Welcome, Dirthappy - you're gonna love it here! Many of us are transplants (MA to NC myself)and I daresay no one could blast us back North if they tried!

You've got time on your side so besides getting past the culture shock and getting settled, bookmark this site and review old threads. There's a treasue trove of knowledge to be had for the taking!

It would also be very helpful, on one of your trips down here, or soon after you get here, for you to buy - and read! - a copy of the Southern Living Garden Book, as well as any other regional books - Felder Rushing, Tobey Bost, etc., are good regional authors, as is Elizabeth Lawrence (from the Charlotte area), who wrote a garden column in the 50's and 60's - the species and cultivars have changed, but the advice still works! Things WILL be different, and the differences abound between regions - coastal, central, piedmont or mountain, as well as if you will be on clay or sand. Since you know where you will be relocating, if you let the Forum know the general area, you can get specific suggestions for shopping, where to get plants and general cultural practices.

Hiya dirthappy, Welcome from another ex-nawthener(CT)
What part of NY you leaving behind?
What part of SC you approaching soon?

Down here, in the past 3-4 years we've been re-zoned.
What was 7b around Charlotte is now considered primarily 8a making it a lot tougher to hang onto old New England favorites like lupine and rhubarb.
But we adjust..
Dottie

Hi Dirthappy, welcome to SC!! I'm a native NC from the Charlotte area originally now in the Sandhills of SC. You will love it here!! A lot of folks from the north have found our little piece of heaven here and all I speak with seem to really love it here. You do have some wonderful gardening adventures ahead of you. And dibbit has it so right, depending on where you are, you can have an entirely different set of regions to take into consideration. The soil can be very different. I only moved about 50 miles out of Charlotte which is primarily red clay and now have sandy loam as my planting medium. What area of SC are you relocating to? Have fun, pick up some good research material, and enjoy your new home.

Thank you all for responding. I'm leaving Upstate New York and will be living in Hilton Head. My husband has been there for 2 weeks and is enjoying it. He's been wanting to go to the beaches but Faye has dumped so much rain that he hasn't been able to yet.
Leaving at the end of Sept., maybe I'll still be able to see the beginning of fall here. I'll miss the colors of the seasons but not the snow.
Thanks again for the welcome.

Hilton Head has excellent nurseries and experienced personel to guide you. You will enjoy a different type of fall color as the Camellia sasanquas come into bloom and the sulfur yellows of Cassia light up the gardens. Once you have figured out the six growing seasons of the Low Country and how to blend them you will never look back to northern gardening. There are several home and garden tours in the spring which should be helpful. A tip...gardening in Sun City, an adult gated community, is very difficult due to the type of mucky, acid soil there. It has challenged the best of the landscapers. Suggest that the serious gardener not purchase a house there.

Well, if you're renting for a year you will become an expert at potting plants and container gardening which will be far less traumatic for you during warm/hot hurricane season and cold Northeasterly storm season.

Your biggest adjustment will be the absence of what you know as Spring and Winter. Memorial Day planting routines are not followed here in the South. Heck, most schools are open for business on Memorial Day. You get used to it eventually.

I just bought a copy of that Southern Living Garden Book a few weeks ago and would have to recommend it as well.