Same with us here in Mississippi, Tara and Jim. Would you rather deal with 92F and rain or -20F and snow? I sure know where I would NOT want to live. When I use the word "paradise", I am referring to the fact that you don't have to spend days moving everything (in/out) twice a year. And then there is finding the space for all the outside plants that have to be brought in.

You do have a point, Ken. Though I must say I'm in North Florida. Some consider it to be South Georgia. (not like that's a horribly bad thing...to my Ga. friends) So me and my tropicals (of which, thank goodness aren't as numerous as they use to be) do in fact dance in and out a couple times. So I can relate. I keep telling my DH every winter that one day, I really would like to move to the "real" Florida!

I am with you, Ken!! Not sure how I feel about a whole Summer with 92 degr temps, but from where I am sitting, last week's temperatures in the nineties were wonderful!!

I sure do prefer the summer hibernation mode in Florida to suffering winter's cold and snow elsewhere.

Moved in 1987 from Chicago to Southern California. Now when I look at the mountains with snow on them in winter I think it is beautiful...way over there

You won't find me moving north any time soon. Besides, what would I do with all of my palms and cycads?

Jim

Couldn't bring them in, huh?

Not hardly. They're in the ground and many are huge. I don't think I will ever move from here.

Jim

Tongue-in-cheek, Jim. I have seen pictures of those beautiful and massive trees. They are not going anywhere and why would you? Your roots are now probably as deep as some of those trees.

Jim I wanted to share this picture of what I am pretty sure is a Bismark. We saw it on the grounds of a restaurant in Ponte Vedra last weekend. Also, can you ID the tall one? My son wants one of these for his home and I could not remember the name.

and some of us still have to drag our plants in and out all winter...AND slave away in the heat n humidity...planting sod. The pile on the pallets does not seem to be getting any lower!

Leave it in the sun for a few days, Lindsey. It will get lower for sure. OR put a sign on it "Free sod" and that will make it disappear.

You're gonna have to mow all that sod once you get it growing, too. Phew!! I don't miss mowing one bit - my neighbor mows the verges next to the street for me in exchange for free well water, so we do not have to worry about mowing.

Yes, Alice, that blue one is a Bismarck palm (Bismarckia nobilis). The tall one is called a wild date palm, (Phoenix sylvestris).

Jim

Alice, the Bismark is one of the few palms I actually like! I love the color. That waterfall is beautiful! That's one of the things I miss living in flat old Florida....streams & hills and mountains and REAL waterfall...not to mention chipmunks & lilac bushes and weeping willow trees....I could go on forever, which is why my dream is to move out of this steamy, tropical 'hell' at some point to a quiet little place in the Smokey's, with a stream flowing through it and real trees all over the place..............

Well, the waterfall wasn't exactly natural, but in Ponte Vedra a lot of things aren't natural. That tree was stunning though.

@SarasotaPatty I live in the smokeys and I wouldn't move for anything. We get to go hikeing in the Mountains all the time. we are planning a big hike this month to gregory's bald to see the flame azaleas. But it is hard to find flat land without paying a fortune for it.
http://www.hikinginthesmokys.c...

Thanks for rubbing it in Heath! I'm so jealous! I was up near Gatlinburg about a year & a half ago and have decided my new goal in life is to become a Half-back! I was also horrified at what Pigeon Forge & Seiverville have become...looked like Vegas!

I discovered that whole area quite by accident in the early 80's....I was going through some rough times and decided I needed a "snow & mountain fix" and got in my car heading north, with the intention of I driving until I found snow....as I was on the mountain between Cherokee & Gatlingburg it started snowing! I drove into Pigeon Forge, got a hotel and the next morning the mountain was closed due to snow & ice. I stayed a week and fell in love! Even spent part of my honeymoon there. It was however, VERY different back then. Not sure exactly where in the Smokey's I want to be....but I'm sure when the time is right I'll be able to find something I'm happy with.

Patty, you are so right. Unfortunately, I can name dozens of wonderful, unspoiled areas that have now become "Vegas-like". The panhandle of FL is loaded with them. Even the towns in the Inner Passage of Alaska have become that way, at least during the tourist season. I guess that's what folks call "progress".

I work for the city of pigeon forge and in the past 9 years I've worked here it has grown a lot with no end in sight. At least they can't touch the mountiains. If you leave sevier county it's not as bad.