(Shooting Star, Starburst Clerodendrum)

This is one of the tropic's most beautiful flowering shrubs. Large, dark-green and burgundy leaves are the backdrop for firework-resembling, pink and white flower clusters in late winter and early spring. A large, frost-tender shrub from the Philippines, shooting star is typically evergreen but will lose foliage if the dry season is exceptionally cool or dry. The leaves can grow quite long, being oval to oblong in shape, a dull, dark green above with a glossy, purple to burgundy underside.

Depending...

(Variegated Shooting Star)

Large cream, dark-green and burgundy variegated leaves are the backdrop for fireworks-like, pink and white flower clusters in late winter and early spring. A large, frost-tender shrub from the Philippines, 'Brandonii' was selected by Mark Herndon of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida in 1995. It is typically evergreen but will lose foliage if the dry season is exceptionally cool or dry. The leaves can grow quite long, being oval to oblong in shape. They are dark green with patches of pale green and cream above...

(Javanese Glorybower)

The fuzzy, bright green leaves of Javanese glorybower and its clusters of bright orange flowers in the warm months are a beautiful bu pesky addition to a tropical garden. A clumping and suckering evergreen shrub from Sri Lanka and Indonesia, it will aggressively spread itself across the garden, filling in gaps between or shading out other shrubs. The leaves are rounded, almost heart-shaped, tapering to a modest tip, colored bright green and are downy textured. Most heavily concentrated at the semi-woody...

(Flaming Glorybower)

Crinkly, deeply veined leaves create a lovely backdrop to the festive orange flowers that grace flaming glorybower. This tropical, twining, sprawling evergreen is a native of western Africa, from Senegal to Angola. Its deeply veined leaves are bright green when they emerge and then deepen to glossy dark green. The blooms can appear anytime of year but the heaviest showing of blossoms is in midwinter, just after the solstice.

The flowers heavily cover the twining stems and are borne in big flattened...

(Bagflower, Bleeding Heart Vine)

Beautiful flower clusters of red and white adorn this West African flowering vine when growing conditions are favorable. Bleeding heart vine is evergreen, though it will lose some leaves during the cool, dry African winter. It is vigorous and climbs via twining stems. In the wild, it twines up trees in tropical forests, so it’s naturally shade tolerant.

The dark green leaves of bleeding heart vine are ovate and deeply veined. During the growing season, or when conditions are favorable, it bears...

(Blue Butterfly Bush, Glorybower)

The unusual, colorful flowers of blue butterfly bush make this a highly sought after garden plant for temperate and tropical gardens alike. This rangy, frost-tender, evergreen shrub is native to tropical East Africa. Often listed as a vine, it has a weak, upright habit and sometimes requires support, though it is far too rangy or bushy to be considered a true vine.

Large, coarsely toothed, elliptical leaves of medium green line the square stems in opposite arrangement. The flowers are borne...

(Bridal Veil)

Long elegant leaves, and attractive pendent flowerbuds followed by decorative white flowers gives bridal veil a reputation as being one of autumn’s most magnificent plants. This tender tropical shrub with long stems that gracefully arch is native from India and China into Southeast Asia. The foliage is glossy dark green and leaves are narrowly lance-shaped with obvious indented veins and tips that are curled. In early fall the branch tips form elegant and beautiful pendent flowerbud clusters that...

(Eastern Summersweet, Jamaican Wild Pear, Soapwood)

Native to montane rainforests of Jamaica, Mexico and northern Central America, this evergreen canopy tree is regarded for its green fruits that have a white, meaty flesh that tastes sweet.

(Asian Pigeonwings, Blue Pea Vine)

Delicate foliage and dangling blue flowers with yellow cores make blue pea vine a popular herbaceous plant. A tender perennial vine that grows rapidly, it is often grown as an annual in gardens both in and out of the tropics. The exact origin of this species is debated as it is widespread in equatorial regions, but tropical Africa or Indonesia and Malaysia are likely native regions.

The leaves are compound, made up of five to seven small, oval leaflets that are light green with a hint of blue....

(Clivia)

Attractive and adaptable, this evergreen herbaceous perennial from South Africa produces sturdy-stemmed clusters (umbels) of orange trumpet-shaped blooms above a graceful fountain of strappy, fibrous, dark green foliage. Flowering usually occurs in winter and spring, but occasionally at other seasons. Many cultivars are available including yellow-flowered and variegated selections.

This bulbous, freeze-intolerant plant thrives in partial shade and porous, gritty but humus-rich, well-drained soil....