@ keraurduck For Northwest FL (zone 8ish) For tropical gardens I recommend making evergreen hedges (or a wall) on the north side, just to increase the protection from winter winds. I also recommend letting things get full and lush as that really enhances the tropical jungle sort of feel. All of the following are definitely hardy in your zone and I have personal experience with almost all of them Understory tree/large narrow shrubs: - Red Buckeye (one of my favorite natives, leaves are large and give it a tropical look+ has red flowers) - Florida Flame azalea - many bananas and relatives are hardy for zone 8 - Coral Bean Erythrina herbacea there is the native one listed or the hybrid Bidwell's Coral Bean which has a longer bloom season. bright red and unique flowers (these love sandy soil) Palms: - Cabbage palm of course - Sabal minor/Dwarf Palmetto (could function as a hedge/shrub "backbone" of a bed) - Needle palm - Butia/Pindo palm (edible golden fruit hardiest feather-type palm but silvery foliage might not match the theme) - Mule palm (hybrid of Pindo and Queen) MIGHT be hardy but I'm not sure, it is definitely the hardiest green feather palm there is Shrubs: - Winter Cassia can get tree-like but most likely a shrub for you - Hibiscus coccineus native Red swamp hibiscus - dwarf figs, various for foliage interest. 'Brown Turkey' and 'Celeste' both do well here for me - Red Florida Anise very cool plant, evergreen (not the edible star anise) - Small-flower Anise 'Florida Sunshine' another native star anise, this one has more chartreuse foliage that brightens up a shade garden (not the edible star anise) Perennials: - Coontie cycad (absolute must IMO, prefer native sandy soil I think, adaptable to a lot of different light conditions) - Red cardinal flower (needs a lot of moisture so good in a swampier spot) - Spigelia marilandica (another native shade-lover, very unique red flowers) - Salvia elegans, Pineapple sage. (edible red flowers in fall, lush and tall, benefits from some relief from sun during the day so dont put it in full exposure) - Salvia blepharophylla shorter red-colored shady sage - Salvia miniata another red-colored shorter shady sage - Cannas of course - Cuphea 'Vermillionaire', Cuphea 'David Verity', Cuphea micropetala - for ferns stick to native species as most others in cultivation are for northern zones or are invasive (like the tuberous sword fern). Christmas fern is evergreen -Hedychium coccineum (shade) Vines: - Manettia cordifolia, Firecracker vine - Red trumpet honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens a native evergreen vine. 'Magnifica' (orange) and 'Major Wheeler' are popular selections'. not aggressive - Carolina Jessamine, evergreen with very lush-looking foliage but a bit bigger than the other vines Two other plants I am unsure about for your zone but love are Firebush and Red Firespike, they might work if sheltered from north winds as I hear some people growing them in zone 8b. Lastly be careful about Elephant ears, many are very invasive. There is the clumping Hawaii series that is less invasive if you must have one. I really like 'Blue Hawaii'.

Update: Both coconuts died within a 3 weeks of being home. Last winter's brutal temps and my struggles to keep the greenhouse in one piece resulted in 2 dead coconuts. :( Laura in VB - if you're still on here - that's why you never got one. Sorry. However, I am not discouraged..... Generation 2 greenhouse is WAY stronger, better insulated, better heated etc. Temps dropped to 39 F ONCE during a power failure, and otherwise never fall below 48 at night. Day temps are routinely over 70 (usually 75-90). I don't know if this helps, but by way of comparison - my Cavendish banana flowered and is producing a huge bunch of fruit, all my citrus trees (especially the lemon) are flowering like crazy and growing fast. I would take this as a sign that a coconut should manage such conditions. SO - I have located a 5' tall coconut palm at a Home Depot in Jacksonville which I will take home this weekend. Hopefully the combination of getting in there with the worst of the winter behind us (hopefully), it being a bigger tree, and the improved greenhouse will mean success.

I'm trying them here too in the north. I'm not as humid as Scott, or you guys in Florida, so maybe it will be easier. Still can be somewhat humid. Grandpa's nursery in Michigan for years has been selling Flavor Supreme. It is the only pluot they sell. So it may be OK for here. I do though want to add some of the cold hardy types. The pluots are an experiment. I will also hand pollinate. I'm not going to wait and see if it's ok by itself. Having only one tree, not a big deal. I will try to observe any bee presence though. For me it doesn't have to be the best tasting or the sweetest, as long as it grows well here, that would be OK. And taste OK, it doesn't have to be the best. Thanks for the cold hady suggestions Scott. I may try them down the road.

I have no idea what kind of bananas I have, but it's one that has tall plants. Not a dwarf, that's for sure. It's almost up to the roof now. It's going to be a good 10 feet tall, I believe. I'm hoping it's an ice cream banana. I love those, and they are pretty common around here. I had a Praying Hands in SW FL, but it never got big enough to have fruit. I ended up selling it when I moved. I also had a thousand fingers that died during a particularly wet period.