Hi and welcome back!
I just moved up to Zone 9 from South Florida and am trying to grow my faves up here in the new garden.

So far, I haven't seen any bugs on my crepe myrtle babies. Blue porterweed are doing well, so far, and of course daylilies (but, I'll bet lubbers will eat them if they are in the yard) I have different colors of guara that don't have any bugs, but the pale ones have mealey bugs (and I'm trying coffee grounds on those)
Mealey bugs have discovered my jatropha and aphids are hanging out on my hibiscus.
I have a bunch of knockout roses mixed with Blue Butterflies Clerodendrum that I started from cuttings and that whole bed is bug-free. And all my tropicals still look good, but I'm not sure how they'll do in the cold weather.
I still have my Relexa that Ricky gave me and Madagascar Dragon draceana - they look great and I never have to spray them for any critters.
When my duranta plants were little cuttings, they got whiteflies. But now they are grown up, they are worth it. I used to just spray with alcohol & water, but haven't seen whiteflies up here yet.
I hope all my ground orchids will do well in Zone 9. . . they don't seem to attract anything and have been low-maintenance in Zone 10. Their little flowers are so cool. I have them mixed with Euphorbia and impatiens.
But I guess I can't really give good advice til I've been here longer. Maybe someone else in this part of Florida will help us both!

Lotsa Luck
Susie

To tell the truth, I don't really have many insect problems on my ornamental plants. I only see minor damage and usually the plants recover after a while so I rarely ever use anything to kill insects (obviously I am not including veggie eating worms and fire ants in this statement).

I can offer some ideas for what plants did well for me if you tell me more about what you want. Do you have full sun or shade? Do you want trees, bushes, annuals,big plants, little plants, etc..?

Susie, thanks. :-) I'll look into some of those.

Amberroses, I've got all conditions in the yard. In the front, it's a western exposure so it's full sun from about 11am/noon and on at the beds near the front porch. In the yard, it's full sun from about 10am on. In the back I have more shade because of the GRT. However in winter, less because it loses its leaves. The rest of the back has a lot of sun, but since the GRT is in the middle of the yard (size 100' wide by 30' deep) I have zones of shade and sun.

I tend to prefer plants that are a bit more well behaved. I don't like invasives and I don't want to have to trim it every time I turn around. For the front I prefer a slightly more formal look, but not too formal - not stiffly edged shrubs, but usually evergreens that maintain a neat and clean appearance while still having a natural shape.

For the back, I usually like to be a bit more whimsical. That's usually where I put interesting plants, experiments, plants that may not be formal enough for the front in their natural shape but are still appealing in some unique way.

Overall, I am open to evergreens, flowering shrubs, perennials, ornamental grasses, natives. I do like flowers, but I'm not stuck on them. I prefer splashes of color, not just all green.

I like plants that I don't have to baby once established. I don't want to have to drape the yard in miles of sheets if a cold snap comes. Plants that deal successfully with water provided by Ma Nature are a bonus.

The successful plants in my yard are...

In the front: 3 podacarpus, 2 dwarf oleanders (minus the occasional moth infestation), 1 plumbago and 2 pentas in the beds near the front porch. In the yard, I have 1 dahoon holly, an azalea patch and 4 potted azaleas that sprung from the patch.

In the back: 1 golden rain tree, 1 orange tree. I'm thinking about getting an aucuba for the back near the patio in the shade. I've seen them in the neighborhood and I had one in Oregon.

Does that help? :-D

Full sun western exposure is challenging for sure. My front yard is like yours. Vincas do well in the summer as well as jatropha, lantana, gaillardia, yellow elder (not evergreen but very pretty), zinnia, necklace pod (native), indian hawthorn (boring), muhly grass, texas sage, fringe tree (native and not native), and crape myrtle (of various sizes, not evergreen)

My backyard is also sort like yours and is part sun and part shade eastern exposure. Look into beautyberry (native but not evergreen), nun's cap orchids, snake plant, cast iron plant, hydrangeas (you have to water after a couple of days without rain), antique china or tea roses (there may be slight insect or blackspot but no need to spray them), and many others. I plant the more sensitive plants in the backyard.