so I am probably the least experienced in "Southern peas". ;-) But I'll get the ball rolling. Of the two varieties of "peas" that I grew last year, one was bush & finished quite early, one was semi-vining & went until frost. Our climate differs substantially, so take that for what it's worth. I used 6" apart for the bush & 12" (after thinning) for vining; the plants filled the space, and bore heavily. But I could probably have spaced the bush rows more closely, perhaps 30" apart (I used 36"). As for yardlongs... I grow a lot of them, and can tell you that if they are kept picked, they will bear nearly continuously. Even in my short seasons, I can get both immature pods & dry seeds from the same plants (for early varieties). The purple varieties need more heat, so they are the first to slow down when the nights begin to cool... but are probably better adapted to your hot summers. I experimented with spacing for yardlongs, and since I want them to climb vigorously, my optimal spacing was around 15". But if you don't want them to climb as high, you can crowd them (4" apart or so) and they will revert to more of a half-runner habit. This will also give the highest yield... but at that spacing, the risk of disease increases. BTW, my yardlongs were inoculated prior to planting, and had the most & largest nodules of any of my legumes - some 1/4" wide. Just my 2 (northern) c's. ;-)

Lupines, hydrangeas, and rose of sharon all bloomed about a month and a half early up here. snow was gone by april and everything had a jump start. it's been a wicked good growing season for the veggies and especially for the squash and pumpkins. To Bumblebees. Thanks for the thought. Though delphiniums are more trouble than they are worth! The first thunderstorm of the year is usually the last for them. I do love lilacs, I didn't realize they didn't do well in the south. In northern maine it's the only shrub people can grow. I kid you not it's lilacs and potatoes. I figured something that could live in the tundra of aroostook would do well anywhere. Is it just not cold enough for them to go dormant ? Also does Seneca have a nuclear power plant or am I imagining this? Well two more years of school then off to a milder climate for me!

USDA Hardiness Zone temperature spreads are based on averaging, there is no single figure that is representative of any specific zone. Instead, if a temperature occurs within a zone then it is by definition part of those characteristic of that zone. Because that zone is where it happened. So during those infrequent years when we have single digits in my part of Zone 8 we are not having a "Zone 7 winter", we are having part of what is the normal range of occurrence here. With such lows not happening often enough to pull our average outside of the 10-20 degree range. The problem with the shared habit of using the phrase "Zone _ winter" is that it contributes to the widespread misapprehension that representative temperature spreads given for USDA zones are absolute, with all locations mapped in my Zone for instance then never falling below 10 degrees F. And so on through the list of Zones. Resulting in misunderstood tolerance range assessments of individual kinds of plants, something that can matter to anyone dropping hundreds of dollars on plants that turn out not to be in it for the long run later. (Or the short run if a hard winter comes soon after purchase and planting). With the failed planting of the ('Little Gem'?) tree asked about here being an example of such outcomes, because I repeatedly see that cultivar depicted as being hardy to USDA 7. (Then of course there is the matter of what is meant by "hardy to" in any given instance - are they saying it is on the edge of failure there, or that it is completely hardy in a range that includes that zone? With the next coldest zone being the one where the plant is going to be damaged part of the time?).

I've seen lots of DDB, it is a popular landscape tree in the SE. I've only seen one EB, my tree. EB's main claim to fame is it's supposed hardiness. Mine is in full sun and wide open, no large trees anywhere near it. It is about 20-25 years old from a one gallon. It is wider than high, branched to the ground, and fairly open with somewhat long willowy branches. It took a long time to bloom, and is even now a rather shy bloomer. Blooms are of average size. For me EB has been of average hardiness, it has never lost any wood or suffered any bark split, but it has had browned foliage, though never defoliated. On a scale of 1-5 I rate it 3. DDB is very popular and often seen in private landscapes and especially public ones. It is upright in youth and more spreading as it ages, but taller than wide. Foliage is deep glossy green above and copper/red beneath, especially when young. The tree presents a lush, rich appearance and is a vigorous grower. Floriferousness has been average, but blooms are well formed and slightly smaller than average, a good thing IMHO. Hardiness has been on a par with EB for me, the literature says less hardy than other hardy clones, zone 7. On a scale of 1-5 I rate it 5. All magnolias grown under conditions you describe will tend to be open, with slightly larger than average foliage and less than average bloom, all due to shade. If DDB and EB are the only clones under consideration, my choice would be DDB.