Tropical Perennials that come back year after year in New York zone 7.

Tropical plants can't get enough warm and humid days, which is why they often don't look their best this early in the season. With summer just about to officially begin, my tropical perennials are showing so much promise. 

Calla Lily

Last year I decided to try Calla lilies for the first time. It was a huge success! Pictured here is 'My Swartberg Giant'. I purchased it as a small plant from Plant Delights 3 years ago. This is the first time it's bloomed. The white callas contrast beautifully with the dark foliage of Canna musifolia var. rubrum. This canna variety also came back without any additional protection other than being planted close to the house. 

It turns out I'm not the only person with luck growing Calla lilies in the ground on Long Island. Here's a photo from a gardener's yard who lives down the block. I believe this variety is "White Giant". The owner say their calla lily is over a decade old.

I planted another calla by the pond. I love how even a single flower can make such a statement. It's not a very frequent bloomer, but the flowers last a long time and come earlier than canna blooms. 

Unfortunately, the Alphina Ginger next to it is not as simple to keep happy over the wintertime. It's either a summer annual or a houseplant 6 months out of the year.

I bought my Musa Sikkimensis "Bengal Tiger" as a seedling last summer. Years ago, banana plant lovers were hoping that Musa Sikkimensis would be as cold-tolerant as Musa Basjoo. That's not the case, but it is definitely the most cold-tolerant variegated banana. 

I haven't tried overwintering Musa Sikkimensis in the ground just yet. If it gets some size, I might experiment this year. It has a long way to go before it catches up to my Musa "Viente Cohol". This more tropical fruiting banana is dug up in Autumn and overwinters in my kitchen.

"Viente Cohol" like most bananas require a lot of heat to start growing leaves. It didn't get it's first outdoor leaf until late May. Now it looks like it'll start growing at a rate of about a new leaf every 2 weeks. If your summers are frustratingly cool, I recommend the Ensete Maurelli below.

My Ensete Maurelli overwintered in the garage where temperatures regularly dropped to 30F over the winter. Despite that, it started to grow in March. High temperatures were only in the 50s. 

As you can see in the photo above, it's grown so much in the past 10 weeks. Here's a photo 3 months ago in March. 

Yucca gloriosa is an awesome agave look-alike that handles our winters so well on Long Island. It's native to the eastern United States, but the variegated form has such an exotic look.

Thanks for looking!