Tropical plants aren’t just for tropical gardens. Temperate gardens may also benefit from their bold beauty, especially where summers are hot and humid (like mine). Every year I include a few hot tropical plants in my arrangements and gather ideas from other gardens and  landscapes. Take the inspired container arrangement below comprised of Begonia ‘Escargot’, variegated spider plant and purple oxalis. These tender tropicals fare beautifully in our warm, Mid-Atlantic summers and falls.

Croton is another southern gem that thrives when in the warm summer season. Its multi-colored, waxy leaves stand out on their own but also combine well with standard summer bedding annuals, like petunia, ageratum and ornamental sweet potato as in the container arrangement pictured below. Just about every big box home and garden center sells croton in their houseplant section, and there are tons of fantastic cultivars to choose from.

One of the more fierce looking tropicals for containers and large beds is naranjilla (Solanum quitoense), which is pictured below. Large purple spines line its enormous leaves and herbaceous stems and edible, round orange fruits are produced towards the end of the season. Despite its harsh looks, this Central American native has become a fairly common and very interesting container and landscape plant. It’s not something I have tried to grow(my toddler probably would not appreciate it), but I admire it when I see it. More daring gardeners with no children or clumsy pets should give it a try.

Really, any rare and wonderful tropical can be container grown outdoors if brought inside when growing conditions become unfavorable. Overwintering is easy, but methods depend on the plant species grown. Most gardeners opt to bring container-grown tropicals indoors. It’s always wise to give the soil line and plants a surface cleaning and light spray with a pyrethrin-based insecticide to ensure unwanted critters are not also brought indoors. Species more tolerant of cooler growing conditions can be stored in a cool, dry place and minimally watered until spring conditions warm up enough to bring them out.

"Check out Learn2Grow's article, "Tropical Beauties for Home and Garden" to get more ideas with tropical flair.

Dwarf ornamental bananas can make spectacular tropical specimens for temperate gardens. They're so fast growing, they'll be giants by season's end.

The beautiful tropical ginger, Globba, grows well outdoors in more northern summers and can be brought inside to overwinter.