(Giant Elephant Ear)

Unusual upright leaves mark this tender evergreen perennial from Indonesia and New Guinea. Its slowly creeping underground rhizomes send forth short fleshy trunk-like stems. Each "trunk" bears several narrow, lance-shaped, long-stalked leaves with distinctively scalloped margins. The stiff, waxy, dark green leaves have burgundy-purple undersides and purple-mottled stems. Inconspicuous greenish blossoms with a central finger-like spadix and a clasping petal-like bract (spathe) are sometimes borne...

(Malaysian Elephant Ear)

Beautiful leaves are the shining glory of Alocasia princeps. This taro is a tropical elephant ear native to the forested regions of Malaysia. This tall, evergreen perennial is grown for its large, beautiful dark green leaves with purple undersides. Each arrow-shaped, or sagittate, leaf has two basal lobes that extend beyond the point where the stem attaches at the leaf's edge. Throughout the year, it produces anthurium-like flowers with a finger-like floral column (spadix) surrounded by...

(Malaysian Elephant Ear)

Beautiful purple leaves with purple stems are the shining glory of Alocasia princeps ‘Purple Cloak.’ This taro is a tropical elephant ear native to the forested regions of Malaysia. This tall, evergreen perennial is grown for its large, arrow-shaped, or sagittate, leaves. Each has two basal lobes that extend beyond the point where the stem attaches at the leaf's edge. Throughout the year, it produces anthurium-like flowers with a finger-like floral column (spadix) surrounded by a pale green...

(Candelabra Aloe, Tree Aloe)

While it takes many years for this branched, tree-like evergreen to reach full size, it’s absolutely fabulous in the meantime. Eventually growing to well above head height, this native of southern Africa bears rosettes of long, succulent, dagger-shaped leaves a candelabra of stems. The grayish green leaves have saw-toothed edges. In winter or early spring, long stalks topped with conical clusters of red tubular flowers arise from the leaf rosettes. Some plants have yellow blooms. Adapted for pollination...

(Kokerboom, Quiver Tree)

This succulent tree aloe becomes a living work of art as it matures. It is suited to frost free gardens in regions with dry summers, such as southern California, and originates from South Africa in open country that lacks true trees. Wild plants can form colonies and attract weaverbirds that hang their pendulous nests from the branches.

The trunk-like stem of this aloe is smooth, lightly striated and tan. Branches form towards the top and support clusters of foliage. The fleshy, lance-shaped,...

(Cape Aloe)

The largest and most ferocious looking of all aloes, cape aloe is incredibly elegant in the garden. This grand species from South Africa is variable, with plants in the wild showing a marked change in thorn density. This frost tender rosette of large, fleshy blue-green leaves bears thorns not only at leaf edges but generously studding smooth surfaces as well. Leaves do take on a pink and red coloring during the winter. Cape aloe blooms in spring bearing a large, heavily branched spike tipped with...

(Soap Aloe)

A small, stemless, suckering aloe from drylands of southern Africa, this succulent evergreen is valued for its ornamental leaves, compact dense habit, and showy flowers. Broadly lance shaped, light- to dark-green leaves with oblong white speckles and brown-toothed margins are borne in ground-hugging rosettes that spread to form large dense clumps. In late spring and summer they give rise to dense heads of drooping tubular flower on branched knee-high stems. Adapted for pollination by sunbirds, the...

(Sweet Almond Shrub, Sweet Almond Verbena)

Perfuming the air, the white flowers of sweet almond verbena attract bees and butterflies. Native to the drier subtropical parts of northern Argentina, this fast-growing evergreen shrub is almost ever-blooming. It is an upright plant but will look rounded with its many horizontal, weeping branches. The oval, gray-green leaves have small teeth on their edges, and overall have a fine sand-papery texture. Towards the tips of the new growth, many small flowerspikes jut out horizontally from the leaf...

(Jungle Queen, Red Ginger)

Native to the South Pacific, this large evergreen perennial bears showy conical clusters of brilliant red flower bracts and small white true flowers atop tall stems whenever temperatures are warm and soil moist. The blooms contrast beautifully with the large, lance shaped, medium green leaves. The stems die to the ground in the colder part of its hardiness range, but regrow from thick ginger-scented rhizomes in spring.

After the primary flower fades, smaller, side flowers appear from the base...

(Golden Lotus, Shell Ginger, Variegated Shell Ginger)

Fragrant in all its parts, variegated shell ginger is a large, clump-forming, evergreen perennial native to tropical Asia. Pendulous clusters of waxy, pearly, pinkish white flowers with yellow interiors appear atop tall, strong, large-leaved stems in spring and summer. The leaves of the cultivar 'Variegata' are strikingly marked with yellow and green stripes and blotches. The stems die to the ground in the colder part of its hardiness range, but regrow from thick rhizomes in spring.

Variegated...