If you do not have tropical flowers in your garden, you are missing some of the most strikingly beautiful blooms. This article discusses some of the hardy tropical flowering plants that you can include in your garden.

Tropical plants are those species that are indigenous to the warm tropical regions. In colder areas, they are commonly known as exotic plants. Tropical flowers are well-known for their vibrant color, varied shape, and strong fragrance. Majority of the flowers that hold a special place in the floral industry are of tropical varieties. Some of them are birds of paradise, heliconias, orchids, gingers, etc.

The Plants

If you are planning to lay a flower garden, including vibrant colored tropical flowers will surely enhance the beauty of your landscape design. They are easy to grow and maintain in warmer climatic conditions. Hence, if you are residing in such zones, you can maintain them without spending much effort. Listed below are some popularly grown cultivars having attractive blooms:

Anthurium

With over 800 species, you will get lots of options for choosing anthurium. The plant is actually a herbaceous epiphyte, having bright green foliage and colorful bracts. In short, the heart shape, thick, petal like structure is the spathe; whereas the elongated fleshy part is the spadix. Anthurium is found in shades of white and red, and is highly poisonous.

Jasmine

You cannot miss the highly fragrant jasmine plants in this category. They bear small, white to yellowish colored attractive blooms. Plant jasmines to fill your garden with sweet fragrance in summer. It is not unusual to get confused between the true jasmine and false jasmine cultivars. As the latter is highly poisonous, you can take advice from the florist while selecting it.

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea plant is one of the most hardy tropical flowering shrubs, which can also be grown as vines. It tolerates frequent trimming and pruning, which make it ideal for borders and hedges. The flower is actually small and white colored, which is enveloped by attractive, paper like bracts. You can opt for white, pink, orange, magenta, and purple colored varieties.

Canna Lily

Despite the name, canna lily or just canna is not a true lily. Rather, it is closely related to plants of the ginger family. Its large glossy foliage adds to the beauty of the landscape design. It tolerates a wide range of temperature conditions.

Passiflora

A unique tropical flowering vine is passiflora or the passionflower. There are more than 200 species of passionflower, of which some are shrubs and a few are herbaceous. Based on the cultivar, it blooms in shades of white, red, and blue. The fruit is edible (known as passion fruit) and is preferred for its sweet taste. A unique feature of this uniquely shaped flower is the mode of pollination, which is carried out by bees.

Hibiscus

Hibiscus is a hardy tropical flowering plant that exhibits diverse features, pertaining to its growth habit and flower size. Some varieties are herbaceous, while others are maintained as shrubs or small trees. Based on the species, they are grown as annuals or perennials. And the best part about this plant is you can maintain them indoors as houseplants or outdoors in a flower garden.

Caesalpinia

The most conspicuous tropical flowering tree is caesalpinia. The bloom is commonly referred to as peacock flower. Depending upon the prevailing weather conditions in your area, this flowering plant will exhibit deciduous or evergreen nature. For example, in zone 8 it is a perennial shrub, while it grows as deciduous shrub in zone 9. You can grow it as a specimen tree in the garden and at the same time, and enjoy beautiful orange-red blooms.

Heliconia

Heliconias are also called false bird of paradise, because of the resemblance of inflorescence between these two cultivars. The colorful bloom of heliconia somewhat looks like a bird. Most hobbyists prefer growing them as landscaping plants. Related to banana plant, foliage of this variety can be as long as 200 - 300 cm. The vivid colored, waxy structure is the bract, inside of which small inconspicuous flowers are present.

These plants grow best in areas where there is a full sunlight and the humidity level is high. For cold climatic conditions, growing them is a challenging project. Nevertheless, you can maintain the growth conditions in a greenhouse and alike settings.