(Bougainvillea, Paperflower, Royal Purple Bush Bougainvillea)

Hybrid bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber with short thorns and large, green leaves. 'Royal Purple' is cultured for abundant, colorful clusters of dark purple bracts surrounding small cream-colored flowers from summer to late autumn. Hybrid bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning and repeated management. This cultivar is tolerant of more humid climates.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Bougainvillea makes a...

(Bougainvillea, Paperflower, Southern Rose Bougainvillea)

Southern Rose hybrid bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber with short thorns and large, green leaves. Its abundant, colorful clusters lavender-rose to pleasing pink bracts surrounding small cream-colored flowers from summer to late autumn. Hybrid bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning and repeated management.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Bougainvillea makes a colorful accent on walls or pergolas and may be...

(Bougainvillea, Thai Delight Bougainvillea)

Thai Delight bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber with thorns and green leaves and is grown primarily for its abundant, colorful clusters of pink and white bracts, modified, colorful leaves resembling flowers, from summer to autumn. Bougainvillea is a winter bloomer in subtropical and tropical climates.

Bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning. Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. A period of dry conditions encourages...

(Bougainvillea, Paperflower, White Madonna Bougainvillea)

White Madonna bougainvillea is a vigorous, woody, evergreen climber with thorns and green leaves and is grown for abundant clusters of pure white bracts from summer to autumn. Bougainvillea is typically a large plant with an open habit that requires pruning.

Plant in full sun and fertile, well-drained garden soil. Hybrid bougainvillea makes a colorful accent on walls or pergolas and may be planted as an annual in hanging baskets or other containers.

(Firecrackerbush, Scarlet Bouvardia, Scarlet trompetilla)

With glossy dark gray-green foliage, Firecrackerbush lives up to its moniker from summer to winter with clustered scarlet red flowers that look like elongated trumpets. A rather open-branched and free-formed evergreen shrub, it is native from the extreme southwestern United States into Mexico and Central America.

Its leaves are oval or lance-shaped, and dark-green with hints of gray-green. The tops of the leaves are glossy while the undersides are lightly hairy. At the tips of the branches, from...

(Australian Flame Tree, Flame Bottle Tree, Illawarra Flame Tree)

Australian flame tree has maple-like foliage that drops in time to reveal naked branches lined with thousands of red flowers in late spring and summer. An upright but rounded semi-evergreen to fully deciduous tropical tree, it eventually forms a plump green trunk when mature. The bark becomes ghostly light gray with age. This showy tree is native to the forests of Queensland and New South Wales, Australia.

Following the dry winter, the bare gray-green branches bear thousands of small flowers...

(Bush Kurrajong, Pink Flame Tree, Queensland Lacebark)

A stately silhouette of spreading branches atop a bottle-shaped trunk makes the Queensland lacebark attractive even when the rose-colored flowers are absent. Native to the dry forests and coastal scrub of northeastern Australia, the tree has smooth green bark and a pyramidal shape when young. With age, the bark becomes cracked and gray, and the tree's canopy a bit more muscular and spreading. Tap the trunk and it sounds hollow, although packed with fibers.

The tree tends to drop leaves during...

(Bottle Tree, Kurrajong, Whiteflower Kurrajong)

Bottle tree is so remarkably drought-tolerant that it remains lush and green even in brutally hot, desert climates. It originates in eastern Australia where it grows in both humid and arid regions, but all with a long dry season. The large, glossy leaves are poplar-like, creating a dense, shade-giving canopy with a slightly weeping character. The trunk is wider at the base, an adaptation to drought for storing moisture.

The sun-loving tree produces clusters of tiny white flowers in spring, flushed...

(Brachyscome, Surdaisy™ Mauve Brachyscome, Swan River Daisy)

A tender perennial most often grown as an annual that's killed by subfreezing temperatures, the Surdaisy™ Mauve Swan River daisy produces pale blue-lavender flowers. This cultivar -- 'Bonbrabu' -- resulted from controlled cross-pollination efforts in 2004 by Andrew Bernuetz of Bonza Botanicals in Yellow Rock, New South Wales, Australia.

The bright emerald green leaves are narrow and deeply lobed, create a soft-looking frilly mass. The delicate leaves make an attractive foil to the yellow-eyed...

(Brachyscome, Surdaisy™ White Brachyscome, Swan River Daisy)

Commonly grown as an annual that's killed by subfreezing temperatures, the Surdaisy™ White Swan River daisy, a tender perennial, produces angelic white flowers. This cultivar -- 'Bonbraho' -- resulted from controlled cross-pollination efforts in 2004 by Andrew Bernuetz of Bonza Botanicals in Yellow Rock, New South Wales, Australia.

The bright emerald green leaves are narrow and deeply lobed, create a soft-looking frilly mass. The delicate leaves make an attractive foil to the yellow-eyed daisies...