So I finally got around to planting:

Crocosmia
Tuberose
Freesia
Nerine bowdeni
Cala Lily
Gladiolas
Dahlias
More Cannas (over and above what I leave in the ground.)
4 o'clock tubers

And I extended my tropical bed. Original includes:

Musa basjoo
Cannas
Elephant Ears
Hardy Kiwi
White Bird of Paradise (big sigh - the BIG one)
Peruvian Daffodil

I approximately tripled the tropical bed and today planted:

Windmill Palm (plan to leave in the ground)
Musa velutina (will repot in fall)
7 Crinum lily " " " "
More Canna - Tall and small varieties
More Elephant Ears

and something I cannot remember

David,

I'm guessing that you pull the tropical up each year, what about the others? have you had success leaving them in the ground over the winter?

What are you asking about @delab?

I do have some cannas that been in the ground there since 2010. As long as they are 10 or so inches or less from the foundation, most make it.

Here is what I actually planted. Got a wee bit carried away.

Woo hoo...took advantage of the weather and pretty much completed my Tropical garden extension. Here is what I planted that I can remember nodding

Cannas
Tropical Milkweeed and Butterfly Balls - 18 plants total
Freesia
Tropical colors glads
Red & Orange/Yellow 4 o'clock tubers
Musa velutina
Windmill palm
Elephant ears
Crinum lilies
Kelvin Floodlight Dahlia
Eucomis (will plant tomorrow)

Now some of these certainly are not tropical, but I added them for their color for the most part and as filler foliage.

Of course in October I will regret it. But it will be lovely for a couple of months in Summer.

DavidLMO said:What are you asking about @delab?

I do have some cannas that been in the ground there since 2010. As long as they are 10 or so inches or less from the foundation, most make it.

mostly the crocosima, elephant ears and calla lilies. I pull mine each year. I also have some tropicals, like plumeria and gingers that get over-wintered in the basement.

I store all of those in the basement over winter. There is a chap in my city who has some cala lily in the ground for over 20 years.

Could not leave well enough alone, so today I picked up another pack of Crocosmia and planted a clump of em.

WooHoo - one of the 4 o';clock tubers is up. 3 days.

David, leave a 4 0'clock in the ground this winter and see if it overwinters. I had one that overwintered for a couple seasons before I gave it to a friend and I was digging it up for another 2 seasons still. It thrives here.

I ran in to 4 tubers that I failed to dig up last winter. Yep - they made it. South side of house. An area where I was planting something and there they were. About 3 inches tall.

I also had a gladiola that I forgot to dig up and it made it too. West side of house - right against the foundation. My stupid dog decided to dig there and broke the stem. grrr

I planted about 20 4 o'clock tubers in my new tropical bed.

Now you have to hope they won't rot with all this rain we're getting. It's nuts how much we've gotten today.

4 inches from 5 pm wed to 5 pm Thurs. It is now 10:40 and I have another 1 inch. Flooding in garage. Driveway drain simply could not keep up and water in basement. And we only have another 4 days of this.

I did bring a bunch of containers into the garage. Still 20 or so pots of bulbs on deck and elsewhere. Sigh. Even those in the ground will have a hard time since down under is clay here.

I have no idea how much rain we got at work today. I know it wasn't much of a downpour because I never heard it hit the roof.

I still can't plant my veggies. I may give up on the garden and do 5 gallon buckets. They need transplanted now.

I would love to see a picture when all of those 4 o'clocks are in bloom. I have a dozen or so and really enjoy them.