I have dran. vulgaris and it tolerated 4 hrs. of Los Angeles sun in the mid-afternoon, zone 10 here. It just needs good drainage and a decent amount of water, at the very least every other day or it starts to droop.

:) Firegurl

Woo-hoo! Another aroidiac! I live in OKC and am growing some in the ground here. Arisaemas would obviously be hardy in the ground in your area.

For that tropical look, Alocasias, Colocasias, and Xanthosomas, many of which are now known to be hardy in zone 7 and higher.

The ones I have growing are:

Alocasia macrorhiza
Colocasia esculenta (regular old ee)
Colocasia 'Ruffles'
Resumatia Vivipara (aka Hitchhiker Elephant Ear)

Also, I grow:

Sauramatum Venosum
Arum maculatum
Arisaema Triphyllum
Arisaema Nepenthoides
Typhonium pedatisecta

Others known to be hardy in my zone (7a), are:

Colocasia 'Black Magic'
Colocasia 'Black Ruffles'
Colocasia 'Black Runner'
Colocasia 'Illustris'
Colocasia Fontanesii
Alocasia lutea

If Wolflover gets on here, she can tell you the ones she grows a bit south of me in 7b, which you could also grow.

Susan