(Amazon Giant Water Platter, Amazon Giant Waterlily, Royal Waterlily)

The glorious monster of the tropical water garden! With gargantuan floating leaves with spiny undersides and tiny rims, the Amazon giant water platter is revered for its nighttime fragrant white-to-pink flowers. A short-lived perennial aquatic that is tender to cold, it hails from the still, very warm waters of the Amazon River in Brazil, Bolivia and Guyana. It grows from a thick rhizome (underground stem).

The rounded leaves are huge, as wide as an adult human is tall and green to yellow-green...

(Giant Water Platter, Santa Cruz Waterlily)

The large-leaved sultan of the tropical water garden! With gargantuan floating leaves with spiny undersides and rims, the giant water platter is revered for its nighttime fragrant white-to-pink flowers. An annual (perhaps very short-lived perennial) aquatic that is tender to cold, it hails from the still, warm freshwaters in Paraguay, Bolivia and northern Argentina. It grows from a thick rhizome (underground stem).

The rounded leaves are huge, as wide as young child is tall and green...

(Trifoliate Chastetree)

The handsome aromatic foliage of this large upright evergreen shrub is a lovely backdrop for its blue-purple summer flowers. It's native to coastal areas from China southward to northern Australia and the Pacific Islands. The grayish green leaves with fuzzy white undersides are typically divided into three oval leaflets. Crushed foliage releases a peppery scent.

Produced most abundantly in midsummer, but sporadically whenever temperatures are warm, the tiny purple- to lavender-blue flowers are...

(Trifoliate Chastetree)

A large upright shrub native to southeastern Asia and Australia, Vitex trifolia features handsome aromatic foliage and beautiful summer flowers. The leaves of the cultivar 'Fascination' emerge purple and mature to grayish green with fuzzy pale lavender undersides. They are typically divided into three oval leaflets. Crushed foliage releases a peppery scent.

Produced most abundantly in midsummer, but sporadically whenever temperatures are warm, the tiny lavender-purple flowers are held...

(Trifoliate Chastetree)

A large upright shrub native to southeastern Asia and Australia, Vitex trifolia features handsome aromatic foliage and beautiful summer flowers. The leaves of the cultivar 'Purpurea' emerge purple and mature to grayish green with fuzzy pale lavender undersides. They are typically divided into three oval leaflets. Crushed foliage releases a peppery scent.

Produced most abundantly in midsummer, but sporadically whenever temperatures are warm, the tiny lavender-purple flowers are held...

(Hybrid Vriesea)

The foliage of the hybrid bromeliad 'Empress Michiko' has beautifully crackled leaves in shades of light and medium green with newer leaves emerging with blushes of pale yellow and pink. A frost-tender tropical perennial, it forms a large rosette of wide, tongue-like leaves that retain water in the cup-like central basin. It is an epiphyte, meaning its roots clasp onto tree’s trunks or branches. This is a hybrid derived from plants with South American origins.

Flowering only once it its lifetime,...

(Hybrid Flaming Sword Bromeliad)

The striking blooms of 'Splenriet' are like flaming orange-red swords rising from large, bold rosettes of striped green leaves. In tropical areas it is favored as a landscape plant but it is also popular for interiorscapes. Plants will tolerate temperatures no lower than 50 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a hybrid of Vriesea splendens that was bred and selected in the 1930s; it is much like the species but substantially larger.

The broad, stiff, strappy leaves are horizontally striped...

(Vriesea)

Tropical and exotic in form and variable in leaf color and pattern, the giant vriesea is no less than a spectacular bromeliad for tropical gardens or spacious interior rooms. A frost-tender perennial from southern Brazil, this bromeliad forms a rosette of wide, pointed, strap-like leaves to create a mounded, magnificent specimen.

The thin, waxy leaves are like giant lances with a pointed tip and range in color from light green to mildly bluish green thanks to a powdery white film called broom....

(Giant Vriesea)

Ornately patterned with a matrix of dots and lines, Seidel's giant vriesea has the appearance of zebra, leopard or rattlesnake skin. A frost-tender, epiphytic perennial from southern Brazil, this bromeliad forms a rosette of wide, pointed, strap-like leaves to create a mounded, magnificent specimen.

The thin, waxy leaves look like giant lances with pointed tips and range in color from light to slightly bluish green. Each leaf is speckled or crackled with ivory or creamy yellow spots and streaks....

(Giant Vriesea)

Ornately patterned with a matrix of dots and lines, the giant vriesea, 'Nova', has speckled green and pale yellow leaves with rosy undersides. A frost-tender, epiphytic perennial from southern Brazil, this bromeliad forms a rosette of wide, pointed, strap-like leaves to create a mounded, magnificent specimen.

The thin, waxy leaves look like giant lances with pointed tips and range in color from light to slightly bluish green. Each leaf is speckled or crackled with ivory or creamy yellow spots...