Every gardener wants her own little piece of paradise, right in the backyard. One of the best ways to achieve the laid-back Caribbean effect is with tropical plants, generously placed around decks, pools or patios. Here are three plants to suggest to customers who seek an exotic landscape based on tropical-zone plants. This plant actually thrives on long, hot summers. Large, festive flowers appear on spikes above very large leaves.
Colors range from white to shades of pink, yellow and scarlet.
Plants bloom in midsummer until cold weather hits. Some of the newer varieties, like Van Bloem Gardens' Designer collection, are compact growers, perfect for today's smaller gardens or for more petite containers. The bold, coarse foliage contrasts well and serves as a specimen plant or focal point. In most parts of the United States, the growing season won't be long enough for gardeners to actually produce edible fruit, but the tall, shade-producing plants are fun to have around nonetheless. In the Southeast, the plant is often grown as a herbaceous perennial, which dies to ground level, but recovers in spring.