(Croton)

Colorful crotons in the landscape are a sure sign of warm climates. Codiaeum variegatum is an evergreen shrub native to Malaysia and islands of the western Pacific. Red Banana is a small, spreading variety. The star-shaped flowers are produced on long stalks but are insignificant. The brightly-hued foliage is the attraction. Red Banana’s leaves are linear with bluntly rounded tips, arranged spirally around the stems and a slight corkscrew twist around the midrib. The new leaves emerge light...

(Croton, Stoplight Croton)

Codiaeum variegatum, more commonly known as croton, is an evergreen native to Malaysia and islands in the western Pacific. The flowers are insignificant but the foliage comes in a wide variety of brightly splashed or spotted, smooth, ruffled or twisted shapes. Mature crotons are "V" shaped.

Crotons grow best in well-drained soil and in full sun to partial shade; in hot sunny climates they look best if shaded from the hottest sun of the day. Too much sun will bleach the color out of the leaves...

(Croton, Sunny Star Croton)

Codiaeum variegatum, more commonly known as croton, is an evergreen native to Malaysia and islands in the western Pacific. The flowers are insignificant but the foliage comes in a wide variety of brightly splashed or spotted, smooth, ruffled or twisted shapes. Croton ‘Sunny Star’ has large, smooth, elliptical leaves, pointed at both ends with a swath of bright yellow over the lower portion usually leaving the margins and tips dark green. Mature crotons are "V" shaped.

Crotons grow best...

(Croton, Zanzibar Croton)

Codiaeum variegatum, more commonly known as croton, is an evergreen native to Malaysia and islands in the western Pacific. The flowers are insignificant but the foliage comes in a wide variety of brightly splashed or spotted, smooth, ruffled or twisted shapes. Mature crotons are "V" shaped.

Crotons grow best in well-drained soil and in full sun to partial shade; in hot sunny climates they look best if shaded from the hottest sun of the day. Too much sun will bleach the color out of the leaves...

(Croton, Finger Fire Croton)

Codiaeum variegatum var. pictum, more commonly known as croton is a tropical shrub native to Malaysia and islands in the eastern pacific. The flowers are white but insignificant and the foliage contains various colors, most commonly shades of yellow, green, and red.

Crotons grow in full sun to shade but in hot sunny climates looks best if it is shaded from the hottest sun of the day. Crotons make excellent accent plants and as part of a mixed shrub planting. They look their best if planted...

(Croton, Petra Croton)

The petra croton is a tropical shrub native to Malaysia and islands in the eastern Pacific. The flowers are white but insignificant. The foliage of the petra croton has broad leaves that variate in color between pink, red, orange, yellow, and green with the veins often times being a lighter color. This is one of the most common cultivars for both indoor and outdoor use.

Crotons grow in full sun to shade but in hot sunny climates looks best if it is shaded from the hottest sun of the day. Crotons...

(Arabian Coffee, Coffee)

Arabian or Arabica coffee is a lovely upright evergreen shrub with graceful gray-barked branches, fragrant white flowers and fruits (drupes) that yield some of the best coffee for drinking. Native to Ethiopia but now cultivated in wooded, high-altitude plantations throughout the tropics, Arabica coffee is by far the most economically important of all coffees, accounting for as much as 80 percent of all coffee grown worldwide.

Coffea arabica has been long cultivated and enjoyed by a variety...

(Robusta Coffee)

Robusta coffee is an attractive upright evergreen shrub native from the western sub-Saharan African coast to the Congo River Basin. It yields coffee considered inferior in flavor and quality to the more renowned Coffea arabica, though it is much easier to grow than its more picky cousin as it can withstand higher growing temperatures and poorer soils.

This species blooms in springtime with clusters of pretty white flowers at the base of the leaves. Bees pollinate the blooms and green...

(Liberian Coffee)

Accounting for only one percent of the world's commercial coffee bean production, Liberian coffee plants hail from western sub-Saharan Africa. The red fruits (drupes) bear a tough skin, making it difficult to obtain the inner beans for brewing. Liberian beans have a harsher, less flavorful taste than those of close relatives, Arabica and Robusta coffee.

The large, wide, oval, dark green leaves of Liberian coffee plants are arguably the most ornamental of all Coffea species. And there...

(Colchicum)

Showy-flowered "bulbs" that are often overlooked because they mostly bloom late in the year rather than in spring, colchicums make excellent additions to the garden. They occur naturally from western Europe to central Asia and the Himalayas.

Colchicums produce goblet- or funnel-shaped flowers on ankle- to shin-high, stem-like floral tubes. Superficially resembling crocus flowers (leading to the misleading common name "autumn crocus"), they are typically produced in late summer or early fall,...