With spring upon us again, many of you are looking to perk up your flower beds with a mass of color, try using colorful foliage plants.
Annuals are great way to add masses of color either alone or mixed in with trees, shrubs or perennials.
Another great way to acheive this goal is to add in plants that can be potted up and brought indoors to enjoy year round.
There are so many choices among these plants, from ones that flower en mass to ones with colorful foliage, that everyone is sure to find something that fits their desired color choice, growing conditions, and budget.
Caladiums Are Popular Colorful Foliage Plants
Caladiums are a great choice, and can be dug up and stored over the winter or allowed to continue growing indoors.
The Caladium hortulanum is one such choice, although all Caladiums make great garden additions.
Although most Caladiums prefer shade, there are sun loving varieties available.
They combine well with plants such as ferns, Coleus, Alocasias, Colcasias, and Tuberous Begonias to name a few.
There are also miniture varieties of this plant available.
Calathea Is Another Colorful Foliage Option
Another great choice for colorful foliage is the Calathea.
A native of tropical America and Africa, this heat loving plant has beautiful leaves marked with green, white, and pink that grow in basal tufts.
This plant will love being in the garden all summer long, but must be brought indoors if it is to survive the winter.
There are many varities of this plant available with various combinations of these colors depending on the variety you choose.
When It Comes To Colorful Foliage Plants Crotons Rule
Another great choice includes the Codiaeum variegatum, commonly called the croton.
The beautiful colors of this native tropical plant make it well worth growing.
Although I have personally never had much luck with these, they are gorgeous.
This plant likes regular misting and a warm enviroment.
It can get up to six foot tall given the right conditions.
The only drawback to this plant is that some people are sensitive to the leaves.
For Vibrant Colorful Foliage Plants Try Cordyline
The Cordyline terminalis is another nice tropical plant that can be mixed into your flower garden for colorful foliage.
This variety, often called the ti plant comes in various forms of red, yellow, or variegated leaves.
It can reach up to six to eight foot given frost-free growing conditions.
It also produces clusters of white, foot-long flowers.
Other Choices For Colorful Foliage Plants
Of course, you can always add in members of the Diffenbachia family, such as “Marianne,” or “Tropic Snow” for an interesting variation among your flowers.
Other great additions include Maranta leuconeura, or Dracaena reflexa ‘Variegata’ previously known as Pleomele reflexa ‘Variegata’.
One of my favorite additions is the Polka Dot Plant.
It seems to add a real eye-catching splash of color, and can be easily purchased or even grown from seed.
By just looking around at your collection of tropical plants, and using a bit of imagination, I am sure you will find that making your yard a tropical paradise full of colorful foliage plants is fairly easy.
Not only that, but your house plants will get the benefit of the summer sun or shade, depending on the plant, along with the wind and rain that it would normally receive in its native enviroment.
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How To Grow Tropical Plants
Growing tropical plants - also known as houseplants - indoors is fun and enjoyable plus many of them clean the indoor of pollutants.
It is easy to grow exotic looking plants that produce tropical fruit and colorful flowers in a pot in your living room or office.
Many of these plants are easy to start from seed and I share with you five plants that I recommend for indoor growing.
I also share with you why growing your own tropical fruit saves money.
In this video you will learn:
How to bring tropical plants indoors at the end of summer
How to grow tropical plants indoors
How to protect and overwinter tropical plants outdoors in cold climates
How to propagate tropical plants
How to water tropcial plants
How to grow topical plants in a greenhouse