Tropical Plants

The clusters of fragrant starry white flowers with a touch of contrasting red to burgundy at the base of the corona may be produced throughout the year under warm tropical conditions. The sweet and almost honey-like, spicily fragrant flowers attract butterflies, hummingbird moths, and other pollinators. The Australian Waxflower, Hoya australis, is an exceptionally vigorous growing, twining, evergreen, tropical vine with glossy rounded ovate foliage and burgundy new growth. It naturally wants to climb and the vines can reach 30' long if offered support but it can also easily be trained to a small 3' high trellis or as a hanging basket specimen. This appears to be one of the easier to grow species and is reported to tolerate some cool sunlight although the leaves may become more olive or yellowish green than the typical deep green coloration under high light conditions. Item# 12343

The large rounded, thick, tough, blue-green to deep olive green, evergreen foliage is long-lived and as the name suggests you can sign your name on a young leaf and watch it grow as the leaf expands. The Autograph Tree, Clusia rosea, is an upright growing tropical to subtropical tree from the Caribbean and southern Florida that produces white to pink, 2-3 inch wide, waxy flowers that open at night and may last into morning on overcast days and are followed by 2-3" diameter green fruits that eventually fall and split open to reveal bright red-orange seeds that attract birds. Although this is a tropical tree it can easily be maintained as container shrub with pruning. Provide full sun to part sun in a well-drained, average moist soil. Its night opening flowering suggest moth pollination making this a good addition to the moon moth garden. Drought resistant and a forgiving and easy container specimen. Item# 12609

An unusual bicolored Mexican Petunia, Aztec Pink and White™ Ruellia produces pure white trumpets with contrasting magenta throats that are born freely from late spring or early summer until first frost to year round under warm tropical conditions atop medium-sized sturdy stems. This Mexican Petunia is a relatively new, compact, seed and pollen sterile selection that can spend more energy on flowering instead of adding unwanted seedlings to the garden. It is a naturally evergreen, rhizomatous or spreading, tropical perennial that is grown as a die-back perennial in zones 8-9. It can be grown as a low maintenance container specimen plant, in mixed container gardens, as well as in the garden and landscape. It can also be used as a medium-sized groundcover in difficult sites. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Provide Mexican Petunias with a full to part sun site in an average moist to wet, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12599

Medium height and sterile! Aztec Purple™ Ruellia or Mexican Petunia produces purple trumpets that are born freely from late spring or early summer until first frost to year round under warm tropical conditions atop medium-sized sturdy stems. This Mexican Petunia is a relatively new, compact, seed and pollen sterile selection that can spend more energy on flowering instead of adding unwanted seedlings to the garden. It is a naturally evergreen, rhizomatous or spreading, tropical perennial that is grown as a die-back perennial in zones 8-9. It can be grown as a low maintenance container specimen plant, in mixed container gardens, as well as in the garden and landscape. It can also be used as a medium-sized groundcover in difficult sites. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds. Provide Mexican Petunias with a full to part sun site in an average moist to wet, fertile soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Item# 12780

4-5" wide flowers with white petals and sepals are topped by a crown of white filaments with a light purple halo surrounding the central portion of these exotic looking flowers. Bahama Blue Passion Flower is a beautiful and vigorous free flowering selection of the Blue Crown Passion Flower, Passiflora caerulea, with all its hardiness and reliability. The nectar rich flowers are adored by larger bees and the foliage is a host to a variety of butterflies. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a moderately fertile, average moist, well-drained soil for optimum vigor and flowering. Click on "More Details and Growing Info" or the image to learn more about growing Passionvines as perennials in containers or in the garden and landscape. Item# 11222

Deep orangey-red, up to 2" wide, mimosa-like blossoms are produced nearly every month of the year when grown under frost free conditions. The brilliantly colored flowers of the Baja Fairy Duster are rich with nectar and pollen attracting hummingbirds, bees, and other pollinators. It is reported that fairies like them too! The deep blue-green finely textured, nearly fern-like foliage is touch sensitive like the sensitive briar, if not quite as fast, and this one has no thorns. Considered to be one of the most cold hardy Powderpuffs, the Baja Fairy Duster develops into an informal fountaining shrub once mature that is nearly twice as wide as high. Moderately drought resistant once well established. This dwarf Powderpuff also makes a low maintenance container plant. Item# 838.

Perfect for hanging baskets! The large rounded clusters of flowers open a deep orangey yellow and mature through orange tones and finally to deep fiery red all on a mounding to semi-trailing plant. Bandolista™ Red Chili Lantana was developed with container culture in mind, specifically hanging baskets, with its naturally spreading to semi-weeping and mounding habit it is sure to provide spring to frost color with minimal fuss. The flowers of this cultivar are sterile meaning the plants can spend more time and energy developing new flower buds instead of ripening fruit. Utilize Bandolista™ Red Chili Lantana as a spiller or filler in mixed container gardens, use it as a colorful, pollinator attracting groundcover in the garden and landscape, and as specimen container plants. Excellent for attracting a variety of pollinators including butterflies, hummingbirds, bees, and other garden beneficials. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in well-draining, average moist, fertile soils for optimum vigor and flowering. Images courtesy of Syngenta Flowers, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 13086

The rosette-like clusters of glossy, wide, succulent, medium green, tapering foliage resembles a bromeliad in many regards but is actually a close kin of the more common Wandering Jew and Spiderworts. Mature Basket Plant mothers may produce upright to arching branching stems that are adorned with basket-like clusters of dainty, white, fragrant flowers that are likely pollinated by hummingbird and Sphinx moths. New pups are typically produced at the ends of long, spidery trailing arms and can be up to 36" long. This is an easy and rewarding, heirloom plant suitable even for beginners and it can be enjoyed indoors as well as out. The Basket Plant, Callisia fragrans, is a naturally evergreen, tropical perennial with individuals growing to about 6-10"H x 12"W. It can be enjoyed as hanging basket and container specimens and is also used as an easy and low maintenance groundcover in areas with mild winter climates. It is reported to withstand some direct sunlight but the leaves tend to lay down and may take on purple tinging, we personally think it looks the best when grown in light shade or with a short period of cool direct sunlight like very early or very late in the day. Provide a well-drained, average moist soil and allow the soil to become somewhat dry between waterings. Item# 12908

A succession of red tubular blooms that end in a purple bat-like 'face' are topped by a pair of glowing red 'ears' creating the interesting 'bat face' look. Batface Cuphea, or Georgia Scarlet Batface Cuphea, is a tough and reliable low mounding perennial which blooms from late spring to frost. Provide a well-drained soil with full to mostly sun for the best results. An excellent choice for hummingbirds, mixed containers, hanging baskets, and in mass plantings. Item# 1220

The beautiful, unusual and almost alien looking burgundy, bronze, and green colored dutchman's pipe-like flowers are produced during the growing season atop the smooth and glossy olive green variegated foliage. Bejuco de Santiago, or Contribo in its native Belize, is an easy to grow, evergreen, vigorous twining tropical climber that is small enough to be enjoyed on a 3-4' trellis although it can climb to 12-15'H if given support. The foliage and dense habit are decorative and showy even when the plant is not in flower. Bejuco de Santiago can tolerate full sun but the foliage seems to be at its best where the plant receives some shade or filtered sun during the heat of the day. Item# 3123

The intensely fragrant, up to 4" wide, double white flowers may produced throughout much of the year under warm tropical conditions and are held against a foil of large glossy dark green foliage. Belmont Gardenia is almost old enough to be an heirloom variety being patented in 1934 by Walter E. Lenk on Belmont Estate, Massachussets. In his patent application, PP93, he states that "The variety is an extraordinarily heavy producer and can be propagated rapidly. If not pinched back this variety blooms almost continuously and readily adapts itself to maximum production of blossoms in the Winter when they are so valuable." Obviously, Mr. Lenk developed it for greenhouse production but it has proven to be a highly desirable Gardenia clone that is still popular today and has proven to be hardy into zone 7. It is fairly similar to Aimee Yoshioka and Miami Supreme in vigor and flower size. In the garden and landscape, expect flowering to be heaviest in spring and summer with some repeat flowering into fall on mature plants. Item# 12299

Tall dense spikes of deep rosy pink foxglove flowers with a creamy yellow throat flecked and speckled with burgundy are produced beginning in late spring with the show continuing into fall above the rosettes of dark green foliage. Berry Canary Digiplexis, is the first cross-generic hybrid between the tropical Canary Island Isoplexis (now classified as a Digitalis) and Digitalis purpurea producing a vigorous exceptionally free flowering hybrid. These new longer flowering Foxgloves can be added to the garden and landscape but also make showy container specimens. The flowers are sure to draw in a variety of pollinators for the nectar rich reward. Berry Canary Digiplexis is considered hardy in zone 8, in colder climates it makes a worthy annual. Images courtesy of Walter's Gardens, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12302

The bracts start out chartreuse to yellow and quickly begin to take on bronze tones and mature to a deep brick red. A favorite among hummingbirds, the nectar rich, tubular white flowers peak out from between the bracts and have maroon bee guides on the lower lip. The Bicolor Red Shrimp Plant, a selection of Justicia brandeegeana, is a heat loving, naturally evergreen, bushy, tropical plant with dark olive green foliage and grows to about 24" high by about 18" wide. The foliage of these plants may eventually show white and cream variegation as they were propagated from variegated mother plants. The Red Shrimp Plants can be enjoyed both as container plants as specimens or in mixed company as well as in the garden and landscape. It is both full sun and bright shade tolerant but tends to have the densest branching habit where it receives at least 4 hours or more of direct sunlight. Provide an average to well-drained, moderately fertile, average moist soil for optimum vigor and flowering. The Red Shrimp Plant is an RHS Award of Garden Merit winner. Item# 12909

Conical spikes of deep red, 3" long tubular flowers are produced nearly continuously throughout the growing season on this vigorous and easy to grow shrub to shrub-like perennial. Bidwill's Coral Tree is a hybrid of our native Mamou Bean, Erythrina herbacea, and the tropical Crybaby Tree, Erythrina crista-galli, combining the best features of both parents. It has the cold hardiness of the Mamou and the continuous flowering of the Crybaby and the hummingbirds flock to the intense red tubular flowers. Easy to grow and establish, it is perennial in areas where freezes are common and becomes more shrub-like in zones 9, 10, and 11. Item# 11083

2018 Best of the Best Award at the UGA Trial Gardens! The deep indigo tubular flowers emerge from whorls of dark colored calyxes adorning tall dark spikes that are held above the rich green foliage and are produced from late spring or early summer to frost. Big Blue Salvia, a seed grown strain with the same parentage of and is an improvement upon the award winning Indigo Spires, develops into a full bushy herbaceous perennial growing to about 2-3' high by 2' wide. The summerlong display of flowers attracts a myriad of pollinators and highly popular with larger native bees. Use Big Blue Salvia at the back of the border, in larger containers, as well as in the garden and landscape. Provide a full to mostly sunny site in a fertile, average moist soil with average or better drainage for optimum vigor and continuous flowering. Images courtesy of Ball Horticulture, Inc., all rights reserved. Item# 12876

The large sleepy scarlet blooms of 'Big Momma' are held upright on woody stems from late spring to fall or even year round in mild winter climates. This hybrid Greg Grant selection produces a large, vigorous, and free flowering Turk's Cap that revels in the heat and the sun of Southern summers. A hummingbird and butterfly magnet! Item# 1081

The huge tropical velvety foliage is very unique and is topped by spikes of royal purple flowers in summer. Grow it as a specimen or in the back of a border as a perennial in mild winter areas. A real conversation piece whether in flower or not. Item# 9349.

Selected at the esteemed Biltmore Estate, Ashville, NC, the summerlong display of 2" wide dangling Chinese lantern-like flowers are a soft yellow-orange heavily overlaid with a strongly contrasting deep red veining. Biltmore Ball Gown Abutilon or Flowering Maple is an exceptionally hardy and reliable upright growing, naturally evergreen shrubby tropical that has proven to be evergreen in mild zone 8 winters but where it is not reliably hardy it makes an easy container plant that can be overwintered indoors near a sunny window. Abutilons are also known as Parlor Maples as this was a reliably flowering indoor plant and a conversation piece. The flowers attract hummingbirds and other garden beneficials. Provide a full sun to partly shaded site in a fertile, average moist soil. Item# 13087

The Bird of Paradise produces exotic and unusual, tropical looking orange, blue, and purple bird-like flowers that are perfectly designed to allow Sunbirds to perch on the tips of the blue petals which opens the flower and provides access to their rich nectar. Here in the US we get to enjoy Hummingbirds enjoying their bounty. The large glossy blue green foliage of the Bird of Paradise is arranged in attractive symmetrical fans that provide architectural interest even when the plants are not in flower. The Bird of Paradise is an easily maintained evergreen container specimen or grow it in the ground where hardy. Item# 1214.

The large tropical deep green, sagittate to heart-shaped foliage is heavily marked with starkly contrasting bright white to creamy yellow pinstripes. As the foliage ages it eventually fades into a deep dark glossy green and may occasionally sport burgundy to solid white foliage and even pink tinges. The Birkin Philodendron, a shockingly different sport of its parent Red Congo, is a naturally upright and self-supporting or self-heading Philodendron with a slow rate of growth eventually reaching up to 2-3' high and wide. It will do best in high to medium indirect sunlight, although it can probably tolerate a little filtered early morning or very late evening direct sunlight. Too much direct sunlight is likely to cause leaf burn as with many other variegated plants. Enjoy your young Birkin Philodendron as a window sill plant or on a table top. Use a high quality potting soil and mix in a slow or controlled release, non-burning fertilizer and allow the soil to become moderately dry between waterings and never allow them to remain soggy wet. Overall these are easy to grow and enjoy evergreens that can brighten up a room or porch or patio during the warmer months of the year, when night time temperatures remain above about 60-65^oF. Item# 12808

Arching 2-3" long spikes adorned with numerous whitish to greenish tiny flowers are produced from the leaf axils with pollinated flowers producing small round, 1/5" diameter fruits that start out green and mature through orange-red to black. The Black Pepper Plant is a tropical, evergreen vine with glossy, deep green foliage. It uses adventitious roots to support itself on the bark of nearby trees, shrubs, or wooden trellises and supports. It branches readily creating a full lush decorative vine. Black Pepper prefers a mildly acidic to neutral, average moist to moist, well-drained soil rich in organic matter but should not be allowed to remain soggy wet. Item# 12581