I have been gardening in what I call "glacier slurry" and you call glacier till since '04. The only tool that worked for me was a hand mattack and I dug deep wide holes and perk tested them. My backfill was natural soil and purchased compost because my housepad/gardening area was cut out of a slope. There is probably little plant organic material in the gardening area because of it being cut out of the slope ... except for the decayed mulch material I have applied twice a year over the last several years. The glacier slurry is porous and drains well, which means that anything I use will end up in our water supply, the Trinity River. Until last year, I tried to get by with organics and time-released fertilizers, but the plants just didn't thrive. They did OK, but I knew something was missing. Last spring, after the estimated last frost date in April, I applied 1/4 cup of calcium nitrate to the larger roses and less to the smaller roses. I watered well the day before and then watered again the same day I applied the CN. It was enough to kick start the roses and they did a LOT better last season. Altho' the roses do leaf out earlier than they should, most of that growth is blind growth. I think it's the plant trying to feed itself through photosynthesis. We always get a late frost or snow before the middle of April and that growth generally dies off or gets pruned off. We have temps in the high 90s or low 100s for weeks at a time during the summer and time released foods are just burned up too quickly to be reliable, so last year, I did a combination of organics and synthetics and all of the plants were healthier than in prior years. In my experience, it's hard to find the right balance to feed the plants and not pollute our water source. I think I have planted the last of the roses I am going to plant, except for replacements for roses that don't do well in this climate. I know I don't want to dig any more rose holes in this stuff. Smiles, Lyn

Hi Tweedbunny, Plumeria canÂt stay in the ground all year in zone 8a. As far as sun goes, they can take intense heat and sunlight. However as harriel pointed out, the flowers will fade faster if they are in full sun all day. Plumeria will slow down their growth if their temperature reaches 100 degrees or more, so you should arrange for them to be protected from direct sun during the hottest part of the day. They should have at least six hours of full sun per day or longer exposure to lightly filtered sunlight. The trick becomes finding the ideal balance between the amount of sunlight needed for a healthy plant and best flower keeping quality. Philip

I have about 4-5 palms, I THINK they may be Needle palms, but, they are in pots and I am keeping them indoors in winter, they are super tiny now, but, I really want to create a type of heated and lighted protection shelter before I ever plan on keeping them out in the ground in winter. Logan, maybe after many years, I can grow my Needle Palms outdoors if I come up with a good protection system. I will need to have a heat system if we have a year like this one where we go down to 7F or even less. Even 17F is horrible. I think even though the plants will be older before I ever try to plant them in the ground with protection, I am not sure how I can ever heat them enough, I guess that there may be some units like a big tent-like unit that I can put more than 1 plant in. I guess I'll just try and put the plants out when it's 40F out.

Hi Morningloree, I was just reading earlier about her suggestion the crinum lily. Here is a somewhat local Nursery that sells them and I am linking you to the flower page however they also have a link on their site about where their crinum lilies grow in the USA. You can zoom in on the map. Check it out if you're interested! I was considering ordering from them after tqtqtbw suggested them above. The root system sounds a bit intimidating however I think it would be a wonderful to have one or two of these in my yard! https://jenksfarmer.com/shop/