What to Plant Now
Tropicals and Outdoor Plants
Outdoor tropical plants are colorful plants that thrive in summer heat but do not tolerate freezing temperatures. This group of plants is very popular for containers on patios, around pools and on porches. Plants can be purchased as young plants or as mature specimens, ready to add immediate color to the landscape. Tropicals can be brought inside for winter protection and returned outside when warm temperatures return in the spring.
Allamanda
Beautiful trumpet-shaped butter-yellow flowers 4" across the summer. A fast growing tropical perennial vine that thrives in summertime heat. May be grown in containers or planted in the ground as flowering annual anywhere in the state. Train on trellis or let cascade out of container or hanging basket.
Angel's Trumpet
Very fragrant in the evening, the 8" long hanging trumpet shaped flowers appear in spring and summer. Choose from white, peach, pink or orange varieties, with many available in single and double flower forms. Large fast growing plants make an interesting backdrop to a wide border.
Chinese Hibiscus
One of the showiest of all flowering shrubs. Hundreds of different varieties in a rainbow of colors. Bloom freely from late spring to early fall. Thrive in heat. Great patio plants.
Spicy Jatropha
An evergreen tree with an erect, branching, woody stem. Sharp-pointed dark green leaves are bronze red when young. Clusters of star-shaped, bright coral-red flowers bloom in summer.
Mandevilla
Large colorful flowers bloom almost continually from spring until frost. Thrives in heat. Pink, red, white and yellow are available.
Bird of Paradise
Grown for its spectacular flower shaped like tropical birds. Orange, blue, and white flowers on long, stiff stems bloom throughout the year, but its best in cool season.