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Pentas will reward you with bursts of color

Name: Pentas Botanical name: Pentas lanceolata Description: A perennial herb/shrub that bears umbels of tubular flowers in a range of colors from deep red to pink to white. A single plant from your favorite nursery balloons into a small woody shrub when full grown. The flowers are ideal to attract butterflies, such as this giant swallowtail, one of our largest and showiest butterflies. The plants are drought-tolerant. Bees love them, although I've never seen the promised hummingbirds near them.

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Well-behaved philodendron flaunts its velvet leaves

Botanical name: Philodendron gloriosum Description: There are beautiful leaves and there is Philodendron gloriosum. This stunning philodendron is a superb tropical for South Florida gardens. The silver-white veins stand out dramatically against the deep green, velvet leaf blade. It's a terrestrial plant and creeps along the ground on a rhizome, which produces leaves on top and roots on the bottom. Gloriosum is well-behaved for a philodendron; it tends not to wander into the next planting bed and...

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These beautiful birds like to clump together

Name: Bird of paradise. Botanical name: Strelitzia regina. Description: This South African flower was named in the late 18th century by Sir Joseph Banks, horticultural advisor to King George III, to honor the Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz. Joe was no fool; the princess became Queen Charlotte. The orange parts are the sepals and the blue contraption in the middle is composed of fused petals, which conceal the stigma and stamens, all inside a boat-like bract. The leaves are leathery; the color is...

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Anthurium's leaves change from green to maroon

Name: Bird's-nest anthurium Marie. Botanical name: Anthurium X `Marie'. Description: Hybridized by Miamian Steve Nock and named for his wife, Marie, this lovely anthurium has leaves that unfold green and gradually change to a deep maroon as they lengthen and widen. Marie Nock said she believes the hybrid has Anthurium schlechtendalii, a bird's-nest type found from Mexico to Costa Rica, as a parent. This is a superlative plant for lovers of dark leaves.

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Carambola is not just for punch bowl floats

Name: Carambola or star fruit. Botanical name: Averrhoa carambola. Description: Believed to have originated in Malaysia, the carambola is a small tree with a dense canopy, tiny flowers and golden, five-sided fruit. It grows well in South Florida, and often produces more crisp, sweet-tart fruit than you can use.

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Vanda TMA has classic looks, easy maintenance

Name: Vanda TMA. Description: This is an early hybrid between Vanda sanderiana and V. Josephine van Brero. Its classic flowers have apricot shades in its petals and sepals and a large rose lip. The leaves are one-quarter, which means they form a slightly closed V to protect the leaf interior from sun exposure.

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Be careful not to let sun fade this colorful croton

Name: Mrs. Iceton, yellow form Botanical name: Codiaeum variegatum Description: The beautiful form of the pink/rose-colored Mrs. Iceton, this small croton is perfect for the shadowy corners of your garden, where it shines like moonlight. Small, simple leaves start out yellow with a central black vein, then fade to cream with green markings. Mrs. Iceton has pink new leaves that gradually turn deep rose with dark green markings.

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Clustering palm makes a pretty centerpiece

Name: Spiny licuala Botanical name: Licuala spinosa Description: A clustering palm from Southeast Asia and the Philippines that has fronds that form nearly perfect circles. Each frond is deeply split, radiating from the center like a starburst on narrow, toothed petioles. The trunks are slender, and a clump can become fairly wide. Flower spikes are quite long, and can arch up and over the crown of leaves, as if delighted to be on display. Because of its narrow trunks and pretty fronds, this makes...

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Color your garden with this vibrant bromeliad

Name: Blue Tango bromeliad Botanical name: Aechmea `Blue Tango' Description: With its electric to cobalt blue and hot pink flower spike, this bromeliad has become a garden must-have. Hybridized and patented by Patricia Bullis at Bullis Bromeliad Nursery in Homestead, the aechmea is a medium-sized plant that just can't be ignored once in bloom. Aechmeas are among our best landscape bromeliads because of such vibrant colors. Blue Tango has green leaves with spiny edges. The plant has Aechmea fendleri...

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Butterflies flock to this native wildflower

Name: Porterweed, blue porterweed, snakeweed Botanical name: Stachytarpheta jamaicensis Description: A native wildflower that has upright stems of blue, nectar-laced flowers that open just a few at a time, making it a nice addition to any butterfly garden. It is the host plant for the Tropical Buckeye butterfly, and a nectar plant for many others. It is low-growing, and one way to distinguish it from nonnative porterweeds is its branching: They typically spread horizontally, according to native plant...

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Scarlet sage is bold and easy to grow

Name: Scarlet sage, salvia, tropical sage Botanical name: Salvia coccinea Description: This bright-flowered perennial is found all over Florida, the Carolinas, Texas, the West Indies and South America. Its very ubiquitousness tells you it isn't picky about soils. Scarlet sage likes it hot, takes it dry and makes hummingbird and butterfly gardens tick. The flowers are in whorls around the upright stalk; stems are square, which tells you ''mint family.'' Grown readily from seed, salvia blooms all summer...

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Mussaenda dislikes cold, loves the sun

Name: Mussaenda Botanical name: Mussaenda cultivars Description: The luscious bracts of these shrubs appear to be as soft as clouds. They range from pure white to red, depending on the species or cultivar. Mussaenda philippica 'Aurorae' is white; M. erythrophylla has red bracts; M. 'Queen Sirkit' is a hybrid of both philippica and erythrophylla and is a beautiful pink. The flowers are small and either yellow or red. These shrubs want to be large and may climb over other plants, but can be kept smaller...

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Look for flowery show from Jatropha

Name: Jatropha, peregina. Botanical name: Jatropha integerrima (in-te-JER-i-ma). Description: A large shrub or small tree that is native to the West Indies. It features clusters of flowers at the ends of its branches. The flowers are small and vary from rosy red to vermilion, with golden stamens. These blossoms occur year round but look especially brilliant in August's heat. Jatropha is in the spurge family, and its cousins include poinsettia, crown-of-thorns, croton and copperleaf. It has a milky...

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Crape myrtles are summer's hot flower

Name: Crape myrtle Botanical name: Lagerstroemia indica Description: Summer is in full swing when the crape myrtles are in full flower. The bees in our neighborhood are crape-myrtle crazy early in the morning, and that's all to the good of the declining bee populations. The great cotton-candy-like plumes of flowers are full and heavy enough to sway as if intoxicated by the thick, hot air. Originally from China, Japan and Korea, crape myrtles used to come down with powdery mildew in South Florida...

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Plumbago's an easy-going sort as long as it's not wet

Name: Plumbago, Cape leadwort Botanical name: Plumbago auriculata (Plumbago capensis) Description: We went to Boulders Beach south of Cape Town, South Africa, to see the penguins. Walking past the boulders we found two famous landscape plants of the region, Cape honeysuckle and Cape leadwort or plumbago, taking in the winter sun and salt air. The climate on the Western Cape is said to be Mediterranean, meaning cool and wet winters and dry, warm summers. Bringing the plumbago to a subtropical climate...

Dwarf lobster claw adds color to small gardens

Name: Lobster claw Botanical name: Heliconia rostrata Description: One of the more controllable heliconias, the dwarf form of lobster claw has the right scale for small gardens while producing a classic pendant inflorescence in green, yellow and red. The bracts that conceal small flowers are so finely sculpted they are works of art. The Heliconia Society shows several forms of rostrata on its website, and it's worth going to www.heliconiasocietypr.org/heliconia_cultivars6.htm to take a look. Originally...

Sapodilla likes its space, rewards with shade, fruit

Name: sapodilla Botanical name: Manilkara zapota Description: Native to the Caribbean islands, this large and handsome tree gives shade with the added benefit of fruit. The fruits are dropping now from our sapodilla, and their brown skin splits open to reveal a light-colored flesh and black seeds.

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Madagascar palms know how to survive

Name: Madagascar palms Botanical name: Pachypodium species Descrip- tion: Swollen trunks, spines and leaflessness in winter would hardly seem to describe an attractive garden specimen, but these characteristics of Pachypodium are so important in keeping the plants alive in Madagascar that you come to embrace them. These trees, which live in the most xeric conditions, are highly endangered, as are most plants in that country. Several species grow in the southern dry forest, while others grow in the...

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Flowering tree turns heads for its perfume

Name: Ylang-ylang Botanical name: Cananga odorata Description: The flowers of the ylang-ylang (ee-lang ee-lang) are strange looking, with six greenish-yellow petals hanging limp or curled. They develop as little green buttons along the twigs. But their perfume, not their looks, is their most delectable and desirable quality. Sometimes called the perfume tree, ylang-ylang produces a volatile oil in the flowers that is distilled and used in Chanel No. 5 and other perfumes throughout the world.

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Bird's-nest fern loves a shady spot near a pond

Name: Bird's-nest fern Botanical name: Asplenium nidus. Description: When the rainy season returns, our ferns once more will be happy. The bird's-nest fern, while requiring less humidity than many more delicate species, is resuming its summer growth. The fronds are undivided, and each one has a black midrib and undulating edges. A central crown from which frondlings emerge is a nub of dark brown fuzz, reminiscent of a bird's nest.

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Native Cuban palm makes quite a show

Botanical name: Copernicia hospita Description: Found naturally only in Cuba, this pretty palm grows to about half the size of its better-known kin, the Bailey palm or Copernicia baileyana. Yet, you don't have to be a giant to see the beautiful symmetry of the large crown and the way it displays its flower spikes so gracefully among the many leaves. The round, palmate leaves are stiff, waxy and bluish- or grayish-green. The leaf stem extends into the leaf blade, and the leaves bend toward the center...

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Golden shower blossoms after a fairly dry spring

Name: Golden shower Botanical name: Cassia fistula Description: The golden showers are handsome this summer after a fairly dry spring, with racemes of yellow flowers cascading abundantly and gracefully from the twig ends. Originally from India, the trees is widely loved throughout the tropics.

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South American beauty has a ball of flowers

Name: Flor de rosa, rose of Venezuela, scarlet flame bean Botanical name: Brownea coccinea subspecies capitella Description: A gorgeous orange-red ball of flowers characterizes this leguminous shrub/small tree that is native to northern South America, Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago. The stamens are golden yellow and joined at the base, topped with golden anthers, adding liveliness and depth to the spectacular flower clusters that appear from late winter to spring.

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Bold flowers, tall trunk define silk cotton tree

Name: Silk cotton tree Botanical name: Bombax ceiba Description: A flowering tree of great scale that produces fiercely colored red or orange flowers. The silk cotton drops its leaves in late winter, making its bold flowers highly visible.

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Sun sets flame vine aglow

Name: Flame vine Botanical name: Pyrostegia venusta Description: When a western sun strikes it just right, the flame vine seems to ignite with dramatic clusters of slender flowers. The lobes of the flowers curl back to reveal the stigma and stamens, and a day later flowers will drop like spent embers.

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Coffee grower found cycad in rain forest

Botanical name: Zamia tuerckheimii De- scription: A cycad from Guatemala with gracefully arching leaves. Leaflets are glossy, pointed and full on the individual fronds, resulting in a beautiful abundance.

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Elegant bromeliad makes its presence known

Botanical name: Alcantarea odorata Description: A glorious bromeliad that has blue-green leaves covered in a white powder. Use this as a focal point in your garden, as it looks especially lovely against dark green leaves. Related to the Alcantarea imperialis (once called Vreisea imperialis), this plant and its relatives are large, elegantly formed and eye-catching.

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Shrub's flowers look like pieces of blushing popcorn

Name: Guayabilla, cafecito Botanical name: Samyda dodecandra Description: A rare multitrunked shrub or small tree from dry evergreen forests of Mexico, Central America and the West Indies, guayabilla has pretty leaves and small flowers that range from whitish to pink and deep pink. The species name dodecandra means 12 stamens, and if you pull out a hand lens, you can check them out.

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Beach sunflower happiest when dry

Name: Beach sunflower Botanical name: Helianthus debilis subspecies debilis Description: A cheery and bright plant that graces our coastal areas, the beach sunflower performs well in many settings, provided the plants are fairly dry. It grows quickly. It spreads by underground runners, by seed and when a stem hits the ground. The leaves are deltoid shaped and toothed. The flowers are two or three inches across.