Sorry, I guess I only thought my member profile was updated. I live in Charlotte now. Zone 8a. Where both of these plants are allegedly hardy.

I grow Leonotis leonurus. Sometimes it overwinters and sometimes it doesn't, but I always replant because it's in full bloom at Halloween and gorgeous with my Salvia mexicana. I've tried a couple of other Leonotis species but they don't put on as much of a show in bloom and none of them have overwintered for me.

I find the white forms of Phygelius come back better. I have plenty of the red, pink and white and the white seem hardier. Oddly none of them came through well this past winter even though plenty of nonhardy tropicals survived. Some of each color survived but none of them are blooming now which is normal. It looks like it will take til fall to get them totally recovered from winter.

I grew Leonotis for a few years, but it was never a favorite; just a matter of personal taste, I guess. I have other things that bloom very late (some salvias, for instance) and I don't mind waiting for them, but the Leonotis foliage seems weedy to me during the summer, for some reason. Probably in the right location it would look great to most people.

I have lots of Phygelius, and they do well for the most part, although I have had them rot out in the summers. They seem to like lots of water, but also require good drainage, and that can be a tall order here in July and August. The more upright orange-reds are evergreen in mild winters, while the paler yellows always die back to the ground. I just planted a variety called "Sunshine", which has bright chartreuse foliage, so that'll be a nice addition if it prospers in its new location. They're easy to root, so I always carry over a few in the cool greenhouse, just in case. I find them very useful as daylily companions, because they bloom concurrently and provide a spiky, upright counterpoint to the more rounded daylilies. "Moonraker", the pale yellow variety I grow, is nice leaning over water - I have fond memories of seeing huge clumps of this in St. James Park once when on vacation in London, so maybe that's why I keep it around.

I grow the red and yellow variety and have had it come back several years now for me. It's never really thrived where it is- too much shade- but it does bloom & come back. I tried putting in the white last fall but it didn't come back. I have tried it before as well. I also planted a pink but it was lost in the drought last year. I love their form.