The best thing you can do is to prepare the soil. Add compost and till up the dirt. I have done one bed a year for the past several years. I have also raised my beds four inches because of drainage issues. I have mostly full sun also. For fast growing low maintenance trees, I have planted crepe myrtles, vitex (chaste tree), and dwarf pear trees. I really like evergreen shrubs for structure - The very best for easy low maintenance full sun (2-3 feet tall) are indian hawthorne. For part sun and heighth pittosporum and loropetalum are also fairly easy. As far as roses, I have several. Your best bets are the old-fashioned sgrub roses - chinas, teas and polyanthas. Buy mildew resistant varieties because of the heat and humidity. These old fashioned roses bloom from spring to frost. As far as perennials, the very best is the evergreen daylily - no holes in the winter in the garden. Also, low-growing dwarf
agapanthus stay evergreen. Other bulbs that do well for me are: agapanthus, crinum, gingers for sun, calla lilies, rain lilies. Tulips are an annual here. Garden Perennials for the Coastal South by Barbara Sullivan is an excellent book to buy with plenty of beautiful photographs and Dan Gill's Louisiana Garden Guide. If you choose full sun selections form those two books you should do well.

I have my iris in partial sun, very well drained soil (which is a must) and they do great. Not sure how they would do here in full sun. I agree with Lisa about the roses--Knockout, Bonica, Joseph's Coat, Lady Banks are just a few easy care roses. The hybrid teas require a lot of care. Crepe myrtles are easy; just be aware of whether you're buying dwarf or standard. The ones you get at Walmart/K-Mart are usually not marked and I've made some big mistakes that way. Some other small trees that are beautiful and do well here are Japanese maples, saucer or little gem magnolia, and red bud trees. The Bradford pears are also beautiful, but prone to fire blight and do not hold up well to hurricanes. Lorepetalum has beautiful purple foliage and fuschia flowers. I don't like pittosporum any more because it requires frequent pruning to keep it in bounds. Camellias are beautiful evergreen flowering shrubs, but very slow growing. Best thing to do is look at lots of pictures, come up with an overall plan, then choose the plants to fit.

Great advice from susan and lisa! Can't emphasize enough the need to PREPARE THE SOIL. Also, one thing I learned is to space your plants appropriately -- they will often double in size the next year. I have Bradford Pears and, sadly, they have a BAD case of fire blight -- I have hybrid roses and have to spray them weekly but they belonged to my mother so I enjoy tending them. Some shrubs which add incredible color and do very well in full sun are Gold Mound Spirea and Golden Abelia. The other suggestion about gardening is to take your time in the planning process. Look around at other gardens in your area to 1) help you to see which plants tend to do well in your area and 2) to help you decide what type of color scheme and design you want. Happy gardening!

check to see if there is an arboretium in your area, you can get a lot of ideas about performance of trees and shrubs in your area by a visit.

Here is a link that might be useful: my gardens