I hear it snows in the Dallas area... (Austin, China: transplants, house)

[Barbee]

I am a lifelong Miami native who is soon moving to the Dallas vicinity. Apparantly one of the new experiences I will be facing is "snow" .

I would like some advice on home heating. Gas-vs-electric for central;
and Gas-vs-wood burning in the fire place. Naturally my primary concern would be cost. But are there other issues w/ regard to housecleaning? Do you have to wash soot off the walls? (I know that cigarette smokers have problems w/ the smoke staining the walls-same w/ a fireplace? )

This may seem like basic stuff to you but I have never seen snow or used a fireplace and this are completely novel issues for me.

(Yes, I've SEEN it in photographs and even in them 'fancy moving pictures'.... LOL You guys know what I mean and please don't make fun of me.)

It also occurs to me that I need a good resource for gardening issues. (Preferrably a web-based forum) I have several potted 'specimen' trees I was hoping to take w/ me as well as the fact that I am an orchid hobbiest. I need to know which plants I can take and which I will have to offer up for adoption.

Thanks a bunch!

[lany]

Hi Barbee...

I can't help you with fireplace questions... don't like them, don't use them. And I can't really help with gas vs electric either.

What I might be able to help with is gardening assistance...

Try here:

http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/pac_ctnt_98..._30226,00.html

HGTV just came out with the Gardening Guy (Paul James) and that link is to a Zone Finder... which will help you find the right zone and the right plants for that zone.

That should help in that department anyway.

As for snow... it drops in here maybe once or twice over the winter months but in a day or two it's back to 60 degrees and the snow/ice/freezing rain is a distant memory.
If you are majorly worried about driving in it you might consider looking for a defensive driving course once you get settled in here. I'd presume they have them considering how many transplants come to DFW on a yearly basis.



Lany

[momof2dfw]

Barbee, lany is right, we might, MIGHT get some snow once or twice a year. I think LA gets more than we do. LOL!!! What we do get is more ice than snow and that is where the difference is when it comes to people moving here from other climates that are used to lots of snow. Ice is WAY different to drive on than snow. Don't be surprised that the schools close for ice when we only got a wee bit. That "black ice" will take you by surprise and it is usually the jerks thinking they know how to "drive on snow" flying by that lose it and crash.

Go with gas heat. Most homes around here have gas heat. Gas is way cheaper than electric when it comes to heating. Most of the homes have gas fireplaces. You can get gas logs for your fireplace and then you really don't have to worry about the soot issues. It also burns cleaner.

As for your gardening needs, check out Neal Sperry , he is "The Guru" for Texas gardeners. Also check out this link for the Texas A&M Texas Master Gardner program

link removed

[Barbee]

Thanks to both Lany and Mom! I really appreciate your advice! I will check out both of the sites/forums you suggested. Because I am from Miami and (naturally) an impatient sort -I went looking for a gardening forum of my very own.

Believe it or not-I found a real GEM! Apparantly the best kept secret in Dallas! Not very many of the people who visit actually post-mostly lurkers-but it's moderated by a professional grower...and ummmmm...from what I can see, every single question asked is promply responded to by the grower! Does anyone else here appreciate personal one-on-one chats w/ a professional grower? If that is the kind of service you prefer. I have a web site based forum for you! The grower is North Haven Gardens. [color="red"]link removed Amazing! Please don't everyone swamp my new friends w/ questions! If you do, they won't have time for me!

Thanks, Mom, for the advice on the heating....you are the ONLY one who actually understood my question. (This is not the only place/forum I have asked it.) But the second I read the word: "soot", I knew you were spot-on! I guess everyone else has maids/servants to deal w/ these issues-I'm retired and childless so all the housecleaning chores fall upon me. I also appreciate your input w/ regard to the cost effectiveness of gas for central heating. That's important to me as well! .....And just the kind of advice I was hoping to get. Thank You!

Personally, I prefer not to drive-I find it to be an unpleasant and unrewarding experience. Something done only because you 'must' I assure you both that I am not only 'defensive' but will avoid travelling on ice at all costs. (Never had an accident, never had a ticket-knock on wood! -and I assure you that Miami's reputation for the rudest drivers in the US is well earned.)

I love this forum, the best people are here! See you all soon! (In TEXAS!)

[lifertexan]

Gas is way cheaper than electric when it comes to heating.

I'm not so sure this is true anymore.I built a home 2 years ago and went all electric,because I had been on propane before and had issues with carbon monoxide leaks and just felt safer about not having to deal with creating a poisonous byproduct that had to be vented out of the house.We have a few people ever year around Texas that die from CM poisoning from faulty gas furnaces.But my electric bill has run the same or lower than the combined electric/gas bills of friends and neighbors.When gas is high,that high price is directly passed on to gas customers,but is shared among electric bills because some electric plants use coal instead of gas,so the increase across the board for generating electricity is lessened by the fact that not all electricity is gas generated.

For a fireplace I would personally go with wood.You don't need a fireplace for supplemental heat,it is simply done for the ambience.I light fires in mine as often as I can,but I kid about having to turn the A/C on in winter to get the house down cool enough to have a fire.I just like a good fire,and gas just doesn't cut it for me.You would not have a fire enough to worry about soot buildup except in the chimney.I've burned fires as often as possible in mine for two winters now and there is not a hint of soot on the walls or ceiling around the fireplace.

As to driving,stay home when it is snowing or sleeting.Nobody in Texas knows how to drive on snow or ice.Or rain for that matter.Texans can spin out on a spitball from a snuff dipper.

[theaustinegalitarian]

Hi,
I was just visiting the Dallas forum and I noticed you are an orchid hobbyist. We have an orchid social group in City-Data here:
City-Data Forum - Orchid Lovers

With just a little extra care, you should be able to get your orchids through the cold weeks by bringing them indoors if you have them outside. I grow mine inside because of the dry air, mostly. (In Austin the winter is a matter of a few weeks of night frosts, maybe Dallas is a bit colder.)

[honu1]

I haven't had much luck with my orchids outdoors here but mine tend to do fine indoors...my african violets too. As for other plants, I learned the hard way that even if, at the store the label says "grows in full sun in zones xyz" that usually does not mean the plant can really tolerate full sun in TX, even when in the correct zone. I lost many a "drought tolerant" plant as well. It was truly a trial and error process. Also, part of the problem where I live is the clay soils. I add lots and lots of compost every year in an effort to improve the poor soil where I live. Once you get settled, contact your county horticultural extension service. They have invaluable resources and many even have master gardeners in the community with whom you can consult. I learned about that sadly, long after I moved here

Not enough snow here to worry about. Its a total novelty. Practically everything shuts down when it snows the the networks run non-stop weather reports. Its pretty amusing actually.

As another poster already said, the fireplaces now are mostly aesthetic, altho I did grow up having one as the primary source of heat. If you do get a fireplace, I think gas logs would be easier than finding wood at your local zippy mart for the few truly cold days we get. I've always had wood, wanted to switch to gas, but don't have gas lines in our neighborhood to do so.

[rb4browns]

Originally Posted by Barbee

I am a lifelong Miami native who is soon moving to the Dallas vicinity. Apparantly one of the new experiences I will be facing is "snow" .

I would like some advice on home heating. Gas-vs-electric for central;
and Gas-vs-wood burning in the fire place. Naturally my primary concern would be cost. But are there other issues w/ regard to housecleaning? Do you have to wash soot off the walls? (I know that cigarette smokers have problems w/ the smoke staining the walls-same w/ a fireplace? )

This may seem like basic stuff to you but I have never seen snow or used a fireplace and this are completely novel issues for me.

(Yes, I've SEEN it in photographs and even in them 'fancy moving pictures'.... LOL You guys know what I mean and please don't make fun of me.)

It also occurs to me that I need a good resource for gardening issues. (Preferrably a web-based forum) I have several potted 'specimen' trees I was hoping to take w/ me as well as the fact that I am an orchid hobbiest. I need to know which plants I can take and which I will have to offer up for adoption.

Thanks a bunch!

It snows lightly a couple times a year and ices up a few times more. I found my first winter in Dallas to be delightful. Chilly days and cold nights, but not frigid or terrible like CHicago or the Northeast.

[markb54]

I have been here for 47 years and this Christmas was the first White one I have ever seen.
I was cool to see it blowing in the day before, but the people in the north can keep it.
Remember people here can't drive when the streets are dry much less when thay are wet or icy.
We sold out Harley because the people here don't look out for us. They are to busy talking on their cell phones and not paying attention to what they are doing.
If you cause a wreck with me and you are on the phone, I am going to take it away and break it, so I will have your attention.

Use a blue tooth, they are cheap.

[Chelito23]

I moved here from Miami not too long ago and I left all my plants behind. You really have to come to terms with leaving South Florida because the weather here is so different, nothing will really thrive here that you had there.

The annoyingly large ficus trees are grown indoors here, they always look thin on the leaves to me when I see them in malls, so they don't quite look the same....it's probably due to lack of heat, humidity and direct sunlight.

The weedy Chinaberry tree, which is an invasive exotic in Miami, somehow survives the cold up here.

You do have people that plant bananas over here as well, but they die back like most plants after the first freeze.

I also saw what looked like Dwarf Oleander in a yard, I don't know if that was really what it seemed like, but it was similar...

The California Fan Palms are grown here but they are all pretty small and now all burnt from the cold....

Basically from what I have seen, the soil is a limiting factor here, as is the split rainy season and the long, intense hot season that also coincides with a dry season as well, so it is almost like plants here are permanently stressed. (Either by the Heat, Cold, Rain, Drought, Winde, Hail, Ice, lo)

There are many beautiful plants and trees that grow here, but they just won't be anything from Floirda, so get ready to embrace the new and relearn everything you know lol.