We ALMOST moved to Beaufort, SC a few years ago....then I decided it just was too damn cold there too! When I move, it will be tropical. I'll give up the Hostas and start on Hibiscus.
I already have half a dozen palm trees, bananas and Spanish moss growing outside year round here (Z-7).
If I thought that man-made global warming was real, I'd be sitting in my back yard spraying CO2 into the air.
And, I live on the coastal plain...so my soil is like yours acidic peat sand. It can be a bit frustrating at times... Worse are the voles. I sure do hate those suckers....
I work at a garden center and you’d think I’d have an outstanding yard! LOL Too many skeeters and sand gnats—we live right on the marsh. Besides, my 17 year old prunes everything with the lawnmower!!
You do know that’s BU-fort, not BO-fort?! I live real close to Beaufort, NC. Constant bone of contention around here.
We carry a product called Rozol. It’s a rat poison that’s okayed for voles. Go out in the evening and step down on the runs. The ones that are bumped back up in the am are the active ones. Dig a small hole in the active runs and drop in a few pellets of Rozol. It may take more than one app as they live in colonies. Around here, they tend to live around big pine trees, or stumps. (Southern Pine Vole)They’re getting worse every year. The local extension agent says there aren’t any. What a maroon! Try explaining to people why the mole poison they’re putting out isn’t killing the moles!! Not sure about secondary poison so if you have dogs/cats use caution.
Had a customer come in and tell me that his fruit tree died.
Questioned him. Turns out he planted it ten years ago and it never grew. More questioning. It was balled and burlapped. Tag said plant “as is.” Ten years later—the burlap was still in perfect shape. LOL The tree died because the roots couldn’t grow. Our soil is like the peat bogs of Ireland. Things don’t decompose.