I really like the idea of the hoops. A smart way to stretch your zone a bit. I think I might have to try it! Denise

Oh, I like that idea, too! Might have to try it myself. :)Would save me from hauling my tropicals in and out from the patio on the frosty nights.

It seems way too early to see elephant ears coming up -- I generally don't see mine until early June here in zone 7. I wouldn't give up on yours yet, but given how late they come up you might want to adjust your design to accomodate their late emergence. They'd probably start earlier if you cover or mulch heavily, but not this early. They like to wait until the soil is warm before growing, not just the air.

Just remember that there can be a million reasons why a plant doesn't survive winter - its not only because of cold temperatures. I've had tough-as-nails plants not come up while tender tropicals acted like nothing ever happened. You just have to be flexible and do a lot of praying.

Some of the plants on your list are just barely winter hardy in zone 8 (I've never been able to overwinter Black Magic Elephant Ears outside but I'm in zone 7b). A lot of catalogs will claim "winter hardy" when in truth the plant might survive freezing but will take all summer to recover and never thrive afterwards - not my idea of hardy.

I build a HUGE hoop structure in the garden and heat it during the winter. Originally it was supposed to be used to grow crops like lettuce and maybe tomatoes but my tropical plant collection got out of control so now it is only used to store large potted plants that I wheel in each fall and out each spring.

Thanks Karen, I most likely will adjust the plan some this year. Especially if I have some things that don't come back as I hope. LOL guess I'm 'pushing the season" a little here.

John, thank you as well. I've got a couple of beds close to the house where I'm considering trying this approach. They are located where I could easily heat them on the colder nights. And I have plans for a large hoophouse for pots and maybe some veggies that I'll be putting up this year. I'm considering this plan for those couple of close beds to help out some of these marginal plants. What you have mentioned for the ratings in catalogs may well be part of my issue. Hmmm, I need to revisit that on some of my plans. Thanks for that tip, I'm new to many of these plants and it's a learning experience for me!!

Quick question here John, do your lift your EE's in the winter or do you use a potted approach? I'm curious what folks are doing with them as they are a particular favorite of mine.

My biggest problem overwintering EEs outside is that while they like moisture during the warm growing season, they don't like it in the winter when the ground is cold, and there just aren't any summer wet/winter dry places in my garden. If anyone has such a place it will improve hardiness. So for the ones I plant in the ground, I dig a pup in the early fall and overwinter it in a pot inside as insurance. For some (like Black Magic), I do so poorly overwintering outside that I just grow them in pots year round. In general, colocasias and xanthosomas go in the garage and alocasias in the upstairs bathroom.

Thanks Karen!! I think a re-org on my planting plan for some of my more tender babies, my EE's in particular, is definately in order here. One more good reason to put my big hoophouse in this summer!! :-) Thanks for the advice!!