Hardy Tropicals

This oxymoron of a category is something many plant nerds strive for. The idea is to have plants that look to be or are tropical but survive in much colder climates, with or without a little help. I have pursued this most of my life and it seems my father had a lot to do with it. Berl my father started the nursery and as a child we always had exotic and amazing gardens and displays usually full of elephant ears, cannas, cockscombs, yuccas and many others great plants. Needless to say our yard was not normal looking compared to the neighbors. Dad had this dream and still does to this day to find a cold hardy palm tree. He has spend years growing and protecting palms trees here in Kentucky's cold winters. As both are passions in plants have grown so has are collections and plants we test and grow. Many of these plants can handle our winters with a nice layer of mulch for winter protection. While others we tend to be more elaborate on over wintering. So anything listed here can survive in a zone 6 give certain needs are meet.