Yes, we all pretty much get into our regional ruts. I struggled for years at my house in the Houston area trying to install California landscaping into a Texas yard! It isn’t just water, temperature, and sunshine. There are so many other variables. Hot winds were my bane. They dried out my plants.
Fortunately, Conroe is almost the same exact climate as Mobile and we see the same vegataion as we were accustomed to. Our big change came from having full hot sun to our current full shade. We now have only three sunny spots, each about the size of a small car, out of a 2/3 acre lot.