Why not try to get a Muscadine Grape? They tolerate a lot more heat and humidity than the regular Vitis species. I think they would have a better chance of growing there and would not need to be grafted onto a rootstock. Here is a link that might be useful: Ison's Nursery

Looks like a flower head of Leucospermum, PINCUSHION PROTEA. Joe

I think the best palms to use would be the sabal minor and the needle palm. Windmill palms will need protection during the first winter or two to get it started. Also buy palms soon because if they arent planted before fourth of july they may not set enough roots to successfully overwinter outdoors. There are some large needles off of ebay, but sabal minors are much harder to find. The larger the palm the better chance for survival. Musa basjoo bananas will also make it feel tropical. They die to the ground at the first frost, but will come right back up by may. They are also on ebay. If you will be down their around the time the first frost hits then you can cut the banana down to about 3 feet so it is just a stalk, and then cover it up with old blankets to keep it warmer and plastic to keep moisture from coming in. Then you would also have to uncover it in april. Doing this would allow it to grow from the top of the stalk which means you would be starting out with a 3 foot banana in april instead of a banana comming out of the ground. Yuccas are also a great option for a tropical look. Curve leaf yuccas will survive the winter no problem and will even flower in the spring and fall. Soft beaked yuccas are common, pretty, and hardy as well. The eastern prickly pear cactus will be a nice groundcover and will even flower. Psrrys agrave (Agrave americana) will grow into a nice plant and will survive your winters pretty well as long as its not planted in standing water. Cannas are also nice, but have to be dug up every year or mulched VERY heavily in order to come back up. Then you would also have to take off the mulch in the spring. Camellias are also really nice plants and will survive the winter very well. My zone 7 camellia is in bad soil, comletely unprotected, and still flowers every spring, and some times the flowers completly cover the entire bush. Its about 10-12 years old so it went through alot of cold winters. They stay green all year, but only flower in the spring so if you would be down their in mid april to early may you may not ever see any flowers. Good luck and try to post pics!

It's a tropical plant but doesn't make a good houseplant unless you are able to meet its rather exacting indoor requirements.