I currently reside in Michigan and have been a flower gardener for many years. My husband has been transfered to Dallas and I'll admit that I'm more than a little hesitant to change my ways! I keep hearing horror stories of the heat, 'tho I'm sure that you must hear horror stories about our winters! I'm looking for a little encouragement in regards to the choice of flowers, type of soil (and preperation), and growing seasons. I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

I’m glad you found our site because it is chock full of resources for a newcomer to Texas. Check out the plant profile section here. New profiles are added monthly.
And Gail’s organic monthly guide here
I follow the seasons in this garden with a monthly report here
that touches on what’s going on in some of my sixteen beds at the mo.

The main thing to know about gardening in No Central Texas is that the soil is crud and that the most heat-defeating weapon for healthy plants is a well-drained, humus-enriched fertile soil, topped with mulch. In some areas we have very little natural dirt, other areas are sandy. My yard had 1 to 3 inches of black gumbo clay on top of lime stone and caliche or ‘chalk’. I’ve made bedding soil with homemade compost and composted manure products. In some of the raised beds I built up the grade with truckloads of purchased bedding soil that is constantly topped with composts and mulch.

Many of the plants you know in Michigan will not survive our summers, but can be grown here in spring or winter as cool-season annuals. On the other hand, many of what serve as annuals for you up there will remain perennial through our wonderful mild winters. There are many lovely SW North Amer native plants for you to explore and quite a few exotic tropicals that remain root-perennial thru winter here, and love our summer heat. If you have a hankering for roses, summer bulbs and day lilies, you will have hundreds more varieties to choose from that are hardy down here.

Be sure to take it easy and stay cool the first summer you are here. The transition from cool to hot is dastardly hard on a body. I know it well from when we used to move between England and Tex every 4 years! Althoooo, we are in the midst of record-breaking cool spell for July right now – its actually gotten below 70* at night and not gone over 85* in the daytime. Its been a heavenly week for us at this time of year – but it will soon be just a lovey memory.