Hi. You have Persian shield, Strobilanthes dyerianus. I have written extensively about this plant in this thread (scroll down to where it turns into a Persian shield discussion) and this one. In the sales lady's defense, these are related to Coleus and grow very similarly. Although more cold hardy than Coleus, that doesn't really matter to someone in zone 7. Feel free to email me if you have any questions or post in one of those threads.

My white bird of paradise has three leaves on it. Several bananas have huge leaves sprouted and unfurled, so were not hit badly this winter. My white blooming vinca did not die, found life near the base of several plants. I'm not much into annuals, but love the white bloomers which light up the evening twilight so I can walk the garden paths without artificial light.

Christin, other than the Sempervivums and hardy Sedums all my Echeverias and other tender succulents winter in a cool greenhouse. I have kept an Echeveria alive planted in the ground by upturning a black 2 gal. pot over it when the temps dropped, I think it was Echeveria elegans. It's not so much the cold it's the wet that does them in. A lot of them can tolerate 32* for a time. I have a 3 tiered plant stand with lights in the basement I should experiment with a few this winter. When I get mine all rounded up and sorted out I'll post a few pictures of the ones I have. Annette

Thanks thistle5! We have lots of summer sunlight. It gets warm during the daytime (85-90 F.) but cools off at night (45-60 F.) here in the mountain valleys. Humidity is quite low, so I'm surprised how well the tropical plants do. The Trachy palm seems to thrive on hot days and cool nights, because it's growing like a weed. I've only had it in the ground as a 2 gallon-size plant for about 5-7 years (I can't remember) and it is 9 feet high already, and bloomed for the first time this year. Unfortunately, I must dig all of the cannas and elephant ears every Fall, but they reproduce to the point that I sell about 800 rhizomes each year to a local nursery.