TOP TROPICALS ONLINE STORE: Blooming shrubs

Auntie Lilli's South Sea Salad Tree, known by the Latin name of Abelmoschus manihot, isn't a tree at all. It is in the botanical family Malvaceae, same as okra and the woody-stemmed hibiscus. It may have the growth of a shrubby tree due to its tropical nature, as it is native to tropical portions of Asia and also northern Queensland and can grow up to 9 feet tall when given the right conditions.
The South Sea Salad Tree has been a traditional green vegetable in Fiji for some time. It is grown as an tender ornamental perennial in Hardiness Zones 8-10. It does have a beautiful flower, but lesser known is the fact that both its flowers and leaves are delicious as well as nutritious! The laves are high in Vitamins A and C and Iron, and have 12% protein by dry weight. Leaves and flowers can be eaten raw in salads, and the leaves can also be lightly cooked similarly to spinach. Delicious, nutritious and a beautiful flower - talk about a perfect edible plant for tropical/subtropical landscapes and temperate annual gardens and patios.

Also known as A. x hybridum Fireball, and Abutilon Biltmore Ballgown, this is one of the many lovely hybrids between A. darwinii and A. striatum, with maple-like leaves and bell-flowers whose petals are recurved, turning in slightly at the bottom. Flowers are fiery red, as one would imagine, with prominent red veins accenting the surface. Happy plants can reach 8-10 ft tall, though pruning easily adjusts the size. Best with plentiful summer water and fertilizer. Less hardy than many, preferring temperatures that only occasionally drop into the 20s F, USDA zone 9. Placement out of wind with overhead protection and plentiful mulch help in less than balmy climates.

Fast growing but rather compact shrub with velvety leaves and stems. Bright yellow flowers. Ethnomedical plant. Easy to grow and not picky about conditions. Full sun and regular water is all it needs.

Sweet Mimosa. One of the most useful tropical plants that is very cold tolerant, blooms all winter through spring with honey-fragrant flowers - canary yellow powder puffs, attracting bees and butterflies. This is a large size, multi-stem thorny shrub 15x15 ft that requires some space. It is very fast growing, can be used as a good screen plant. It will bring you joy with pretty flowers and sweet fragrance even during freeze snaps when other trees lose leaves and suffer. This one will continue blooming and stays evergreen - a real survivor! Tolerates poor soils and drought too. Provide regular water to establish quicker.

A very colorful tropical shrub grown for its attractive reddish leaves. Beautiful foliage of mixed shades of red, yellow and green. Leaves, much smaller than ordinary copperleafs, are orange/red in the full sun and mostly variegated/green in the shade. The more sun the more color the leaves will get. Fast growing. A native of the East Indies and the Pacific, this is one of the most striking foliage shrubs and is widely used by tropical gardeners.

Extremely rare cultivar of Cat Tail with white flowers. A real beauty!

New hybrid of Copper Leaf with amazing rainbow of colors - bright red-orange-yellow-peach-green. This shrub provides year-round color in your landscaping in full sun location. The more sun, the brighter the color. In shade leaves may turn pale and green.

Acanthus montanus, also known as African mountain acanthus, False Thistle, Bear's breech, Mountain Thistle, and Alligator Plant, is a thinly branched unusual perennial with interesting foliage, basal clusters of oblong to lance-shaped glossy, dark green leaves reaching up to 12 inches long. The leaves have silver marks and wavy margins. It produces showy pink flowers in the summer to fall. It is said it is cold hardy to zone 9. The plant looks better in filtered light.
See picture of alligator skin.

Chinese Perfume Plant, Chinese Rice Flower, Mock Lemon - the fragrance is outstanding! The plant is slow growing, big size of the plant is hard to find.
See Article about this plant.

Blue Hibiscus. Bright blue to purplish flowers. Drought tolerant, heat resistant plant.
See Article about this plant.

Yellow Aphelandra. Yellow flowers emerge out of long orange stalks in the fall time. Pretty and unusual! A tall, shrubby perennial with very long terminal inflorescences that are very unique and showy, with yellow flowers protruding from orange calyces in succession over many days. Grows nicely in full sun in south Florida, but it will also tolerate quite shady conditions.

Aphelandra scabra (panamensis). This is a new introduction, quite unique flowering plant from S America. Like all aphelandras, it has showy flowers that are loved by hummingbirds. The flowers of this variety are bright pink, up to 2 inch long, and tubular. They are 2-lipped, fuzzy and they bloom for one day before wilting. The A. scabra inflorescence is candle-like and the prepubescent flower spikes can grow up to 6 inch in height. The inflorescence has overlapping green bracts that are tinged with yellow and orange and they have extrafloral nectaries. Each day only one or two flowers open along the inflorescence to prevent self-pollination.
It is a great addition to a collectible tropical butterfly garden. Can grow into 4-5" tall bushy specimen. Blooms sporadically during warm season. Tolerates both full sun or filtered light.

Panama Queen - a very rare plant with extremely tropical look, fragrant flowers of unusual color combination: orange and pink.

Aster Tree, Snow Bush, White Cloud Tree. This unique plant is the only tree in Asteraceae family. The persistent white pappus of the infructescences remains showy for months after the plants stop blooming. The plant looks like a white cloud or covered with snow. Winter bloomer. Unusual shape leaves 1-2" wide. Can be grown as a large bush, trained into a small standard tree, or kept in a pot. Very hardy plant, tolerates drought and poor soils, and some freeze.

This outstanding banana features green leaves with red splashes on top, and burgundy undersides, giving rise to the name Blood Leaf Banana. It shows up well against solid green companion plants, and performs well in containers. It will overwinter nicely in colder climates and produces small red fruit.
See Article about this plant.

Very decorative compact evergreen shrub with white flowers in Fall-Winter. Grows into a shapely shrub with minimal pruning. The trumpet-shaped 2" long flowers open in in terminal clusters in November and continue into mid-December. The great feature of this plant, it can take both full sun or shade.
This is an easy-to-grow shrub, about 3ft height, which can be used for a garden hedge or tightly clipped into geometrical shapes. It requires some sun to flower profusely and occasional pruning to promote bushy growth.

Pride of De Kaap, Nasturtium Bauhinia - compact shrub with large red orchid-like flowers.

Bougainvillea arborea is a thornless and fragrant species. Free-standing small bushy tree with lavender-pink blooms. Very rare variety very much wanted because its compact and slow growth habit. The tree usually doesn't need any trimming and keeps nice shape naturally without leggy branches.

Bougainvillea Sunvillea Rose (also called Dwarf Pixie) is deep pink, almost a magenta in color. It blooms the brightest of fuchsia-pink bracts contrasting with its bright green foliage. If you're looking for a pick-me-up for your container gardens, or a dull space in the landscape, here's your winner!
It is a dwarf form of thornless Bougainvillea with extremely slow growth rate. These showy evergreen dwarf beauties have numerous bright colorful bracts growing in an upright habit. This plant flowers in a small as a 4" pot and is great for landscapes and patio containers. It has a shape of natural bonsai, and leaves are smaller. Bright flowers are born in dense clusters. 3-4 y.o. plants can stay only 3-4 ft and look like natural bonsai trees. They stay compact, perfectly round and dense shape, don't require pruning, making a must-have for any garden, especially for the small spaces in your yard.
See picture of the mature tree in 7 gal pot

Angel Trumpet - small tree or bush with pink trumpet-like fragrant flowers that change color from white (bud) through yellow to pink (mature). Very popular garden favorite. Fast growing.

Serpentine Hill rain tree. Hardy, beautiful shrub endemic to Puerto Rico. It has unusually narrow, lanceolate leaves. Yellow, tubular flowers are most prolific in the spring and summer, but occur to a lessor extent through the rest of the year. It produces orange fruit in the summer.

Lady of the Night. Very fragrant at night! The most vigorous variety, good for sun or shade. Waxy thick leaves, relatively cold hardy, profuse bloomer.

Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow, Kiss-me-quick. Showy flowers changing color from purple though pink to white within 3 days. Takes sun or shade.