(Pink Tabebuia, Pink Trumpet Tree)

Valued as a timber tree, pink trumpet tree gives the added bonus of producing a fantastic spring flowering display. It's a semi-deciduous tree native to the dry coastal forests across the Caribbean. It's a very close relative to the ipe (Handroanthus impetiginosus). This slow-growing tree develops an upright oval habit. The bark is smooth and gray-brown.

The leaves are compound, resembling hands with five leaflets. Leaflet edges are always lined with tiny teeth. The foliage is rich green...

(Ipê, Lavender Trumpet Tree, Purple Tabebuia)

Ipê explodes into fantastic bloom by very early spring, rivaling a magnolia or cherry tree in beauty and visual presence. It's a deciduous tree native to the highlands of Mexico and extends far south into Argentina. Across this expansive area of distribution, the plant is quite variable in habit. Always slow growing, ipê may become a multi-trunked shrub or solitary-stemmed upright tall tree. The bark is smooth and gray-brown. In very old tall trees the trunk may become buttressed, with an irregular...

(Golden Ipê, Surinam Greenheart, Yellow Poui)

A massive tree of the tropical rainforest, the Surinam greenheart or golden ipe provides a showy display of yellow trumpet-shaped flowers anytime from midwinter to late spring. This semi-evergreen, rarely fully deciduous tree is native to northern South America, from the Caribbean coast southward into Bolivia and central Brazil. Slow growing, it becomes a towering tree with a buttressed trunk. Its bark is thinly corky and a warm sandy brown.

The compound leaves look like large hands, with five...

(Golden Tabebuia, Golden Trumpet Tree)

One of the most cold-hardy trumpet trees, this species is becoming increasing endangered across its rainforest habitat in Brazil. A small to medium size tree, nearly evergreen in tropical climes but more deciduous in chillier winter areas, the golden trumpet tree is prized for its yellow flower display in late winter or early spring. The tree is moderate in growth pace, attaining an open, rounded canopy with spreading branches.

The leaves are compound and shaped like a hand. Five smooth-edged...

(Australian Sarsaparilla , Purple Coral Pea, Vine Lilac)

The vine lilac is a short but vigorous vine with rich green foliage that beautifully compliments its elongated clusters of tiny, purple, pea-shaped flowers. Australian in origin, vine lilac is fully evergreen and naturally exists as a twining vine or rambling, shrubby groundcover.

Leathery foliage of rich green covers the plants year round. The leaves are oval to lance-shaped and often lustrous. As the winter sun begins to strengthen, the vine puts forth short, pendent stems covered with violet-purple...

(Australian Sarsaparilla , Purple Coral Pea, Vine Lilac)

The vigorous and heavy-flowering 'Happy Wanderer' has lovely violet-purple blooms and is larger than the standard lilac vine. This tough evergreen vine has rich green foliage that beautifully compliments its elongated clusters of tiny, purple, pea-shaped flowers. Australian in origin, vine lilac naturally exists as a twining vine or rambling, shrubby groundcover.

Leathery foliage of rich green covers the plants year round. The leaves are oval to lance-shaped and often lustrous. As the winter...

(Holiday Cactus)

The holiday cactus is named for the season of its bloom as well as its luminescent red or magenta flowers which make it a popular gift plant. It is a unique species native to the jungles of southern Brazil. Natural populations are epiphytic, which means plants live in the trees. They prefer the crotches between tree branches where organic matter and moisture accumulate. Its preferred habitat is similar to that of many orchids.

The foliage of this succulent is much like that of a typical Christmas...

(Dancing Bones Cactus, Drunkard's Dream)

Hatiora salicornioides is a shrubby, epiphytic (tree-dwelling) cactus with spineless, upright to arching, pencil-thin stems. The stem segments resemble tiny bottles, hence the common name "drunkard's dream." This popular houseplant is native to tropical forests of southeastern Brazil, where it grows in the angles of tree branches and on rock ledges.

The leafless, freely branching, olive-green stems of this cactus are divided into many segments. The stems ascend and then arch, giving...

(Haworthia)

Comprising about 70 species of small, succulent, cold-tender perennials, this southern African genus contains many excellent subjects for containers or frost-free gardens. Most cultivated haworthias come from arid or semi-desert regions of South Africa that receive little or no summer rainfall.

Most Haworthia species form ground-hugging or short-stemmed rosettes of fleshy, somewhat triangular, firm- or soft-textured leaves. The leaves of several species (including H. cymbiformis)...

(Rough-spined Haworthia)

A leathery, fleshy rosette with ivory, spider leg-like spines describes the rough-spined haworthia. A frost-tender perennial succulent, it is native to the Western Cape province of South Africa. It grows in arid habitats, usually protected from intense sun rays under the branches of shrubs. Rough-spined haworthia slowly develops into a small cluster of rosettes after many years.

The rosette comprises dozens or scores of pointed succulent green leaves. Each is lined with white to tan, sparse spines...