Frost? In 9a? What frost? Do we ever get frost anymore?
Thinking I'd be more concerned about the heat & humidity right now - it can be fatal to many plants this time of year...

Haha, I only moved back here two months ago, I haven't been here in 13 years. And yes, I worry a little about that too.

So, in your opinion, it could go either way? They either get happy or not?

And have you heard of annuals becoming perennials in this area? I'm not coastal, but I'm in western FL... nature coast.

Sadly, Jacksonville's zone 9A regularly gets both frosts and hard freezes every winter. This past winter, we had a low of 23.5 F and a dew point of 8.9 F.

I would be SO thrilled if we didn't get those frosts and freezes.

Carol in Jacksonville

Jan 7 low

Yikes. Came from North Carolina. Sounds like home to me! :/

I'm right outside of Inverness, *almost* in 9b, so I'm gonna expect the same.

Buh-bye to plant babies?

the freesia and dahlias might not do so well either way in FL, but the daylilies and cannas should, they may very well freeze back if they get frosted but you will see them again in the spring.

Hi
Quite a mixture of plants !!lol IME . Are you planning a perrenial garden or just experimenting?? Many of the plants you mention require cool cold rest periods while others can be evergreen depending on ma nature .
Freesia for example does best with a cool growing season
as does Dahlia Canna and daylily can be seasonal or evergreen depending on the variety.
of course you can manipulate the growing season depending on what you want. since you have a cool season there are many types that will thrive while many tropicals will not Every area has advantages as well as bad points What are your neighbors growing and how?? Take advantage of your cool season if wanting a perrenial ornamental garden, after all most ornamental plants fall into that group . i tend to use tropical "hoseplant " types as they don't require cool cold rest periods and thrive in the tropical summers .
Since you've already made your selections plant them and report back how it went?? gary

My dahlias did well last year, but they need constant dead heading. Daylilies do fine here and so do Cannas. Both are perennial here.

Thanks so much for the insight!

Gary, yes, I know! I am new to gardening, so I'm just experimenting as much as I can! My Godmom mentioned she had some Daylily bulbs and I was like... are you holding out on me?! lol So she brought some bags out with different plants and I selected the ones that I liked...

Everything has been in the ground for about two weeks, so we shall see how everything goes. It's a large area with lots of beds so we're going to make it part veggie garden, part perennial garden... I want to put as many natives in as I can next season. The daylilies are King Alfred, so I'm very excited for them. I also have a yellow hibiscus, some relocated angelonia that are in major transplant shock, a bed of dark pink periwinkles and two plumeria babies out there. Also propagating some plumbago from cuttings and growing some teddy bear sunflowers from seeds. With the freesia, dahlias, and cannas, it's quite a mix!

I just wish we'd get some rain. :(

Everything else I get to be planted in the garden next season will either be relocated from elsewhere in the yard or bought from a native nursery.

Will post pics soon. Thanks again neighbors. :)