Annette -
I am so with you! My hat is off to people who garden in the tundra. Carrying pots / digging up tropicals each year to ensure their survival - I am too lazy.
I push the envelope here too, striving to grow Hawaiian tropicals in our Mediterranean climate, but that means throwing a sheet over the plumeria and Ti plants for a week every ten years (when one gets a call from Sean in Canada warning one) compared to knowing ahead of time one has to dig up and relocate plants each winter.
I do not live in the tropical zone my gardening fancy suggests by any means, but I still realize I have it very easy compared to most.
Cheers,
Mike