bigdog

For what it's worth, here are my observations:

Tall Orinoco is very hardy at the corm. All pseudostems, except M. basjoo occasionally, die back to the ground in my climate. I have had it come back after a low of 10F with no protection, but seen it turn to mush in 2003 after a low of 1F. I left two unprotected in the ground this year, one against the house and one out in the open, and will let you know if they come back this year. My low was around 8F.

None of the others have been tested in the ground here. I will say that Raja Puri is the last among those you have listed to get growing in the Spring. Orinoco starts growing almost immediately after replanting, whereas Raja Puri takes a while. I've also had problems with Raja Puri getting center-leaf-rot, much more so than Orinoco. I've got one at blooming size this year, so I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't have center-leaf-rot. I do have Brazilian, but not the dwarf form (although it's one my short list of must-acquire varieties!). It was really small last year, so hard to make a good judgement on it. It's nice-sized this year, so we'll see how it compares with Orinoco and Raja Puri in terms of how quickly it starts growing. I have a Cal Gold also, but it's in a pot in the greenhouse, already fully leafed out and ready to plant.