Growing Tropical Plants in the Garden
Last updated September 7, 2023
Bring paradise to your yard when you grow bright and bold tropical plants. You can create a colorful retreat just steps from your door. Fill your garden with exotic cannas, papyrus and impatiens.
You can get the look of a bold tropical garden with Proven Winners plants like ornamental grass, canna lilies, hibiscus, lantana, dahlias, gerbera daisies and sweet potato vine. This garden design is pleasing to people and to pollinators like hummingbirds. Add additional tropical touches like tiki torches. Pass around fruity drinks with umbrellas for a taste of the tropics at home.
This guide covers how to grow bold and beautiful tropical plants.
Table of Contents
Grow a Tropical Garden in Your Backyard
Plan a Bold Tropical Effects Garden
How to Care for a Tropical Garden
Grow a Tropical Garden in Your Backyard
This tropical garden thrives in humid and hot USDA hardiness zones 9 to 11. You can grow many of the plants outside in gardens further north. Make plans to save what you can before the first frost. Dig up cannas, dahlias and sweet potatoes and store in peat moss in a cool, dry space indoors, like a basement. You can treat the lantana like an annual and just compost at the end of the season. Try overwintering it in containers in a greenhouse. Lantana can also be allowed to go dormant and kept in a cool, dry place like a basement.
These tropical plants are adaptable to containers, too. Ornamental grasses like the Egyptian papyrus perform especially well in planters. The containers provide added height and keep vigorous grasses in check.
To punch up the tropical design, add New Guinea impatiens that feature both bright colors and stunning foliage. Coleus is a stellar companion, too. It’s easy to propagate coleus cuttings during the season. Coleus also does well when overwintered as houseplants.
Remember that you can move your tropical houseplants outdoors. Sansevieria, philodendron and palm trees all enjoy the heat and humidity of a summer outside. Liberate them from their pots and let them live in the garden for the warm months.
Plan a Bold Tropical Effects Garden
This graphic shows a suggested layout for a tropical garden. Here's a list of the plants that were used:
- A – 3 Egyptian papyruses, Graceful Grasses “King Tut”
- B – 5 Canna lilies, Toucan Rose
- C – 1 Rose mallow, Hibiscus Summerific “Cherry Choco Latte”
- D – 6 Lantanas, Luscious Bananarama
- E – 3 Dahlias, Dahlightful Georgia Peach
- F – 7 Gerbera daisies, magenta cultivar
- G – 3 Sweet potato vines, Illusion Emerald Lace
Plant selection varies in the Garden Center at The Home Depot. Not all varieties will be available in all stores.
It’s best to plant this garden when nighttime temperatures remain above 60 degrees Fahrenheit. In the south, expect this garden to shine from late spring to mid-fall. In the north, you can enjoy it from midsummer into early fall.
- Begin by arranging the taller plants like papyruses, canna lilies and rose mallow at the back of the planting area. Space papyrus plants 3-4 feet apart. Keep cannas 1.5-2 feet apart and rose mallow 4-5 feet apart.
- Group the lantanas in front and to the side of the papyrus plans and cannas. Allow each plant a space of 18-24 inches across.
- Arrange the dahlias and gerbera daisies in front. Space dahlias 12-16 inches apart. Gerbera daisies should be 10-12 inches apart.
- Edge with sweet potato vines. Allow each plant a space 10-12 inches across.
Tips for Success
- Work organic matter like compost into the soil before planting.
- Add a blanket of mulch to suppress weeds and retain moisture.
- Water frequently until established, then make sure the garden gets about an inch of water a week.
- These plants are not usually troubled by pests. If you do have a problem, treat plants with an organic solution like Neem oil.
How to Care for a Tropical Garden
Feed the tropical garden with a liquid fertilizer mixed according to package directions, but at half strength. Using half-strength fertilizer allows you to give the plants what they need more frequently. Pour the fertilizer on the leaves and around the roots of the plants as you feed them.
The Bold Tropical Effects Garden is one of 12 garden recipes and 25 container garden recipes in “The Proven Winners Garden Book: Simple Plans, Picture-Perfect Plants, and Expert Advice for Creating a Gorgeous Garden” by Ruth Rogers Clausen and Thomas Christopher (Timber Press).
“It’s set up just like a cookbook, except it’s for gardeners,” author and horticulturist Christopher says. The book’s format makes it easy for new and experienced gardeners to get proven results. The garden recipes highlight Proven Winners annuals, perennials and shrubs. The gardens have been designed to attract pollinators, boost curb appeal and emphasize the seasons.
“The Proven Winners Garden Book” features inspirational garden plans, including a Shady Summer Retreat with hostas and New Guinea impatiens. Another design is the Songbird Garden with bee balm and snapdragons. A Sunny Window Box showcases
petunias and purple fountain grass.
Grow tropical plants in your yard to create an oasis you can visit without leaving home. You can plant in the ground or bring containers outside when the weather is warm. Before you begin adding tropical plants to your garden, make a plan to properly showcase each one.
Ready to get tropical plants and garden tools to transform your yard? The Home Depot delivers online orders when and where you need them.
