Confusionplant, you are at LEAST zone 7. You have lots of potential plants to plant. I wish i was in your zone. Poaky1 Good luck

According to the USDA Map, you are zone 6b with minimum lows averaging between -5 and 0 degrees F. There are a lot of plants the you could plant to acheive a tropical look. The top of my list would be Musa Basjoo, Hardy Japanese Fiber Banana. It should survive your winters fine, especially with mulching. Other plants like butterly bushes and hardy hibscuses would do well too. If you;re up to more work, you could try some tropical bulbs such as elephant ears and cannas and caladiums. These would have to be brought in for the winter (Like dug up after frost and forgotten about in garage). There are many other plants that you could plant, even tropical annuals would provide splashes of color for the summer. If you would like to, visit my blog: http://mdtropics.blogspot.com//search/label/Tropics for some pictures of plants. I hope this was helpful

-Alex

I like pi, I had a grove of Musa Basjoo for 3 years, then this year it didn't come up, I now have a couple Cannas, one MAY overwinter in a bed that I have calla lillies that came up the last 2 years, but I only got 1 bloom with the thick nice foliage. My last 2 winters were zone 6 for sure and the last I had -11F for a few hours. 3 winters back I had a "late drop" Live oak come back with just leaf drop, the buds put out new leaves fine etc, THEN the last 2 winters happened, and let me know I am indeed zone 6. And the cold temps stay around likely longer than if you get them. My "Late drop" live oak came back from the ground for the next winter, then it didn't come back this spring. I am currently trying a Quartz mountain Live Oak tree, THE HARDIEST Live oak out there, and I'm gonna wrap christmas lights around the branches, those that give off some warmth, NO LEDS, they are not heat throwers. You are a good 200 miles to the south. A couple years ago, I was thinking that I may be 6b. But I know better now, thanks for the info, I may get another Musa next spring, 2-3 years of it living is great, even if it only ;lasts the 2-3 years. Poaky1