(Elephant Ear)

Borne along a short stout creamy white stem, the broad oval stiff-textured leaves are velvety dark green with sunken, silver veins and purple undersides. They have two prominent rounded lobes at their base. The ivory white leaf stalks attach to the interior rather than the edge of the leaf blades. Small anthurium-like blooms on short stalks appear sporadically in the leaf axils. They consist of a finger-like floral column (spadix) surrounded by a white petal-like leaf (spathe). This plant is self-sterile,...

(Kris Plant)

Kris plant is a lovely tropical perennial native to the Phillipines. Its unusually glossy and deeply lobed, slender, v-shaped leaves have dramatically waved edges. The leaves are accentuated by its broad silver green midrib and thin outline. During the growing season creamy white spathe flowers do appear but are generally overshadowed by foliage.

Kris plant prefers full to moderate shade and protection from scorching sun rays. It requires moist organic-rich soil, with enough drainage to allow...

(Hardy Elephant Ear, Went's Taro)

This is much hardier that your average elephant ear. Went's taro can tolerate winters to zone 7, especially if planted in a protected location. This clump-forming herbaceous plant originates from the montane regions of New Guinea. If offers bold deep green leaves with purple or bronze-hued undersides. In summer it produces fairly inconspicuous flowers that consist of an ivory floral column, called a spadix, that's wrapped by a green petal-like leaf, called a spathe.

Sites with partial sun to partial...

(African Mask, Amazon Taro, Elephant Ear)

What an amazing Amazon beauty! The arrowhead-shaped leaves of Amazon taro are deepest metallic green with skeletal whitish leaf veins and wavy or incised margins. This vigorous tropical hybrid elephant ear is a cross between Alocasia watsonia and A. sanderiana. During the growing season, greenish white spathe and spadex flowers appear but are generally overshadowed by foliage.

Amazon taro prefers full to moderate shade and protection from scorching sun rays. It requires moist,...

(Amazon Taro, Polly African Mask, Polly Taro)

With a more compact form and strudier foliage, Polly African mask has dark leaves with curvaceous edges and silvery veins. It is a frost tender tropical hybrid elephant ear parented by Alocasia watsonia and A. sanderiana. Loved for its large glossy, leathery, and green-black arrowhead leaves, the two pointed lobes and the wavy edges make 'Polly' look like an exotic African tribal mask. These edges are accentuated with a silvery pale green outline and midrib. During the growing...

(Aloe Vera, Barbados Aloe)

True aloe is an outstanding ornamental succulent that is cultivated outdoors, where winters are frost-free, and indoors as a potted plant for sunny exposures. It is believed to have originated from northwestern Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, but because of a long history of widespread human distribution its true nativity is unknown.

This clump forming succulent plant produces rigid upright rosettes of light green, thick, lance-like leaves edged with tiny yellow teeth. If broken, they emit...

(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...

(Shell Ginger)

Fragrant in all its parts, this large, clump-forming, evergreen perennial is native to tropical Asia and naturalized in other areas of the tropics. Pendulous clusters of waxy, pearly, pinkish white flowers resembling seashells appear atop tall, strong, large-leaved stems in spring and summer. The interior of each flower is yellow with a red throat. The lance-shaped leaves are variegated in some forms. The stems die to the ground in the colder part of its hardiness range, but regrow from thick rhizomes...

(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...

(Alternanthera, Calico Plant)

Brilliant color and good heat tolerance is an irresistible combination, and ‘Brazilian Red Hots’ delivers both. This hybrid tender perennial is fully evergreen and boasts vibrant variegated foliage with purplish centers and fuchsia edges. Each elliptical leaf has a wavy texture. Throughout the year, it produces clover-like clusters of small, white flowers, but these are insignificant and fade against the electric color of the leaves.

For best foliar color, plant ‘Brazilian Red Hots’ in full...