(Dyckia)

Beautiful in is unfriendly, spined foliage, Foster's dyckia is a tropical arid bromeliad that is worth growing, truly one of the finest of all in the genus Dyckia. Native to southeastern Brazil, it forms a perfect, tight rosette that eventually multiplies into a dense, mounded cluster with scores of plants.

The narrow leaves are silvery green and are both arching and curved as they radiate out from the plant center. The edges are scalloped and lined with tiny teeth that are lighter silvery...

(Dyckia)

Wild imagination? Admire this bromeliad long enough and you'll become creative director for a production of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" or "Little Shop of Horrors". Native to southern Brazil, Dyckia mariner-lapostollei has architecturally magnificent leaves, although hardly monstrous in size. Many consider this the most beautiful species of Dyckia and it slowly multiplies to form a small clump of plants.

Fat and wide, each lance-like leaf often recurves and twists and has...

(Dyckia)

Perhaps you'll think you have encountered an interesting new species of aloe or century plant when you first see the multi-colored, spiny leaves of this arid bromeliad. Native to eastern Brazil, Dyckia platyphylla forms a spreading rosette that eventually multiplies into a massive, mounded cluster of plants.

Each leaf is a long triangle and emanates outward from the center. Colored a glossy deep green, the leaf edges are sharply teethed and blush a brownish bronze. The undersides are...

(Dyckia)

Hooked leaves on this rosetted plant may find you calling it an aloe, but not so fast! Native to Uruguay and southern Brazil, Dyckia remotiflora forms a dense rosette that eventually multiplies into a rounded cluster of plants.

Each leaf is a long curving spear, emanating outward from the center. Satin-glossed and dark green, the spines on the leaf margins are silvery, as are the leaf undersides which are covered in scales. In late spring, mature plants send up a short, branched flower...

(Silver Carpet)

The dense mat of gray-green and white foliage created by silver carpet is its most notable feature. In its native South Africa, this low, mat-forming perennial naturally resides in the Western Cape Province of Southern Overberg. There it can be found along sandy coastal flats. It withstands both heat and drought, so it has quickly become a popular garden plant in areas with drier landscapes, like the American southwest. Its short, narrow leaves are gray-green above and downy white underneath. Yellow...

(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...

(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)

Fun and easy to grow the succulent perennials in the genus Echeveria comprise approximately 150 species, most of which are native from Texas and Mexico southward though Central America to northwestern South America. The genus is named in honor of Mexican botanical artist and naturalist, Atanasio Echeverría y Godoy.

The plants are comprised of beautifully hued, succulent leaves that form dense basal rosettes. The leaves come in various shapes, including tubular, linear, spoon-shaped...

(Echeveria)

The dark-hued rosettes of this relatively frost-hardy succulent contrast beautifully with the gray and silvery tones of other echeverias. A hybrid of E. shaviana and E. affinis, it produces one or more ground-hugging rosettes of spirally arranged, spade-shaped, chocoloate-purple leaves. Each rosette may attain the breadth of a small dinner plate. The evergreen leaves tolerate several degrees of frost. A spike of brilliant red flowers rises from each rosette's center...