Check out the posts by Arctictropical. He lives near Logan, Utah in Zone 4 and has created an amazing tropical garden, including bananas! You have to see it to believe it. See link to his posts, below.

Carol in Jacksonville

Here is a link that might be useful: Search results for: arctictropical

I always thought Pieris japonica had a tropical look. Are you looking for only hardy entities, or ones for over-wintering as well?

Mostly hardy, but I can do a few potted plants.

Hardy stuff... bleeding hearts, Hostas, Clematis, Wisteria, Salvias, climbing/rambling roses, Baptisia, Brunnera, Heuchera... wild/unusual foliage.

Non-hardy stuff: ...That you can store "naked" like Cannas, elephant ears (Colocasia,) Caladiums, Calla lilies, Gladiolus, sweet potato vine are easy if you have a basement or garage against the house.

Lantana, Persian shield (Strobilanthes dyerianus,) Bougainvillea, Mandevilla, others can be brought inside after light frost defoliates them and stored in much less light than a normal house plant would tolerate, small/north windows, middle of a room, basement with shop lights. Ugly but usually works if you don't overwater.

If the house meets the ground/has a basement, against the house can be a microclimate for zone cheating. Mirabilis jalapa (4'o'clocks,) Cannas, Bananas, are commonly reported overwintering in Z 5 & 6 microclimates. There are also big piles of leaves, boxes with Christmas lights, and other tricks used outside.

Things you can grow from seed always help decorate, and keep things interesting and colorful, like Castor bean, hyacinth bean vine, Nasturtiums, Borage, Coleus, Basil, Zinnias. The presence of butterflies always makes things seem more tropical to me. The last 3 I mentioned make flowers prized by butterflies and hummers.

HI!

You need to hit up brians botanicals, hes got TONS of great tropicals that he overwinters just down the road from lex.

He doing some amazing stuff with elephant ears!

everything he sells is top notch and you will be within an hours drive of there so you can avoid the shipping and get to see all his plants, its worth the trip

Here's a link:

Here is a link that might be useful: Brianâs Botanicals