My favorite on your list are the mango trees, by far. Once you get a grafted, 6 ' - 7' tall tree planted in the ground with the amended soil you mixed up yourself, then babied it for the next 3 months, - you are home free. One of the main reasons I have six of them, they are very easy to maintain. Remember however, to have some Christmass tree lights and an extension cord ready, just in case we get another 2009/2010 cold winter.

FYI, I tried avocados, 2 small trees, but found the critters liked them more than I did ! ( smile ) Only speaking about my experiences here in SW Florida, others might have had better success. Being a retiree, I am interested in stuff that is low maintenance. Am now replacing a 24 ft long Areca Palm hedge next to my screened lanai with the moderate sized, slow growing viburnum plants that will top out at 6 - 8 ft tall. The Areca's and their nasty roots are all out of the ground now, the new plant holes dug, and I am still alive, lol,..buying the viburnums this morning,..am all smiles as I wipe the sweat off my forehead.!

You will love South Florida, - can almost guarantee it. Good luck !

If you feel so inclined, you may wish to take an MG class here. Florida's growing condiotions can really frazzle gardeners who are from other areas of the country. While we get lots of sun and heat, the almost perpetually high humidity can do in many normally tough plants. Bougainvillea should do well for you, just make sure it is protected from frost (depending on how close to the gulf you are, you may not have to worry about this) and NW winds.

Again, depending on where ypu are, there are a few apple varieties that are available to us. Fuji and I think Dorset can squeak by with their lower chill hours.

While I haven't grown strawberries myself, I thin they are a winter crop here with many people planting them out in October. And that is the real trick to growing the familiar fruits and veggies herr, with so many things, the planting seasons have changed.

If you scroll down on the link here, you can see pics some of the varieties of bougainvilla that I grow. I am in NE Fl so I have to protect mine during the winter if I dont want them to die back totally ,most winters, but you probably wont have to protect them much. http://forums.gardenweb.com/discussions/3124013/rooting-bougainvillea-cuttings?n=15

Every thing on your list is doable, however fruit tree's and veggies take a lot more work then most folks realize, because you need to be aware of potential problems like insects, fungus, disease and also everything here in SW FL where I live 36 yrs. needs to be fed at appropriate times because it is trying to survive in sand. I had all kinds of fruit trees yrs. ago but gave up due to all the work involved as I got older .Now, I simply go to a local fruit stand to buy what I need. I do however have lot's of flowering plants including bougies, hibiscus, plumbago and many beautiful trees such as orchid, magnolia, holly, crape myrtles and of course our beloved palms. Also a word of advice don't go crazy planting or in a years time you will wake up to a jungle in your yard, no kidding we live in a natural hot house here and all things grow wildly in a short time.

Hi Moni

Welcome to the Florida garden forum! Nice garden you had in OKC.

I can advice you according to my experience here in Central Florida, every zone have different requirements. The best way to buy fruit trees is to sample the fruit before you buy them, there are a lot of varieties and you have to be happy with the flavor because they take time and space to grow.

On your list, I see that the previous posters did not address the problem of greening in our state, the best thing for you would be to google and then make a decision, too long of a subject.:) In my garden I do have a very productive Meyer lemon, Key West and Red limes.

My avocado is probably the best fruit ever planted in my yard, gives abundant and delicious fruits, the variety is Brogdon and I sampled the fruit before getting it.

I have a very small area to garden but I do have 3 mangoes, one is older than the other ones, mango is probably one of the best tasting fruits depending on the variety, that goes again you have to taste them.

If you have patience for spraying and care for strawberries, then is a good idea. In my case I pick them at the u-pick farm fresh, now is strawberry season, soon it will wind down.

I had not any luck with low chill varieties of apples in my area, neither a very prestigious nursery that I talked about it, I got little apples of inferior quality and I know for experience tasting that is not the way they are supposed to be, no more apples for me growing here.:)

Herbs should be easy, but that is a big subject depending on what you like and use.

Bougainvilleas in my zone are easy to care for and don't need protection in the winter, they are gorgeous but wicked thorns! I had them before.

You have a long homework, but it should be fun, posters here are the best! some are very knowledgeable.

Silvia

Welcome to Florida, Moni!

My favorite mangos are "condo mangos" aka mangos that stay small. I've had Fairchild, nam doc etc. . You can google pine island nursery and 'condo mango', they have very good information about all different mangos, both regular and dwarf. If getting more than one, I would look for ones which produce at different times of the year.

As far as citrus, you can't got wrong with a new improved Meyers and a thornless key lime! I don't have an orange or grapefruit tree but one day hope to add a "cocktail" tree. You can sometimes find them at lowes, but you can also special order citrus trees grafted with 2,3 or 4 of your preferred citrus.

The only avacado I had was brodgen but I never got to eat one!

Do you like figs? You might want to look into them too. I got 2 babies growing and so far they are really doing great

Helen

I live in NE Fl and have LSU purple figs which were bred in Louisiana and do great in this humidity. They have a nice berry like undertone flavor to the figs. I also have a dwarf mulberry that basically requires no care other than watering. Our soil here is enriched w composted manure from chickens & rabbits though. It has way more mulberries on it right now than i can count. They taste just like sweet blackberries.

Welcome to Florida. When I moved here three summers ago, I found out that I had to forget everything I knew about gardening, having moved here from up north.

Don't mean this in a bad way. It's just different. The upshot is you can garden year-round and you can almost watch your plants grow daily!

Welcome to Florida! First off, our seasons are reversed here, so you'll be planting your veggies in the fall/winter instead of spring/summer. I don't know what zone you're in, but if you're halfway down the gulf coast, I'm thinking 9b/10a. You can literally garden all year long. Lived in that area for many years before I came up here to N. Florida. We have many experienced SW FL gardeners here who will be happy to help you, as will I.

Hi

My addition to the above advice is wait until your've lived in the area for awhile. If you're getting a house it will probably already have a landscape??

Give yourself some time to decide what and how much you want to grow .

look around to what is growing in the neighborhood ,probably nothing that you're familiar with or if you recognize it it's growing in a far different way lol

I'm originally from SW Kansas and the only thing I still have from there is a Dracaena . kept in a window there, here became a monster that requires pruning 3 times a year here lol Nothing from the yard though I tried for years to grow bearded Iris lol

Whats up with all the disasters hitting the area?? Tornadoes yes but "Earthquakes"?? Good luck gary

Welcome to the Sunshine state. There are some good books specific to FLA regarding gardening. I like the idea of just watching for a year. In that time you can take some day trips and see plants in different settings.

Enjoy!

One bonus you can get from watching for a year is noting how the sun tracks. I have said this before, but the way shadows change here is quite dramatic. You can have an area that is full shade all winter and full sun all summer. This can make finding plants that can handle both extremes... fun. I don't know if I could wait a full year, but I have learned that when I move and get to start over, I definitely will slow down that first year until I a better understanding of my conditions.

Thank you so much, for the warm welcome, and great tips. I plan to take it easy... cept for the trees. Where I come from (originally Germany, but 44 years in Oklahoma) trees need time, and planting them early means a harvest a year or so earlier than otherwise.

The house here is "landscaped", and a good basis to do some more. :)

I love to garden, and have a plenty in my adult life. However, I have never lived in a hot house climate. Thanks for pointing this out. :)

I am disappointed about peonies, and some other plants that prolly won't make it here, but look forward to new options.

I do have a fig tree that dies back to the ground every year, and plan to bring it with me, along with the two containers full of compost.

This move will be fun. :)

Thanks again everyone for all the tips and info.

Moni

Many counties in Florida will have some classes on native plants, vegetables, and orchids. When you move in you can find more information at your local library and your county's IFAS website.

Apple does fine you need anna and dorsett you need both to cross pollenate and have fruit pack the base with ice on the coldest week of the year helps make them bloom in the spring keep iced for 7 to 10 days cover.ice i use a towel. You should try a Florida peach. And mullberry they do great many figs do great here i have one some peonies do good here find your zone im in 9B and i have some