Hmmm, I just realized I left an entire part out.. Sorry.
I'm also planning to plant a flower bed, and hopefully with several different plants, so something will be blooming most of the year. I'm hoping that one or more of you can give me some suggestions on what plants would work well. Also some names of good flowering bushes (for in front of my high porch to kind of hide the underside) that do well in our climate. No need to worry about any of them being low maintenance or non-time consuming, I'm a stay at home mom so I have lots of time, and would love to participate in the plant trade next year if I can get some lovely plants going.

Welcome to the Alabama Forum. I'm going to steer you in the direction of the Alabama Extension office, where you should find publications about growing fruits and veggies of all kinds. Your local office can help you with local information and provide you with the materials you need for proper soil testing and garden preparation.

The more homework you can do on your own, the better you'll be able to absorb any information that we can offer.

Use the attached link to do some reading, and to locate your local office. I wouldn't be surprised if you'd find some vegetable (and fruit) planting timetables for your local region.

Here is a link that might be useful: Click here for information

Hi. Welcome to the forum. If your family likes bananas, I would recommend putting the banana peels at the base of your roses. Mine always bloom when I do that.

I'm not sure about most plants as i just moved here a month ago from canada. I have a pretty big collection of elephant ears and they are doing great in the heat and moisture/dew i have here daily.. Some get pretty big and would do a great job hiding your porch but not to big to hide it totally.. Also canna's i loved in canada but find they do well but not as well here.. But if you want to really hide something thats a 6 foot plant that the hummingbirds love...
jen

I just moved to Alabama - Huntsville area - 2 years ago, a little over 1 year in a permanent yard. I came from MA, so am getting adjusted to what works well, particularly in my (currently) 100% clay soil. Here are some things I've had success with.

Daylilies - great in clay.
Echinacea - native to the area
Gaura
Gaillardia
Montauk Daisy
Columbines

In annuals:
Sunflower
Moss Rose
Strawflower
Zinnia
Coleus (shadier area)

Herbs:
Basil
Rosemary (IMO, everyone needs at least one. I have 3 so far)
Bronze fennel
Hibiscus sabdariffa (roselle)
Lavender - growing this in pots, though - am trying my first one in the ground this year; my soil may retain too much moisture for it to do well - time will tell.

I might recommend rose of Sharon as a tall, flowering, easy maintenance bush - but it does seem to be susceptible to Japanese Beetles.

Think soil, moisture, light - I have wet clay soil in a mostly sun yard, so try to think of things that do well in clay and/or are drought tolerant. The gaura & gaillardia - both started easily from seed - are real workhorses for me, blooming early & long.

As for roses - the hybrid tea roses just do not do well here in Alabama, nearly all of them develop blackspot and by this time of summer are nearly bare of leaves! The Knockout roses, though, are almost completely resistant to this and are excellent selections, and so are some other shrub roses such as Carefree Beauty. You may want to visit Petals From The Past in Jemison and replace your roses with ones from there! That place would also be a great place to get your veetable and fruit transplants next spring. NO, I have no financial ties to the place, it's just that I have a very high opinion of it!

I also highly recommend Rhizo's suggestion about the Copperative Extension Service, the people there will probably recommend that you call the local Helpline run by Master Gardeners. They are volunteers who have had training to answer such questions and usually have considerable experience growing plants under local conditions.

I 3rd the referral to ACES and also to Petals from the Past.

While you are on the ACES site, download the Gardening Calendar. If you are ready to dive in, fall is a lovely time to garden in AL.

Make that 4 votes for ACES and PfP. As for the roses, many older varieties have only one round of heavy blooms each year. Deadheading can encourage some repeat blooming later in the season, but for summer-long blooms you need varieties that rebloom. Also, there ate varieties of cannas that flourish here, though you might need some systemic insecticide to get rid of the leaf rollers.