(Cabada Palm)

Grown for its ornamental trunks and large lacy leaves, this medium-sized palm was once native to Madagascar but is now found only on the Comoros Islands. It was first described from cultivated plants in Cuba. The slender, multiple trunks of Cabada palm are light olive green, ringed at regular intervals with gray leaf scars. Each trunk is topped by a long smooth silvery green crownshaft, formed by the clasping leaf stems ("petioles"). The six to ten magnificent, erect to horizontal, pinnate (feather-like)...

(Triangle Palm)

Named for its three vertical ranks of pinnate (feather-like), gracefully arching, blue-green fronds, this amazingly beautiful and interesting single-trunked palm is native only to the southeastern part of Madagascar. Branching clusters of yellow flowers arise from the lower leaf bases throughout the year, followed by small green fruit that ripen to black.

Triangle palm thrives in sun, well-drained soil that is not highly alkaline, and mild climates. Although drought tolerant, it responds favorably...

(Redneck Palm, Teddy Bear Palm)

Named for the unique color and texture of its clasping leaf stems, teddy bear palm is widely grown in gardens, but unknown in the wild. It probably originated in Madagascar. Medium-sized and single-trunked, it bears magnificent long pinnate (feather-like) leaves in feather-duster fashion, giving it the appearance of a straight-trunked coconut palm.

The waxy silver-gray trunk is ringed at regular intervals with red-brown leaf scars. The trunk is topped by a fuzzy, reddish-brown crownshaft, formed...

(Areca Palm, Golden Cane Palm, Yellow Bamboo Palm, Yellow Butterfly Palm)

Areca palm is a popular tropical plant that is native to Madagascar. It has glossy, graceful, feathery compound leaves that have long, narrow, bright green leaflets along a yellow frond stem. In summer it produces small yellow flowers followed by yellow to purple fruits.

This pleasing palm forms multiple trunks and large clumps. It is used extensively as a landscape palm in frost-free locations and an interior specimen where not hardy. Outside, it prefers full sun to partial shade and very...

(Texas Ebony)

Texas ebony is an evergreen large shrub to small tree native to southern Texas and northern Mexico. The leaves are twice-divided and feather-like, each leaflet thick, oval to elliptical, glossy, very dark green above and paler below. The branches are slightly zigzag and hold small black spines at the base of each leaf. Interesting bark is red-brown when young and scaly gray when mature. The summer flowers are fluffy, round with many stamens and white to yellow in color. Long pods follow the flowers,...

(Echeveria)

Remarkable for its coral-like hues, this rosette-forming evergreen succulent was raised by Richard Graessner of Perleberg, Germany, some 75 years ago. It remains a popular variety. A hybrid of Echeveria gibbiflora 'Mettalica' and E. elegans, it produces one or more ground-hugging rosettes of spirally arranged, rounded, gray-purple leaves that shade to rosy mauve at the rosette's center. The entire rosette is dusted with a silvery patina. Each rosette may attain the breadth...

(Echeveria)

A recently introduced hybrid that departs from most other echeverias in color and form, this tender succulent forms large rosettes of thick fleshy gray-green leaves with frilly pink fringes. As with most echeverias, the broadly triangular, fleshy leaves are evergreen. They cluster in symmetrical, waxen, many-leaved rosettes that grow as wide as dinner plates. A tall spike topped with showy orange flowers rises from each rosette's center in late summer, attracting hummingbirds. Plants spread by offsets,...

(Echeveria, Mexican Gem, Mexican Snowball)

Mexican Gem is native to Mexico and has succulent leaves that form a stemless rosette. This species produces a silver-blue rosette that puts forth disproportionately long spikes of pink and yellow flowers in spring or summer. This plant is a wonderful clumping colonizer and develops off-shoot babies that spread and root where they touch soil, often giving them the name of tropical hens and chicks.

This succulent thrives in full sun and prefers dry sandy soil that is moist in summer. Occasional...

(Echeveria, Painted Lady)

Providing year-round interest with its bold rosettes of colorful evergreen leaves, this beautiful succulent perennial is native to dry limestone cliffs in central Mexico. The rather loose rosettes of fleshy, oval, gray-green, maroon-striped leaves are borne atop short stems. Plants develop into architectural mult-stemmed clumps. In summer and early fall, each rosette may produce a knee-high flower spike bearing small red-flushed pale yellow blooms.

This cold-tender, sun-loving perennial needs...

(Peacock Echeveria)

An almost luminous presence in the succulent garden, this Mexican echeveria produces a ground-hugging rosette of fleshy blue-green leaves heavily dusted with shimmering silver. Measuring up to 16 cm (5 inches) wide, the rosette comprises 20 or more spirally arranged, spade-shaped leaves with pointed or bristled tips. A calf-high flower stem arises from the rosette's center in early summer, terminating in a cluster of red flowers. The blooms attract hummingbirds. Plants occasionally produce additional...