Small Tropical Backyard Garden in Lower Michigan... whaaaaa?

Hey Pros, got a serious project about to go down.
I live in lower Michigan and by this time next year I plan on having a small, tropical (that's right, I said, TROPICAL) rock garden. I just ordered the Windmill Palm (hardy Palm Tree) as the vocal point of my little 12 X 7ft. area so fingers crossed on THAT one. ;)

Bottom Line: I want the end result to be my own little Island paradise since I adore the tropical weather and stuck here in Michigan - my friends think I'm nuts but I'm determined to prove them wrong (with your help, of course)! Perhaps some BIG beautiful flowers, spiky plants, blue stone (as water) and perhaps even a little sand, etc..
I would really like them to be Perennial blooms that will flourish in my zone 6, any suggestions/help would be MUCH appreciated, I'm pretty new at this stuff!

Thanks a bunch in advance and Happy gardening! :)

Pallet pic to give you an idea of what I'm working with.

Thanks!
~Shari

Hi Shari. This link is for zone 6 hardy perennials with a tropical look (2 part link)

http://coldhardytropicals.com/tag/perennials/

http://coldhardytropicals.com/page/2/

This link for zone 5 hardy tropicals/perennials

http://www.manchestergardenclub.com/rick/Tropicals/Tropicals.htm

Hope this gives you a jump start.

WOW, thank you! I really appreciate that... gonna take a look right now! :)
~Shari

You are too welcome. Hope ya find something ya like.

I am a big tropical person in zone 5a, not a landscaping person tho....

This is a typical ad for: Musa Basjoo is cold hardy to -20 degrees when mulched properly. Musa Basjoo is the hardiest of all bananas. In warm weather months it can grow up to 2 feet in a week. It s mature height is 18' . It can flower and bear fruits at 10' or whenever it has 35 leaves. The bananas are not edible. This handsome broad leaved variety can be grown in almost every state since it can handle temperatures of 15 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit if the ground is mulched properly in the very cold months. At 40 degrees it will stop actively growing and at 28 degrees the leaves will die back and the tree can be cut back to a 2 or 3 height. It will grow back rapidly as the warmer season approaches. I am zone 5a and I do not leave mine in the ground, chicken. But I have friends in zone 6 who mulch well and leave them in. I let mine go dormant in a pot and keep it cool and dry all winter, then spring bring it back out.

Editted to say I forgot about a fig tree, sounds pretty exotic and not something everyone has but can actually be grown in zone 5.

Hardy hibiscus is a perfect plant that looks like a tropical but hardy even in my zone. They can have blooms the size of a dinner plate and nothing bothers tham that I have ever seen.

Voodoo lily - Again I have friends who in zone 6 leave theirs in the ground year round I do not, but this is the coolest plant around. Nothing looks more tropical and is not a tropical per say. Here is a great discussion on it, I posted on the tropical forum not knowing it wasn't a tropical.
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1012149/

Alot of tropicals can go into dormancy and winter over in a cool dark basement, or a garage that doesn't freeze.
I built a hybrid 1/2 greenhouse, 1/2 shed to heat and overwinter my tropicals. Could say I am addicted...rofl



This message was edited Sep 8, 2011 3:22 PM

Here is a voodoo lily, just too cool!
This is not my picture but he posted it on the website above so I guess it is ok to post it here....fingers crossed.
If you go to the plant files you will see several people who grow it in zone 5 and 6 outdoors.
Sadly everyone makes a big deal of the bloom, when the leaf and the leaflets are amazing. Look closely at the stem.

Off the top of my head, I'm thinking Hibiscus and Yucca. Both seem terribly out of place to me here in the north and look like something that belongs much further south-but I see them in gardens here all the time. I'm more Zone 5, so I'd bet you'd do well with both.

Also, it depends on if you want to bring anything inside, you could also use some true tropicals like Bird Of Paradise in pots and have them as indoor house plants outside of the temperate season.