No worries. You wont have to give up your gardening. You will still have a wide variety of things to plant... just different things. Think Zone 5/6.

Some things that I plant and it is by no means all inclusive.

Veg.
Sweet corn, Tomatoes, Potatoes, green beans, carrots, cabage, carrots, variety of herbs (some perenial some not),egg plant, peppers, peas

Bulbs
Alliums, oriental/ asiatic/ trumpet lillies, daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, iris, crocus...

Perenials
Daylillies, correopsis, balloon flower, phlox, ajuga, lilly turf, many ornimental grasses, columbines, peonies, crysanthamums, dianthus, capanula, salvia, yarrow, hosta asters, astilbe and lots more

Shrubs
Willows, forsythia, wiegella, hydrengas, dogwoods, azaleas barberry, spruces, firs, roses, lilacs, junipers...

And you have a whole new season to design around. What barks, structures, grass canes look good in te winter landscape.

Here is a link to one of the nicer if not cheap gardencenters that will be local to you. They have a lot of knowlegable people there, wide variety of plants and some nice specials.

Here is a link that might be useful: Natorp Gardencenter

There are plenty of large scale flower beds here some neighborhoods have more than others. When are you expecting to move to the area? I am in Cincinnati which is not far from that area. People travel to Hebron to go to the airport it's about 20 minute drive from Cinti. I am posting a link to the Local Civic Garden Center which holds alot of great educational events and classes to promote gardening.

Here is a link that might be useful: Civic garden center

Most likely we won't move for awhile, although if my husband gets a job offer, I guess it will be faster than I think. We're probably going to come out towards the end of July to look around at houses and make a decision. Then maybe again at Christmas time. To tell you the truth, the weather makes me a little nervous . . . I don't care for humidity or cold. Yikes! I am so glad to see that I will be able to garden - I grow all kinds of lilies, although I'll bet the orientals are better with the Kentucky chill than here in CA. I am addicted to salvias - what salvias do well? How about buddlea and vitex, do they grow in Kentucky? I appreciate both links, thank you.

You don't like humidity or cold? Well then,you may not like N. KY! LOL! But on the bright side,you'll rarely need to water anything as precipitation is fairly dependable and evenly spread throughout the year.
Yes you can grow butterfly bush and vitex,and many other perennials ,although most will die back to the ground in winter.

Well, Kris has had his shot to toot his own horn, and hasn't yet done it. Must be on vacation, so I'll sit in for him.

Temecula: visit the website for the Boone County Arboretum! It has quite the listings for plants that thrive in northern KY. Hebron is a hop/skip/jump from BCA.

I'll ditto what cecropia said; hot humid summers are our stock in trade, and ridiculously variable winter temperatures are par for the course. At least you've missed the latest cicada scourge....

Here is a link that might be useful: Boone County Arboretum

I think Newport, KY has a garden club.

sounds like you're headed to the airport. If so, get in touch--here's a fellow gardener that works there.

BTW, CVG airport has lovely grounds, including an impressive display of tulips each year.

Viburnum,

Thank you for letting them know about Cinci's only true Arboretum that happens to be in Northern Kentucky! :-)

The main mission of Boone County Arboretum is exactly what your looking for: to showcase plants that do well in Northern Kentucky. Granted there are a few species that are more obscure that we have been planting but with over 1,000 tree specimens, and 1,700 shrubs to view you'll have more than enough ideas for what you'd like in your garden or landscape.

Thanks again Viburnum... Joe Boggs of Hamilton County Extension came out for a visit today and proclaimed us a "treasure". Well... our treasure is begging to be discovered by the people of Cincinnati.

I'll second Boone County Aroboretum as a "treasure." An absolutely wonderful institution, and quite unique. In Cincinnati we also have a world reknowned arboretum, Spring Grove, which is old and awesome, but Boone County is in some ways more useful and viewer friendly. It would not surprise me if BCA has a greater number of species already, and with much of it young you can get a great look at some of the plants before they get huge.

Nursery wise, there are many good ones in the Greater Cincinnati area. Greenfield specializes in perennials, Natorp's and Sharon Nursery's are good full-spectrum nurseries. Marvin's Organic Garden's has a wide range of great stuff, a lot of it rare and unique.

I think you'll find that this area of the midwest supports a surprisingly large pallette of plants, and, overall, that the seasons are nice. They each have their appeal. It helps to have a positive attitude when it comes to winter though.

Books! A good primer is Denny McKeown's Complete Guide to Midwest Gardening. It would be a great place to start. He's the local gardening radio guru. Tracey DiSabato-Aust's The Well-Tended Perennial Garden is a very useful perennial book from an author 100 miles up the road in Columbus, Ohio. And Durr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs describes many temperate trees and shrubs, the vast majority of which can be grown here.

Scott

I've grown Salvia leucantha, Indigo Spires, Pineapple
Sage, as well as bedding types-Blue Bedder, Victoria, Gruppenblau, etc. They will be annuals here, though. I make cuttings from the plant before winter. Sometimes the plants survive the winter if it's mild, but you can't count on it. Hope this helps a little.

If and when you do move to Northern KY- Hebron. Visit the Boone County Cooperative Extension Service: http://ces.ca.uky.edu/boone/ they would be happy to provide you with all of their free literature on local horticulture. Ask to speak with Mike the Horticulture agent, and tell him Kris sent you from gardenweb (the person moving to Hebron from California).