How about trying some Gingers. My wife and I are also planning a tropical garden in our back yard. So far the only Gingers that we have are a Shell and a Crepe Ginger. Hopefully we have a nice micro-climate picked out for them, also something to consider in z7a like we are here in Knoxville.

Doug,
I3

I found this Ginger (I think): Hedychium coccineum cv. Tara in the brent and beckys bulbs catalog. Looks interesting, nice foliage. I'm going to give it a try.

hey waddya mean "not enough depth in the 18 x2.5' garden for a real tropical look??

Thatis exactly the depth of my tropical line up which is the pride of my tropical island garden here in Maryland!!

Don;'t sell yourself short, pack 'em in and enjoy. Taros, gingers, bananas, you name it!

check it out!

Boca Joe

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

Boca Joe,

Just got done cruising around your photo gallery. Man, that is an awesome collection! We just began getting into tropicals around a year ago, and I just got done yesterday killing off a large area for our Tennessee tropics garden.

One of the plants that we are going to try outdoors is Plumeria. We have some started indoors that we will hopefully transplant into that garden. Do you have your Plumerias in the ground or in pots? Since we are in the same zone, maybe you could help me out on how some things react in your z7 garden.

Doug,
I3

How about Spanish bayonet ( or dagger). A nice yucca!

Ha, fair enough BocaJoe. 18 x 2.5 is enough space, but it does run along a porch and a path so there isn't a great deal of clearance on either side.

Still, it can't hurt to try it for a year.

Throw in some sugar-cane......or if you want a nice tall perennial, Miscanthus sacchariflorus, aka floridulus.

Might of been said before, but Musa or bananas would work best. They grow fast and are great!

Also a row of Trachycarpus, but they take forever to grow.

Maybe Rice Paper Plant- Tetrapanax papyiferus? Also Aralia fatsia can take sun if given plenty of water. Some of the larger Mahonias look tropical and are easy to grow, like M. lomariifolia or japonica.

Try the bananas, I grew them right next to a fence. They are the most tropical you can get in Maryland, and they wil have enough room. With mild protection, podocarpus macrophylla and loquat can be pruned and espaliered, respectively. Fatsia, bamboo, and a 7 gal or bigger palm (trachycarpus, needle, or sabal minor). Think about vines, too.