Beyond suffering a really bad case of zone envy, I'm just in awe. The lilacs down there are the size of our garden shed and some are the most spectacular shade of bluish-purple--nothing like the light lavender up here. Our poor little Sago palm that needs to be brought inside during winter looks like a comedic interpretation of what we saw thriving outdoors along the Gulf.

And oh my--the Live Oaks! I've never seen massive trees with branches that curve back down & grow into the ground, just coated with Spanish moss. We visited Houmas House and spent more time in the gardens there than in the historic building. By the way, Louisiana wasps are less afraid of people than the ones up here. I think they could carry off a small bird! Oh, the dragonflies! So docile, large, and vibrant. Up here they flit about and fly away. Down there, they play with you, buzzing about your head and landing on your hands and arms. It was like a fairy tale.

It seemed like no matter where we were--gas station, plantation, or roadside motel--everyone took pride in their gardens and everything looked fabulous. People were knowledgeable about the native plants and ecosystems in the bayou & if we had a question, we could ask just about anybody. What a lovely, lovely place.

Visit in late October. Same weeds from August are still growing. Bugs that were small in May, have been growing all summer.

Other 'nature' events that don't make the tourist brochures:

Buckmoth caterpiller weeks: look up and if the oaks are defoliated, the buckmoths are out and chomping. Be careful they don't fall onto you as the spines on their back leave two rows of painful stings.

Formosa Termite weeks: swarms are so dense at night that you have to keep the lights inside your house off to keep them from coming indoors. It will remind you of looking out your more northern window at falling snow around a street light at night.

Love bugs weeks: when you spend hours removing them from the front of your car before they etch the paint.

June: when you'd kill for a good fresh local tomato, but the tomatoes have produced and it's too hot for all but creole tomatoes. And all tomatoes will have to be replanted in September for a fall crop.

I do NOT miss the Copperheads, nor Cotton Mouths, nor any of the other creepy-crawlies left behind. Our Rattle, King, Gopher and Black Racer snakes are good enough! Mosquitoes here, don't have license plates as they do there and, unlike there, HERE they only bother you for a few weeks instead of year-round.

Yup, we have earthquakes and fires; Santa Ana Wind and searing heat, but I'll take all of those to avoid hurricanes and twisters and all the year round fungal rose issues, any day! Kim

We came home to a cold front having just passed through, and it's been in the 70's for 2 days and now I'm freezing. I'm wearing a long-sleeved sweater & wool socks to work today--ugh.

I DID notice that every time we stopped somewhere, we had to scrub off the windshield & front of the Jeep. It was just plastered with ex-bugs. I understand now why we saw so few motorcycles! Oh yeah---we were warned about snakes or mites in the Spanish moss, if anyone got the idea that reaching up & grabbing a handful was too interesting to resist.

Thanks for sharing your experience, and from what others have said it sounds like spring is a good time to go.

Myself, I just returned from Seattle, where I found all sorts of little plants in planters downtown that I didn't recognize--weird things. Like Louisianans, we don't have short growing seasons, which is lovely, but it's also like 90 right now, and everything's just baking.

We're supposed to be near 100 here today. Apparently I brought the climate back with me in the car somehow.