Hello Jen
If you make the big move, wishing you and your family much success in AL. I moved to the middle area of Alabama 6 years ago, and find it the very best place to garden. I have lived in 4 other zones in the US, and Alabama is by far a great place for gardening. It has snowed twice since I moved here, and each time it melted the next day. In my garden, before planting, I will ask myself whether the item will survive/acclimate the hot summers, as winters have never been a problem. My elephant ears and canna lily plants thrive here, as both were secured from other nearby gardens, so they have already acclimated. Both work well around the numerous azalea bushes (kept short). The most amazing plants in my gardens are the registered daylilies. Nothing can kill them. They all are super achievers, and I eliminated all the unnamed varieties, plus all the ditch daylilies. I use fresh pine straw for mulch on everything, then pull it to the side in late Feb after the cold weather ends. Alabama is a great place to live and work. The best part for me is the opportunity to have a very successful garden. Regards, Tigerlily-AL

When moving to Alabama, if you wish to join in on gardening events and meet some lovely people, here are three organizations that made my transition to the Southern way of life easier:

1. I joined the local daylily club, and then joined the AHS, as all the daylily clubs are part of the national American Hemerocallis Society.
AHS Region 14 (this is the region for Cullman)
http://www.ahsregion14.org/
Cullman Iris and Daylily Society
Peter Douthit
441 County Road 845
Cullman, Al. 35057
256-737-9031
doucullman@netzero.com
Meets 3rd Thursday 5:00 PM Angler Restaurant

2. Then I joined the local garden club (there are 8 in my city) which is affiliated with the Garden Clubs of Alabama, Inc.
District 1 Director (for Cullman area) � Tricia Mitchell, Email trcamitchell@aol.com. http://xl1.esiteasp.com/gca/home.nxg

3. I also depend on our county extension system, which has an extensive library for garden books, arborist, Master Gardeners Program, and opportunity to attend seminars.
Alabama Cooperative Extensive System for the Cullman area is http://www.aces.edu/counties/Cullman/

We have ticks poison ivy here and chigger i think are like ticks right?? Snakes i HATE!! but can deal with them i guess..
Hubby had a bad day today, hes really starting to miss up.. only 10 more days :(.. This is the info i want.. Thing you hate about it.. that way when i get down there i know the worst already..

tigerlily thanks for the information.. I also like daylilies but there not my top 3 but there pretty close.. I'm gonna have alot to learn as far as i can tell.. But were all really hoping to make the move.. Oh course once i get there i will put up a post to let everyone know were there and hopefully get to learn more about near by towns from you all.. I know shopping will be done else where, from what i read not to much of a variety in cullman

Jen, I'm a recent transplant to the Huntsville area - don't know Cullman per se, but let me say this - I agree with Plantcrazy - there is no place absolutely perfect. I was terrified to come here - I left my home of 14 years by the New England seashore, my family, my church, community, etc etc. I've been in Huntsville just about a year, and it is friendly - and it has its share of crazies, too (Nelson, I'm one of those northerners classified as a 'bleeding heart liberal' - hoo boy). But so what? C'mon down anyway! Rhizo is very, very helpful, as are many on this board. The change from New England rock gardening to heavy red clay/moles & voles has been a real challenge for me, but I'm getting a lot of help from this forum. If you are a heat lover like me, you will love it here - many months of warm weather.

Moving is crazy, especially long distance, but I take a piece from my gardening self, and am committed to "bloom where I am planted." Good luck, and hope all goes smoothly for you!

Drippy always great to hear about people that uprooted there whole life, to take a chance and end up happy..I'm hoping the same for my little family.. Gardening is one of my biggest hobbies and if i couldn't do it then i would go crazy.. Its kind of a perk for me moving there, so i'm going on that to keep me smiling..
I know every place will have ups and downs, But for me windsor living here my whole life has come to have more downs then ups lately.. All my friends have moved away ;( family however are still all here, so it will be hard to kiss them goodbye.. I honestly hope its a better life for us there, and if it turns out to be not well we can always come back.. All we lost is a house or two.. I truly believe if you dont jump when given the chance, you'll always have them what ifs...
I'm a bit excited about the red clay soil.. I have a garden here and in just a few years it have become pretty nice.. Thinking my yard was out of gardening room, and having it all pretty much done, made me a bit sad.. But now life has opened new doors, and the new lessons i will learn to get the prefect garden again.. Well hubby and i will have something to do together..

I don't have a whole lot to add to what's been said except to say that every place has its ups and downs, and no matter where I've been or lived people are basically the same whatever their political or religious views: most folks are pretty decent but there are always a few jerks.

As a gardener you will enjoy the extended growing season, but you might lose some favorites that it's just too warm for here. There are more weeds, more bugs and more challenges in exchange for the warmer climate, but nothing that can't be overcome. Not everywhere has red clay soil -- some is much much worse and then some is much better.

If you decide to move down, I suggest renting for a while, at least 6 months, before even thinking about buying. It'll help you get the feel of the town and decide where you want to be. I've relocated both ways... and jumping in too fast can be an expensive mistake.

WEll it for sure wont be till the school year is over, my stepdaughter is in grade 9 so we want her to finish the year off here.. Plus we have to sell our house, so nothing with happen all that fast..
Hubby has to meet with a real estate agent next week to discuss how the process will work.. Were not to sure if they will even give us a mortgage being canadian and all.. So hes looking into that..
Were hoping to get down there for a few weeks before we even decided to go, so we can all get a feel for it.
I love tropical plants (cannas, callas, elephant ears, hibiscus', bananas, palms...) so i dont think as long as i keep them watered i will have a problem with heat (could be wrong though) Like anywhere theres pros and cons for gardening, I'm looking forward to a new adventure, and a whole new garden and life

smurf4288, I have some of all those plants you like except the palms. Will be glad to share. Oh my property tax is around $800. a yr and I have 1 acre of land. Our schools where I live are good. The teachers care about the kids. I am sure Cullman is the same.

800 a year.. OMG i would kill to pay that.. mine is 3 times that.. And i would love to share what i have, i planted 270 banana seeds so hopefully some come up, but i've heard they are very very hard to germinate, but i am trying :)

You will be able to add surprise lilies, amaryllis, crinum, hedychiums, hardy hibiscus and many others to your "need" list here. This is a great and fun area to garden in.

Jen, I hope you & your family are able to make the big move down here. When you consider the low cost of living, mild climate, and overall quality of life I don't think you can beat Alabama. I'm originally from Illinois but have been in the South since the late 70s, and in Birmingham since 1990, and really do love it here.
As you can see from my these two pics I'm a tropical gardener also. We bought our present home in Nov 2008 and this is what I was able to grow by late summer '09. And you can definitely grow palms down here; I have windmills, needles, sabal minor, butias, and a few others thriving in my yard. Of course, let us all know when you're moved in & ready to begin gardening. At some point you'll HAVE to make the short drive down to B'ham & check out a few nurseries, and we can tell you where the good ones are and where to find specific plants. Good luck!
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Jen: By all means, come on down! I live in Gadsden (NE Alabama), so the weather here is similar to Cullman. You'll find endless things you can grow, many different from what you're used to, but things you'll enjoy. The people are friendly, gardeners especially. Just let us know when you get here. We'll look for you at the plant swaps. Hope all goes smoothly. Alice

The great Alabama Gulf Coast is a few hours due south of Cullman. Lots of snow birds visiting here this time of year.

Here in Mobile County, my property tax was around $500 last year for a 1/4 acre house with garage.

I don't think that you will find the same 'lizards' in Cullman that you saw in Florida. The ones that you are probably talking about are the green (or brown) anoles. Those little guys are pretty much in the southern part of the state, I think. That's one of the things I miss about coastal SC. Someone please correct me if Anoles live in the Cullman area.

Please don't worry about the snakes. I've not seen a single snake the whole 9 years I've lived here, though I keep hoping some will show up in the garden. There are many species that reside in northern Alabama, but they pretty much stick to themselves, as all snakes prefer to do. Are you worried about snakes in general, or just the venomous ones?

I'm going to repeat my warning about fire ants, though. It's imperative that you educate yourself about them BEFORE moving here with a small child and/or pets.

John first let me say your garden is beautiful.. We have alot of plants in common.
Alice thanks, were really hoping all works out
Jcal that's fantastic I can't believe how cheap it is to live down there, here in Canada everything is more then it is there... Even gas we pay more the $4 a gallon.. We have friends in Michigan and they make less then my hubby's and live so much better, some even ask how we do it...
Rhino I will for sure look into the fire aunts, as I have a 6 month old and 3 small dogs. Snakes I hate, won't have one for a pet but outside there fine.. Other then ones that can harm my baby or dogs the rest I would leave them be.
My husband is thinking we will go down for a few days in march so we can all see what it's like, the move won't be till the school year is done. I really don't know how much gardening I will be able to do the first year, because we might have to rent for a while. I can do a few pots here and there but I'm thinking that's it.. Hopefully things will go well and we'll have a house of our own in no time...

Oh, alright...

I'll say something positive, but it's about the snakes.

I've been obsessed with them since early childhood, even kept a few as pets: a Speckled King named "Killer" and a Corn snake who went by "Mr. Abbott" - I don't know why the name, I was a kid!

I visited the pet shop at our local "Grant's" (who remembers this store), usually on Sundays, and bought them 2 or 3 white mice to eat throughout the week. (Not that there was anything wrong with the black mice, it's just that they were more expensive, an anomaly in the South at the time, and plus, you know, I didn't want to risk being labeled a racist.)

It depends on the habitat, of course, but in 51 years I've run across hundreds of snakes, and if memory serves, only three have been poisonous (a Cottonmouth and two Copperheads), none of which threatened me. But, and I digress, their reputation can be hugely blamed on the book of....oh heck, why go there?!

Jen, as gardens are concerned, I've learned to live by the saying "if you build it, they will come." So I welcome all, even spiders, for which I have a phobia to. (Has anyone mentioned the spiders yet? Oops!)

Come on down (and bring a sense of humor!).

Nelson ;-)

Nelson I always have it with me :) Theres nothing really that can make me not want to make the move, sure the wild life is a bit different then here as well as the bugs.. I'm at the point in my life where i'm ready for some adventure, so bring on those lizards and snakes and me and the spider will do our best to come to some understanding on where they can go and where they cant... lol Hubby's work is working on the transfer, i guess theres a ton of paper work to be done.. Since we not legally married a wedding may be in our near future.. We will of course have to sell our house and wait for my stepdaughter to finish off the school year.. So far everything is looking like we will soon be Alabamians...
So i guess you all will be stuck with me lol just kidding...

Nelson, you are a hoot!

smurf, I don't know what the situation is in your present location, but finding rental property that will allow pets can be challenging. Hopefully, you'll stumble across something pretty quickly.

Ya its the same here, If we have to go a bit from cullman to find something, then thats what we will do.. Its only for a short time anyways.. Hubby is meeting with a real estate agent to talk about ways he can get a mortgage over there.. I guess theres a way to transfer his credit from here to there.. We will just need to save some money for a down payment but we can live pretty cheap for a bit to allow for that... Housing down there is so cheap.. Here our oh maybe 1200 sqft house and we have maybe 1/5 of an acer and we pay about 1500 a month for mortgage (40 years) and taxes. our interest rates are nuts, and cost of living is through the roof.. From what i see for real estate we could be living in a house twice the size, the house would cost more then ours, but with the prop taxes and mortgage would be the same if not less..

Actually, this is a great time to relocate. The housing market being what it is, y'all should be able to get a good place for not much money. It's a buyers market.

Were just unsure about how the whole getting a mortgage without being citizens works. Hubby will have to talk to a few people but I've read you need like 30% down and well we just can't do that.. We'll see how it goes. We might no be able to get down there till oct now there trying to speed it up so at least my stepdaughter is there to start the school year off.. But again we'll see..

Ok so it's official I within 2011 I will be moving to Alabama... Bunnies work is working on getting him there as fast as they can.. I won't be able to go till the house is sold. He I come ladies and gents...

Glad it is working out for you. I started a page on facebook called Alabama Gardeners. It is new, but some of the people who post here also post on there. Hoping the page takes off, it is a lot easier to post your garden pictures there also. If you do join let me know you are smurf4288 from gardenweb.

Ok i'll go there now.. I'm a facebook junkie so i for sure will find that easier to keep up on things
thanks
jen

Snakes: All the venomous ones are pit vipers with flared triangular heads. Anything that looks like a big worm where the head isn't any wider than the body is non-venomous. Exception being coral snakes in south Alabama.

Mortgages: Why rush, rent at least temporarily. Owning a home is overrated and is rarely the sure thing financially that people make it out to be.

Frost free season is roughly late March to November so you'll have plenty of good stuff that'll grow here.

Welcome in advance. Let us know when you gat here and do plan to come to the first plant swap after you arrive. You don't have to bring anything. Just come meet everyone. You'll take home some plants if you have a house and a place to put them.

Oh of course i will be attending, and for sure i will let everyone know when I get there.. Hopefully where ever i end up living it will have a garden, even if its small I can make due for a bit.. Cant move south and not garden lol.. I'm so excited to not have to dig my cannas out every year, It took me almost 30 hours to get them all out this year.. Oh course that was not all in one day, or even week.. took me 2 and a half weeks to get them all out doing it just on weekends.. Looking forward to saving that time for something else lol.. I'm sure to be safe i will mulch and maybe even dig up a piece of the root to save in case of a bad winter i can replace easily..

See here were not free of frost till the 3rd weekend in may.. and stuff needs to be out the first week of oct or its just to cold to do anything out there for long without gloves..
Oh how i cant wait for sunshine :)

This is in Cullman.
http://www.avemariagrotto.com/

I'm not Catholic but the craftsmanship that went into the models is very impressive.

This is just south of Mobile (few hours south of Cullman).

http://www.bellingrath.org/

Yes I have seen pictures of the ave Maria grotto, hubby's was told before he left he was NOT allowed to go there till we can go together. I'm not much into religion either but its something to see anyways.

Here is a few links to help you get even more excited about joining us:

http://www.mygardenproject.com/resources/list-of-botanical-gardens/
http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/Alabama1.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Alabama_covered_bridges

And that is just the tip of the iceburg when it comes to fun, exciting and educational things to do here!!

Thanks I will look at all those links. Were going there for march break, so we can all see what our future looks like. Will be nice to do a few of the things i've see online

Another good informational site. I signed up for the monthly newsletter that lists lots of happenings. You might want to send for the vacation guide too.

My daughter insisted that I tell you about the Space Museum as well: http://www.spacecamp.com/museum/

Here is a link that might be useful: Alabama Tourism Department

Hi, I live 20 miles South of Cullman. We do have anole lizards here. LOL!

Cullman is a pretty nice town. It has all of your daily conveniences in a fairly small place. We live between Cullman and Birmingham and often choose Cullman for movies, basic shopping, etc.

Lots of natural beauty nearby with the lakes and low mountains of North Alabama... If you need an escape from small town Alabama, Huntsville is nearby and much more diverse, with people from all over the world living and working there.

I would be very careful about schools. Many Alabamians don't value education very much, and a lot of the schools are sub-par. I think the Cullman school system has a good reputation, though.

From what I've read good hope and cullman are 2 good schools, not sure how they rack up against our schools here cause it's a different country. I wish somewhere they would compare the two but I think that's just something I will have to find out when I'm there. Hubby comes home today after being in Alabama for a month!!! He's excited to see us but sad to come back to the foot of snow we have here that's just been sitting here for a week now ;(... Oh how I won't miss this white crap!!! Huntsville and birmingham both are shot the same distance for cullman (well a ocording to google map) and both have lots of places I shop here so as far as that I will be ok.. I wish I could just go now, but so much paper work to go through, and there still trying to find amloop hope to get us there before October.

Well it's official hubby signed the papers today!! He will be heading there in may ( or around then) and once the house is sold and his daughter is done school for the year off we will go to meet him. So I should be there July sometime!! Omg I can't believe this is happening and so quick. I for sure will let everyone know forsure when I find out more. Can't wait to be part of your swaps, really looking forward to making some great garden friends

Good news Smurf! Can't wait to meet ya! Got to learn the country slang now. Like " Ain't it a hot day" lol

Already got a few from hubby, he was just there for a month.. tater juice was my favorite i must say.. Fixin wasn't a bad one either.. I know i'm gonna sound really funny to most people for a while, but i'm sure i will pick it up along the way.

Ok do not know what tater juice is and I am from here. lol

Vodka, well that's what the guys hubby will be working with call it, maybe it's just them. It was funny though

since Cullman had always been a dry county until only recently, tater juice may have been a "local brew", if you know what I mean.

Not to shed a negative light on our state, but I'm curious if you've heard about all the uproar down here this week?

Hope you've been informed that, even though you may not be a college football fan right now, after you're here a couple of years you MUST pledge your allegiance to either Auburn University (war eagle! or the University of Alabama (roll tide!). It's mandatory (no, not really). But seriously, you'll be amazed how college football dominates in this state. The vast majority of folks down here can be passionate fans of their favorite school, enjoy kidding around & joking with their rivals, but yet keep it all in perspective. Unfortunately though, like what happened this week, somebody occasionally forgets its just a game & takes it way over the line.

Here is a link that might be useful: Auburn University oaks poisoned

Ok wow is all I have to say!! That is so wrong to do that, not only is it taking it to far, it changing there landscape, and killing living trees. But what do trees have to do with football anyways?

In Alabama everything has something to do with football.

Actually, the Tommer trees incident has highlighted what good sports most Alabamians are. The website for Alabama fans to donate to save/replace the trees was over $35,000 dollars when today's B'ham News went to print. Many of us root for our team when AU and UA play each other, but pull for the other when they play an out of state team.

On the language front: the most important thing to learn is that "y'all" is NOT singular; it's always plural. Some nonsouthernors overcompensate by using y'all when talking about one person. You is the singular form, y'all the plural form. ;-)

Wow this just made my day, 35,000 raised that's fantastic.

In Alabama, everything has something to do with football FOR SOME PEOPLE. Don't worry, you won't be lonely if you don't foam at the mouth over football in this state. But you will have to learn to roll your eyes at those who do, lol. My husband has lived here for somewhere close to 30 years and has never pledged allegiance to either of the Alabama schools....I've only been here for about 8. I'm an eye roller.

I know someone who has completely discouraged his son from accepting a full scholarship to Harvard so that he will attend Auburn. He wants to be able to attend those football games. (I'm not lying).

My favorite southernism is: "...all y'all..."

A few comments... the regional horticultureal agent is there in Cullman - Charles Pinkston, a very nice guy.

Visit the Alabama Cooperative Extension website, www.aces.edu. If you see publications offered on the website that you want, e-mail me at mosasaur47@msn.com and I will have them mailed to you as part of the Master Gardener Helpline service.

There is an active local Master Gardener Association in Cullman; after you are settled in, you may want to check into that. Charles Pinkston can give you details about the program.

Nelson cracked me up! You just have to learn to bite your tongue and change the subject when you encounter a looney, which you will often. If you want your children to know who Charles Darwin was, you will have to do some home schooling.
Also, I assume you are of Northern European decent, because if you are a minority race stay FAR AWAY from Cullman.. Huntsville is OK though since we're all from somewhere else.

You know, topsie, the most racially one-dimensional communities I have ever lived in have been in the North. By FAR! Sad, but true.

You gotta love places like Huntsville, that's for sure.