Although Sunset lists it for zones 14-17 and 21-24, this will not be happy outside of the most coastal of gardens in SoCal. From mountainous areas of Chile, it prefers coolish summers, acidic soils, non-alkaline water conditions and minimal fertilization (member of Proteaceae - dislikes phosphorus and potassium). They don't sell big plants cuz it does not transplant/establish easily. Not easy to get going even here in the PNW. If this is really the "holy grail", you may have to reconsider that Puget Sound move :-) I doubt you will have much success with it in southern CA.

I lived 48 years in Texas and know a little about growing conditions there. I lived in the D/FW area. Years ago there was an article in the Bulletin of the AIS that stated that bearded irises generally would not perform well south of Interstate 20 from Georgia to California. In some areas that may be true, but in others it most definitely is not. Witness the 2008 AIS Convention will be in Austin, TX, and it is about 200 miles south of I-20. San Antonio is kinda iffy. I sent a friend some TBs to SA and then saw them in bloom two years later. Most were IB in height with big flowers. They were out of proportion. I have heard that conditions may vary, and some years after a cold winter, they achieve normal height. As far a I know, there has never been an iris society in SA. The nearest one was in New Braunfels, about half-way between Austin and San Antonio. Corpus Christi definitely not. It is on the coast and is just too hot and humid. I used to sell TBs to a lady in Houston. She didn't want them until mid to late November. She planted the in November or December and they bloomed in late February or early March. Few could survive the summer in the garden. She would dig them up and hang them from the rafters in her garage until November. Some survived that treatment and she replanted. So it would be a lot of trouble growing them within about 100 miles of the Gulf, but again there are pockets where there is success. If you are determined to move to Texas, move to the hill country west of Austin. There you would have the elevation you need and would be close to the amenities of Austin. SA can be scalding hot and CC has hurricanes. Most of Texas is also noted for it ice storms - even SA. Walter Moores (who hasn't seen much snow or any ice in 22 years in north central MS. Our last snow to amount to anything was in 1996).

island, they are very common (Sabal Palmetto and etonia) and don't get a lot of respect here becuse they are found on just about every unlcearled lot. People do buy them but they are usually full grown and are harvested from land clearings. Usually if you see them in our yards, they were there when the lot was cleared and the builder left them there to save some landscaping funds. However, after the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes, many Floridans regained a lot more respect for them. Of all my tall palms the Sables and Dates were the only ones that came though the storm unscathed. Mine took winds upwards of 130mph. My coco's were shredded, my royals were twisted in knots, my bismarks crowns looked like they were going to fall out, but there are my sabals looking like there wasn't even a storm.

Responding to HU-128893663: Hi. I have just bought a house in the hills north of Greenville, South Carolina, and would love to plant there a few of the baby mango trees that pop up every year around our big mango tree in Miami. Is this a fool’s errand? It would be great to hear how your experiment turns out, and whether you have any advice as to how to go about it. Many thanks.