I apologize
@stone for not responding more clearly. I'm in New York City - Brooklyn to be exact, for what that is worth as the climate/zones sure seem to be migrating north pretty rapidly! I don't know what kind of soil we have back there - but will figure out what "kind" it is as well as testing for ph. And thanks - going forward I will definitely check out wax myrtle and yaupon holly. Also the consensus view here that we should be planting further from the concrete!
@LorettaNJ - thanks for the referral to the extension service, which I will definitely contact, and have a fond feeling for because my mom went to the Cornell Ag school many years ago. Later in her life, after doing other things, she had a big Bio-Dynamic herb garden from which she sold many seedlings - her plant grandchildren live on around Massachusetts.
