Going to try my Elephant ears this year but thats it. This is the year for starting seeds.
Paws

I'm overwintering calla lilies in vermiculite. I read that callas should be overwintered in wood shavings but given how warm and moist my basement is I feared rot.

When Spring rolls around I will find out if vermiculite was too dry of a medium for callas.

Am also trying the Saran wrap method for dahlias.

Rhoda

Kept a mandevilla all winter last year and put the pot out. It didn't start blooming until Sept. and then was beautiful. Probably didn't feed it enough. Last winter I dragged pots of caladium, taro, and impatiens(allin 1 pot) and never touched them until spring and put them in the window around March. I had 3 pots of this combination and they bloomed beautifully all summer. So I dragged the pots down in the basement again. Taro and caladium are expensive to buy so it's worth the bother. My geraniums that I left in pots and also the ones I hung up bare root all came back following spring.

I do geraniums but I keep them on my back porch. They bloom all winter, Hubby likes that. In the basement I have my water lilies, taro, fish. I also keep calla's, canna's,dahlias as well as other bulbs. but I just dig and then put them in soy bean bags. They keep well all winter. I always say "I'm not going to do this" but then when that wind starts blowing and that word `frost' is in the weather forecast I end up running outside and keeping everything I can!

In past years, I've done my callas in vermiculite and stored them in the basement at about 60 degrees. They did just fine.

Rhoda

Last winter I kept a mandevilla in the cool pantry with an eastern exposure window. It was very spindly all winter but survived (I had to keep trimming the few vines which grew very very long). I repotted it in the spring, and like Dianne's, it didn't bloom til September - a few vines grew over 8 feet though! This year I have it under lights in the cool basement. It's doing ok so far. I watered sparingly last year and am doing the same this year.

as houseplants in a window-
A. Odora
giant bird of paradise
black and castillion bamboos
pregnant onion
calla babies from seed

basement-bare geophyte (bulb corm or whatever)-
also A. odora
A. portidora
calla
glads
ornithogalum saudersai

in barely moist peat/ or pots:
fussy canna
sprekelia
tuberrose

think that's it....
a few things had the kindness to die to simplify this list...
Karen

Caladium, a pineapple, geraniums, fibrous root begonia, pepperoma & asparagus ferns,coleus, big pots of lemon grass. I love the lemon grass. Its indestructable and smells good.

Rhoda Azalae, I'm a novice -- what is the saran wrap method to keep dahlias? I love how they look but after my mother and I killed enough of them trying to overwinter I've never grown them. I'd like to give the "Bishop Seedlings" a try.

Also I have an eastern white pine. My daughter brought it home for arbor day. We didn't have time to plant it right then so I stuck it a pot and left it on the front porch. It grew. I still have no idea where we want to place it in our yard so its still in the pot. Its in a cool room. I water it occasionally. What else should I do to it? Any suggestions would be welcomed.

Maria

i have 2 banna trees, 1 angel trumpet, and then pinapple lily, canna and e ear bulbs.i have no green house but wter trees sparingly and have light they make it to spring and as soon as may comes its out doors with morning sun.i just rebuy my hibiscus and mandivilla, i get cheap enough at Lowes. each yr.

Wow. What an amazing list! Pineapple? Bird of Paradise? Calla lilies? Angel trumpets? Wish I could see the gardens these end up in!

Tropicals and tender annuals really spice up the yard, don't they? They boost an ordinary bed into an extraordinary one. I don't think I can ever go without them now that I've discovered their intoxicating effects!