Hardy tropical plants can turn your temperate garden into an exotic tropical plant garden reminiscent of a Hawaiian rain forest with cold hardy tropical plants. You may be surprised at just how many varieties of tropical looking plants are hardy for your zone.
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Aspidistra elatior 'Mangetsu'
Item #: 15296
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China, Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $50.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra elatior 'Morning Frost'
Item #: 7065
Zones: 7b to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra elatior 'Snow Cap'
Item #: 8422
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China, Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $34.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra fungilliformis 'Stargazey'
Item #: 17275
Zones: 8b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 4" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra grandiflora 'Big Spotty'
Item #: 9408
Zones: Tropical
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra 'Hanado Raku' PPAF
Item #: 14894
Zones: 8b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 26" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Hybrid
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $35.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra linearifolia 'Skinny Dippin'
Item #: 7557
Zones: 7a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 16" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra lutea 'Mai Chau'
Item #: 16295
Zones: 9a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 8" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra minutiflora 'Leopard'
Item #: 2117
Zones: 8a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra oblanceifolia 'Nagoya Stars'
Item #: 8431
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra omeiensis 'Come Pleated'
Item #: 8627
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $27.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra omeiensis 'Jade Ribbons'
Item #: 2119
Zones: 8a to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra retusa 'Nanjing Green'
Item #: 7521
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 24" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra x sichlatior 'Mix Up'
Item #: 17133
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra sichuanensis 'Clouded Leopard'
Item #: 14893
Zones: 7b to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 22" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra sichuanensis 'Ichi Moro Ji'
Item #: 16299
Zones: 7b to 9b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 36" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Sold out
Aspidistra sichuanensis 'Rawhide'
Item #: 2172
Zones: 8b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 20" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price perSold out -
Aspidistra sichuanensis 'Spek-tacular'
Item #: 8593
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 32" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra sichuanensis 'Yellow Hammer'
Item #: 1936
Zones: 7b to 10b, guessing
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 30" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $29.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra tonkinensis 'Hanoi Honey'
Item #: 13761
Zones: 9a to 10b, possibly colder
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: China
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $39.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra vietnamensis 'Amanogawa'
Item #: 6587
Zones: 8b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 18" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra vietnamensis 'Seiun'
Item #: 7060
Zones: 8b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $32.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Aspidistra zongbayi 'Yunnan Sunbeam'
Item #: 3472
Zones: 7b to 10b, at least
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 12" tall
Culture: Light Shade to Shade
Origin: Japan
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $28.00Regular priceUnit price per -
Bambusa multiplex 'Green Giant'
Item #: 9026
Zones: 7b to 10b
Dormancy: Evergreen
Height: 300" tall
Culture: Sun to Part Sun
Origin: Burma/Myanmar, China, Laos, Nepal, Taiwan, Vietnam
Pot Size: 3.5" pot (24 fl. oz/0.7 L)
Regular price $38.00Regular priceUnit price per
More Information About Tropical Looking Plants
It's a jungle out there! We have a large selection of cold hardy tropical plants including Curcuma (Hidden Cone Ginger), Canna (Canna Lilies), Musa (Banana), Hedychium (Ginger Lilies) and more. These exotic plants make your temperate garden resemble a tropical paradise.
Some of us here in the cool latitudes (and even some people in the nerdy latitudes) have exotic plant envy and want a garden full of tropical looking plants. Luckily for us, there are a few equatorial plants that have developed some cold hardiness and there are a few temperate zone plants with a distinct tropical exotic plant look. Make your temperate garden reminiscent of Hawaii today with tropical-looking exotic plants like bananas, cannas and aroids.
Hardy Tropical Plants
Exactly which cold hardy tropical plants you can grow in your garden depends on where you live. In our zone 7b garden in Raleigh, NC we have many hardy tropical plants for sale including:
- Bananas like Musa, Musella, and Ensete
- Large-leaved perennials and tall perennials like Tetrapanax, Philodendron, Heliconia, Manihot, Hedychium, Canna, and Curcuma
- Hardy forms of exotic tropical ginger lilies like Zingiber and Alpinia
- Elephant ears like Colocasia, Alocasia, Remusatia
- Exotic aroids like Amorphophallus
- Tropical tall ornamental grasses and other grass-like plants such as Arundo, Saccharum and Chlorophytum
- Exotic-looking bamboos like Fargesia, Borinda and Bambusa
- Shade-loving exotic plants like Aspidistra, Rohdea and Tupistra
- Tropical flowering exotic plants like Bauhinia, Begonia, Cuphea, Gloxinia and tropical Dahlia
- Woody-perennials like Cycas, Hibiscus, Abutilon and Brugmansia
- Tropical-looking hardy Ferns like Coniogramme
- Hardy Palm trees such as Phoenix, Sabal, Washingtonia, Rhapidophyllum and Butia
Exotic Desert Plants
In addition, there are certain temperate zone and desert plants that are distinctly exotic- looking in temperate climates including:
- Succulents like Agave, Aloe, Yucca, Dyckia, Echeveria, Nolina, Opuntia and Dasylirion
- Bulbs like Dracunculus, Zantedeschia and Hymenocallis
- South African natives like Eucomis and Scadoxus
- Ferns like Onoclea, Thelypteris and Pteris
The list below contains many more cold hardy tropical plants for all types of gardens. When you are ready to buy tropical looking plants for your garden, check out our online list of exotic plants for sale.
Additional Resources
Read our article - How to Over-winter Tropical Plants
Check out our Gardening Unplugged videos
Gardening Unplugged is our series of short garden chats recorded during our Open Nursery and Garden Days.