(Aeonium, Kiwi Aeonium, Variegated Aeonium)

Its colorful foliage makes this low evergreen succulent a real stand-out in mild climate gardens. It may be a hybrid of Aeonium haworthii developed in Australia. Kiwi aeonium produces dense mounded rosettes of fleshy light green leaves that are chartreuse upon emerging in fall. The somewhat hairy, spade-shaped leaves have crimson margins and may develop pinkish variegation in cool weather. The rosettes are borne on short stems which root on contact with soil, resulting in a spreading mound...

(Tree Aeonium)

An architecturally interesting succulent for garden color and texture, tree aeonium is a heat- and drought- tolerant native of Morocco. Its branched stems are upright, each bearing a tight rosette of spoon-shaped, bright green leaves. Some plants' leaves are mottled or blushed lightly with burgundy or purplish tones. In the spring, each mature rosette produces an upright stalk that towers above the foliage. At the top of the stalk is a dense mass of bright yellow flowers, each small and with many...

(Tree Aeonium, Zwartkop Aeonium)

A wonderful plant for color and textural interest, Zwartkop tree aeonium is a heat- and drought-tolerant succulent that originates from Morocco. The words "zwartkop" or "schwarzkopf" mean "black rose or head," referring to the dark leaf clusters. Its branched stems are upright, each bearing a tight rosette of spoon-shaped near-black leaves. A leaf is rich in very dark red pigments, making it look black from a distance. In the spring, each mature rosette develops an upright stalk that reaches above...

(Aoenium, Pinwheel)

Easy to grow, this shrubby evergreen from the Canary Islands is prized for its handsome succulent foliage. It bears rosettes of fleshy light green spade-shaped leaves at the tips of branching knee-high stems, with new growth appearing in late fall and early winter. The leaves often have red-tinted margins. Where stems contact soil they will root, developing ever larger mounds with time. In spring, each rosette puts forth a large, single flower stalk topped with creamy yellow blossoms. The rosette...

(Aeonium, Saucer Plant)

Imagine a plant that looks like it was squashed to the ground as if stepped on by an elephant. That's saucer plant. This strange low-growing tender perennial forms a flat, rounded rosette of succulent foliage. It is native to the coastal cliffs of Tenerife in the Canary Islands and is well-adapted to salt spray and high winds. Each rosette survives as a biennial or short-lived perennial, reproducing by seed or small pups that sprout from the base of the mother plant.

Spoon-shaped, bright green...

(Aerides Orchid, Orchid)

The fragrant orchids in the genus Aerides inhabit the tropical and subtropical forests of Southeast Asia and India. The specific number of species is under question, but in a recent revision of the genus 21 were legitimized. These orchids are commonly called cat's tail or fox brush orchids because their blooms are borne in pendulous racemes that look tail-like. There are two distinct flower types in Aerides, one with an pollinator spur entrance that's hidden and one that's open,...

(Aerides, Orchid)

The rich green foliage of this unique orchid sits atop a chain-like mass of long roots and bears a cluster of deliciously fragrant gold and fuchsia flowers in early summer. Houllet's aerides is a fairly large evergreen epiphytic orchid native to the hot, sultry lowlands of Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. It has a growth habit that is called vandaceous (like Vanda orchids) with extremely long aerial roots and a fan-like leaf mass atop the stem-like pseudobulb.

The leaves are short,...

(Aerides, Orchid)

The graceful aerides-with-five-wounds orchid bears a fragrant drooping cluster of small, ivory and fuchsia-violet spotted blossoms in summer and autumn. A large evergreen epiphytic orchid, this species is native to forested tropical highlands of Malaysia and the Philippines. It grows from a short pseudobulb with dangling aerial roots that clasp to tree trunks for support.

The medium green leaves are leathery and strap-like with two lobes at their ends. In early summer into fall, a long drooping...

(Basket Vine)

Aeschynanthus is a genus of approximately 140 species of evergreen tropical flowering plants native to the warm, moist regions of Asia and the Pacific Islands. These herbaceous gesneriads are often called lipstick plants due to their showy flowers that look like lipstick rising from a tube.

They may be shrubs or climbers and many are epiphytic (tree-dwelling) with pendent stems. The leaves are usually leathery or fleshy, opposite on the stem and come in pairs. The form and appearance...

(Basket Vine, Hot Flash Lipstick Plant, Lipstick Plant)

One of the prettiest and easiest to grow of the lipstick plants, 'Hot Flash' is a compact plant with large orange-red blooms with light color striations. The flowers are held upright in clusters at the ends of the branches. This vigorous, floriferous hybrid is a cross between Aeschynanthus evrardii and Aeschynanthus hildebrandii and a favorite plant for containers or hanging baskets. It was hybridized by B. Schwarz in 1984.

This tropical is a semi-trailing evergreen perennial...