Musa Basjoo is hardy to zone 6, maybe even 5. If you are in Baltimore, you are probably close to zone 8 with the pavement and heat from the buildings. I always notice that Baltimore is 10 degrees warmer than my yard, and I'm less than 10 miles away. Lots of 'tender' salvia's are really zone 7 or 8 and will go through winter here. I've found some tender plants will make it to early March and then drainage does them in. It will be interesting if your Livistonia makes it! But it's early yet....

My calibrachoa is still alive, in a basket yet, in western Fairfax county. Looks like I'll be taking some cuttings, since it was a favorite with the local hummers.

livistonia gave it up..well the leaves anyways. the spear still seems to be intact il spray it with some fungicide and see how it goes. ive been gardening for a few years an i never remember any low temps lower then single digits..altho that can change

All my Windmill Palms look great and I am confident that my Musa Basjoos will come back in the spring.

The calibrachoa is still in the land of the living, and still outdoors . . . It will be interesting to see if it makes it through the winter, but I've taken some cuttings already.

well, i was outside in my mom backyard, where all my stuff is. livistonia turned to mush, altho i was reading up on it an livistonia chinensis is said to be hardier then the variety i had. windmill palm looks good in fact i think it grew some with the warm weather. cast iron plant doesnt have a brown egde on it. the euc is still holding on, this is by the one that amazes me. oh i think i forgot to mention a camelia i got a lowes for 5 bucks in october, its doing great so far no damage. i was walking around car shopping today and saw achellia (sp) in full bloom as well as purple heart plant.. most parts killed back but some shoots coming up. i realize this is only the begining of winter, but i think it would be cool to update it periodically, so everyone can see what kicked the bucket and at what temp, or time of the year.

My snapdragons look practically as good as they did in the summer- only they're not blooming!

Rose

Cast iron plant, planted here by a former owner, has been mostly evergreen through every winter we've been here (since '01). A few years its leaves got tattered over the winter and I cut them back (to the horror of our non-gardening neighbors) -- new ones grow rapidly. I don't see much benefit to this plant unless you have an absolute black thumb -- yes, it's almost evergreen, but so are some plants that I find more interesting -- I'd guess so is variegated cast iron plant, and so are some great burgundy-leaved azaleas, dwarf nandinas, sedges, heuchera, variegated liriope, hellebores... Well, at any rate, it's alive, to answer your question, and it's not a rampant spreader like the vinca in that bed. (If you've seen me post before, you'll know that I like plants that remain near their original location.)