Some of these say they can be grown in z9, but they don’t get into details that are important. For ex., Ranunculus, Most bearded irises, Tigridia and some types of lilies will not do well in warm (as in FL, TX) evenings. Whereas they will thrive in CA z9 with hot days, but cool nights. At best these will perform like an annual in your garden.

the rest on the list s/b fine for you in z9 or 10.

Follow instructions per the ETGB website.

Thanks, Bossy, that is what I was afraid of. I know there is a big difference growing in Zone 9/10 in Florida vs the same zones in CA. I am hoping there are posters here with personal experience in growing these in Florida zones 9/10.

I used to live in 9b, which is now 10. It was 10 at the time but they hadn't updated the USDA climate zone map because (as the story goes) Bush wouldn't let them, because it proved global warming. But that's irrelevant.

I tried growing nerine once. Someone traded me for a crinum bulb on here years ago. They came up for a few years, but never bloomed. Then one particularly wet summer, they all rotted in the ground.

Brought bearded irises down with me from SC. They never bloomed, and eventually died.

I also tried tigridia and freesia, because someone told me freesia would grow there, but they bloomed once and then died. The same with gladiolus. Bloomed once and never again.

The only things on your list I had luck with were Easter lilies (but not regular lilies), cannas, and daylilies. But take heart! There are a lot of lovely bulbs that will grow in your zone. Try some of these:

Crinum

Blood lily

Peruvian daffodil

Daylily (There are so many gorgeous hybrids now!)

Amaryllis and Hemorocallis (we have a number of GORGEOUS native members of the amaryllis family in the state that do well where you are, like the native giant spider lily)

Hurricane lily (the red and the white ones ones do best)

Crocosmia

and don't forget our wonderful Rain Lilies! I love those so much.

If you want irises, we have African irises, Louisiana iris, and a few types of walking irises.

Thanks, Dirtygardener. I have a white crinum that has grown really well and have ordered the 'Ellen Bosanquet' and one with a pink and white striped flower.

I have Amaryllis bulbs in pots. Can I put these in the ground? They won't rot?

I have a yellow walking iris and had a blackberry lily (but that died).

I will look into the other plants you have mentioned. I have read conflicting info about the Louisiana irises. I guess I could give them a try and see how it works out.

Hi vml68

I learned the local ornamental gardening mostly from the gardening friends that came to the parties at my house, some of them had a wealth of experience! Visiting local Botanical gardens helps on picking the plants that do well in the area and very important light requirements.

I have Amaryllis in the ground, some of them in sun and some of them in shade, they all do well. Don't forget the caladiums, I like them too.

Criniums, cannas, daylilies, rainlilies, walking irises, blackberry lily, all of them were gifts from the gardeners.

Silvia

vml - No, the amaryllis bulbs won't rot. I used to have a beautiful vintage pale pink crinum, but the bulbs I brought with me from SW FL died. I was trying to keep them in a container so I could carry them easily when I moved, but somehow, they rotted. They really like being in the ground more. I miss that one, and if I ever find bulbs for it, I'm going to get some.

Silvia, You and me and our "mostly free" yards. I would have paid a lot of money for all the plants I had at my old house, but most were from trades or gifts or "rescues" (me and my rescues!). I miss some of those plants, but I didn't know if they would do well up here, so I left them. Turns out, I could have kept a lot of them.

I forgot about Caladiums! I love those too. I grow mine in pots up here, because they freeze easily. I lost one type last year to all the rains, so I keep them in a sheltered place now, and if we have a continual downpour, I bring them inside.

A couple of years ago, I was looking for a curry leaf plant. Tina (tinael) offered to give me one. While I was at her house, she also gave me a crinum, walking iris, agapanthus, a couple of cannas, blackberry lily, bulbine and a few other plants. She was beyond generous!

Of those, only the crinum (it is huge now), agapanthus and yellow walking iris have thrived. the rest did well for a short period and then died. I focused on buying fruit trees these past couple years but now that I will be moving to a new house with a big yard in a few months, I am trying to build up my collection of flowering plants.

Everything I have is in pots. I have a few caladiums too, but every year fewer of them come up.

I am all for "free" plants but don't know any other gardeners around here and I don't have anything to offer in exchange either.

We have some very generous gardeners on this site. I've been given so much that I try to pass it along as much as I can. Plus, I love propagating plants, so that leads to more than I can handle, which leads to sharing them with other gardeners. When I lived in SW FL, I couldn't trade with my close gardening buddies anymore, because we all had the same plants in our yards from years of trading.

vml, are you in Tampa Bay area?

I went crazy last year with Easy to grow bulbs, almost everything started to come up, but only the anemone and gladiolus bloomed for me. Then this winter bulds that came up last yr but "died" started popping up again... but some have gotten eaten by lubbers and others are dying again ( yellowing that starts at tips and continues) it has been dry so it is not soggy soil, I am watering, but maybe not enough, but most likely soil bugs eating roots/ suckling the life out of them.

I don't know if I could of gotten everything to bloom if I had really babied them and in perfect soil, or if it was really an issue of temperature and humidity.

Good luck! I am hoping it works out for you, I am not a good gardener, I tend to have lots of pests (we don't keep the yard cut well enough, the weeds grow and give haven to pests)

Oh the Freesia did bloom, but the ones I had were not that showy.

Irma - yes, I am in Tampa. I will be moving to Pinellas county as soon as my house is ready.

SweetMonkeyCheese - It's so easy to go crazy when shopping online! I contacted EasytoGrow and asked them if I could switch out some of the items in my order since they have not shipped it yet. Instead of the Bearded Iris, Nerine and Tigridia, I am hoping to get more Amaryllis and Daylilies.

Put the amaryllis in the ground. I have them all over my yard, many were here when we bought the house and I've added a few. I never water them, yet they bloom their heads off and multiply like crazy.

I call them, my Florida Tulips!

Easiest bulbs to grow along with the rain lilies.

Jane