I live in zone 5b, now said to be zone 6. I grow 90% of my tropicals in pots, but brugs, bananas and passifloras all go in the ground. I dig them in the fall, trim the roots, and put them in pots, where they either winter over in the unheated garage or other warmer spots in my house. MOST tropicals won't live in our zone if left outdoors over winter, no matter WHAT you do to them.

I'm back. Thanks for the reply.
Gingers are something I was also thinking about. I wanted to plant hedychiums,curcumas,and perhaps shampoo ginger. Can these be dug up in the fall? Heliconias too.
I have four plumerias in pots and I have heard that some people plant them in the ground and dig the trees up when it starts getting cool. I would imagine the plumies would love to get some of that rich garden soil and a free root run,and I think it would look more natural,so I was thinking about trying to put them in the ground this summer. Actually,I would like to put as many plants in the ground as possible-I want it to look like they have been growing in my garden always.
What about agapanthus? Pineapple lillies?
What about bromeliads?
Anthuriums?
Persian shield,dumb cane,crotons are others I was thinking about planting out.

To respond to your questions:

What about agapanthus? Pineapple lillies?
What about bromeliads?
Anthuriums?
Persian shield,dumb cane,crotons are others I was thinking about planting out.

All of these require at least 6 hours of full sun to do well and bloom.

I have, in past years, planted all of these, plus plumeria, out in my raised beds, and they do great. I dig and pot up and lug them in every fall. My only problem has been gauging WHEN to dig them and cart them inside.

I usually do it too early (end of Oct.), but if I DON'T, lo and behold, it will freeze! It's a lot harder to run out and dig them out of the ground (when a freeze is predicted) in a short order, than it is to just drag pots inside, so as I get older, I leave most of them in pots.

Hi Blulagoon,

Kay has given you a lot of good advice. My advice: try it all! LOL!

I havent' found a tropical yet that didn't thrive outside in the summer.

Like Kay, I grew a ton of tropicals/plants in pots. USe big pots and water and feed a lot for the best results. I use quite a few flat bottomed, black plastic nursery pots. When the plants grow you hardly even notice. I also have grwon several tropicals in 6-10" plastic pots and then sunk that pot inside a larger decorative pot. They do great, Thenin the fall, you can pull up the plant in the smaller pot for winter storage.

Here is a link to what you can do with pots. I live in Maryland, one 7 about 30 miles outside of Washington, DC.

best of luck to you!

Boca Joe

Here is a link that might be useful: Boca Joe's Tropical Plants

Thanks everyone for your advice and experience. I can't wait to try everything out. I hope everyone had a nice holiday,by the way
blulagoon

I just read something funny in a magazine article. It said that Illinois was called the "banana belt" because of it's "tropical" winter temperatures! I had to laugh!

Hi, I've been overwintering "Musa Basjoo" outdoors for a number of winters. I'm in Toronto, friends in Niagara and St. Catherines have been doing the same.
Cut the stem/trunk 1 or 2 inches above the ground,after the first frost, cover with bags of leaves/plst garbage bags,2 to 3 bags deep in an 8' circle. Now pray that when spring comes it comes to stay.

Lime zinger is a baby for me- so far it's doing great as a houseplant.
lily of the nile- grow in pots and keep as houseplant- not my cup of tea but a master gardener here does it.
musa- couldn't find any sellers recommending overwintering basjoo outside even with protection below zone 6 as went thru this last year. decided on banana canna instead and have plenty BTW. I have seen musa here but you must have green house and it looks like a ratty tall houseplant in my humble opinion- not those spectacular huge leaf plants in FL.

gotta go- mail if you want any more info
Karen

Boca Joe, you are a true tropicalist!

You mention Heliconias. They don't have a dormancy like gingers. I imagine they can be dug up. But the start going down hill in the mid 50's.

I live on the northern gulf coast. Lows for normal winters are a half doze nights in the mid to low 20's. I bring them in about mid november. And have a bout a 50/50 success of them surviving. However when they survive they're so stress it takes most of the summer for them to recover. And start blooming again. By then it's almost time to bring them in again.

With heliconia. Unless you have a warm greenhouse; you might want to consider getting a nice blooming plant and treating it like an annual.

You would be able to do plant and lift with small growing heliconias like the psitticorums (Lady Di, Choconiana, Andromeda, etc) but most likely not with the larger growing species like the bihais, strictas, caribaeas.

Heliconia rostrata, the pendant lobster claw, can be "semi-hardy" depending on the species you get and its point of origin (but this means lows minimum of maybe 30-32, not a zone 5-6 winter). However, some people have had success with plant and lift with rostrata, but it is much larger growing than the psitticorums and you will eventually be digging up and potting into a 30 gallon tub. You may lose blooms and portions of the stand that way from transplant shock and root damage.

Plumeria respond extremely well to plant and lift, you can either pot them and grow them as houseplants in winter or let them go completely dormant.

Gingers, yes they will do plant and dig. Curcumas, globbas, kaemferias and zingibers, which go naturally dormant in winter, can be dug before they go deciduous, potted, and the rhizomes wintered over in a place like a cool garage/storeroom.
Alpinias and costus, which mainly need a 2 year growth to bloom, can also be dug and continued in pots indoors, but cannot be allowed to freeze or you will not get blooms.
Hedychiums and do pots in winter extremely well.

If your ground freezes you will most likely lose any alocasias that you plant outside, colocasias and xanthosomas would be extremely iffy, you could always dig up and pot the alocasias and grow the colocasias and some of the xanthosomas as aquatics in summer and take indoors as terrestrial houseplants in winter.

Blulagoon, try growing a small pond of lotus! They don't need a deep pond and look VERY TROPICAL and are zone friendly. Somehow the frogs like the pond, too, and have a chorus every spring, which sounds just like a tropical forest.

I have some pineapple lilies (Eucomis bicolor) that I bought from Wilkos a few years ago. I kept them in a pot in a non-frostproof greenhouse at first but last year I decided that they were really pretty hardy, and put them out in the border. We've had a mildish winter so I hope they've made it. They are late to come through - nothing shows until mid-May at least. And I raised some more from saved seed - very easy so far.

I grow all my tropicals outside in the summer, inside or in the greenhouse in the winter. Bananas are the coolest, best tropical landscape plants. I just got some musa basjoos (108 of them)that I hope to be selling out in the front yard this spring. I know they will live here in zone 5,because I visited a guy in southern indiana last fall that had several and had them for the last three years. I can't wait to get some of them planted and stop digging bananas each year! He said they freeze down to the ground, but come back bigger and better every year since the roots get better established. His were 8-10 feet tall this fall, in partial shade, even. This picture was of my pond last summer, I hope to do even better this year!These bananas are dwarf cavendish and grand nains.

Here is a link that might be useful:

Another plant that you might want to consider added to your summer tropical garden is ornamental sweet potato. There are several colors available, including dark purple/black, a chartreuse, a tricolor (white edges, green centers with a little bit of pink) and a bronzy color. You treat these just like cannas, digging up the roots after the first frost & store them in a cool basement or garage. They make a nice ground cover under bananas or other taller plants.

Dan

I was thinking about getting some ornamental sweet potatoes. I really like the lime green type. I also got some Madagascar periwinkle seeds as well. They are a low-growing bushy type that I thought would also make a really good looking plant for the edges of the garden.
I went to Home Depot and got a pygmy date palm(beautiful),a red ti(stunning),a sago palm(impressive) and a bromeliad with a fuschia "flower"(georgeous). I'm lovin' them! I am definitly going to put those out this year. I ordered two canna collections,one dwarf and one tall,an angelwing jasmine,a gardenia and I'm going to order a calla collection,some yuccas,and some maidenhair ferns. I cant wait till they arrive.

Oh yes,I forgot. I went to the Flower and Garden Show at Navy Pier and bought a hot pink amarylis,an agapanthus,and a hardy orchid;a bletilia(I think thats how its spelled). I think it said it was zone 6,but maybe if I mulch it enough,it might live here in zone 5. I was suprised at the agapanthus,it's more a mass of roots than a bulb proper. I was SO tempted to get an orange catteleya type orchid,but I had to stop. It was thirty bucks-god,I miss the prices of orchids and tropicals in Hawaii!! They were so cheap!