Here are my top choices as a designer for most colorful foliage: Canna (duh, but Australia as mentioned before is the best, combine with a bright foliage such as anything chartreuse, i.e. Coleus, Ipomoea 'Marguerite, etc. Toss in some hot pink or burgundy flowers for added interest. These could be Verbena, some Lantana, petunias, etc.) Sinningias, Tsuh Yang said it best Variegated Clivias - wow. The Chinese ones I have are absolutely perfect in clarity and form. Achimenes as Uli said are great So are Smithianas. Dianella (not sure of how much of a tuberous root system there is there but the color is great to add in. The 'Yellow Stripe' can brighten any dark corner and has brilliant cobalt blue flowers with purple berrries that follow. Crinum procerum forms, Nigra, Black Beauty, Nancy, etc. are incredible statement pieces in the garden or in containers. They can be softened with silver foliage of Artemesias, dusty millers, coleus, plectranthus, etc. Alliums. There are many twisted silver foliage forms of them that are great front of the border textures. All the colorful Elephant ears as Tsuh Yang said. Pancratium, there are many forms but those with the almost pure silver leaves are graet counterparts to any annual or perennial with blue or lavender flowers. Begonias, almost all work for color. I was at the Huntington and noticed that there are a lot of areas cleared in the Subtropical and Tropical Garden that have large collections of Begonias. From inches tall to several feet, there is a wide variety of material here to choose from even if they aren't all tuberous. Oxalis, well, there are quite a few that work here. Helleborus, are these considered geophytes? I'll lump them here. THere are variegated and spotted and chartereuse forms that are great in sun or shade areas with enough water. Dicentra spectablis 'Gold Heart' Beautiful blender. It combines two unusual colors, yellow and pink. Eucomis 'Oakhurst' & 'Sparkling Burgundy'. Same reasons as Crinums listed above. Violas, there are many colorful foliage forms. Agapanthus, 'Tinkerbell', africanus 'Variegatus', 'Summer Gold', and more. Some people say they look just like spider plants but we know that they lok better. Yucca, a geophyte but not in the strict sense but included here as there are many forms with incredible winter and summer colors, 'Bright Edge', 'Colorgaurd', and 'Gold Ribbons' are those most common and marketed by Terra Nova so there is wide distribution. These are the closest ones to bulbs/geophytes that I use most often. If you allowed me, I can list 1000's of other plants that give a lot of bang for the buck for colorful foliage, Phormiums, Astelia, bamboos, Hebe, artemisia, and the list goes on, and on, and on, and on, and......... ===== John Ingram in L.A., CA. Soon to become http://www.floralarchitecture.com/ check it out soon jjingram@adelphia.net Floralartistry2000@yahoo.com http://www.geocities.com/floralartistry2000/