Tropical plants, available in a wide range of colors, shapes, and sizes, are ideal for adding drama to the deck, patio, or balcony. Tropical plants make it easy to create an eye-catching combination in a large container. You can leave them outdoors and treat them like annuals, or if you have lots of light in your home, keep them over winter as houseplants to be used outdoors again next spring. Most of these tropical plants will also perform well in ground beds.
Most flourish in regions that receive hot, humid weather in summer, and many flower from early summer until frost. Because most tropicals love summer heat and humidity, you can count on them to shine from the time you get them — and then all the way through fall.
For a stunning accent, grow one tropical flower per large container, and add colorful annual flowers around the base. Although, one beautiful blooming tropical plant looks good by itself, you can easily up the drama by creating a cluster. For example, just three plants (yellow esperanza, red mandevilla, and tropical hibiscus make a bold summer statement. All three bloom nonstop, no matter how hot the weather gets.
These gorgeous, lush, colorful plants can really liven up any garden, patio, or deck to make it feel like an amazing oasis.
Bamboo – grow best in warm tropical climate but there are many cold hardy varieties available that you can try. Dense branches of dark green evergreen foliage on stiff, erect polished stems
Banana Trees – A stunning palm-like plant with huge, broad leaves that fan out from a single trunk. A fast grower that may reach 2 feet wide and 6 feet long.
Bougainvillea – This vigorous, showy vine shines with lovely paper like flower clusters.
Canna – A profusion of large brightly colored blooms tops lush, green tropical foliage. Probably they are one of the easiest tropical plants that you can grow.
Cordyline – Bright burgundy-red foliage creates a dramatic and eye-catching grass-like effect with long arching leaves.
Esperanza – A fast-growing shrub valued for its large clusters of non-stop, golden-yellow, bell-shaped flowers. Arching stems of dark green foliage form sprays of green and gold. Very heat tolerant and easy to grow.
Boston Fern – The lush arching, dangling fronds of Boston fern are especially suited to hanging baskets, but they also look great in containers.
Tropical Hibiscus – The reason behind the popularity of hibiscus is they are easy to grow. This eye catcher produces shiny green leaves and large, showy blooms up to 6 and 7”. With vibrant colored blooms and exceptional heat tolerance, this plant. This lovely shrub can reach up to 2-3′ tall and wide.
Ixora – A tropical beauty prized for its pom-pom clusters of brightly colored flowers. With dark green foliage, it is a great addition to tropical landscapes and containers. gardens.
Mandevillea – A showy and vigorous vine with prolific, unusual trumpet-like flowers. Each flower lasts for several days. Big, glossy leaves cloak its bushy form, adding lush texture.
Plumbago – sprawling annual plants with branches that resemble vines. It is prized for the profusion of blue phlox-like flowers it produces throughout the summer.
Date Palm – Dense gracefully arching fronds are a striking form which makes a bold statement in the tropical landscape or indoors.
Windmill Palm – An extremely hardy palm tree with an attractive, compact crown with large, stiff, fan-like, green foliage and distinctive hairy black fibers covering its slender, graceful trunk.
Sago Palm – Develops a stout trunk topped by a whorl of dark green fronds, each containing hundreds of narrow spiky leaflets along its midrib.
