Plants for Tropical Climates

Choose for the wet season, not the brochure

The picture on the label shows a plant in perfect weather. The plant in your garden has to stand through a February that can drop 300mm of rain in a week, so drainage tolerance is the first thing to check. Giant taro and heliconias genuinely enjoy wet feet, the weeping lilly pilly tolerates soggy ground, but most succulents and Mediterranean plants drown in a tropical wet season unless they sit in raised, free draining beds. Wind is the second filter. The tuckeroo holds its canopy through coastal blows and carries a wind tolerant rating, while big brittle features are best planted with room to shed limbs safely.

Then there is speed. Growth here is explosive, which is wonderful for privacy and relentless for maintenance. A Golden Penda (Xanthostemon chrysanthus) screen planted at 2m closes fast and responds well to pruning, but plan for the cutting back before you plant, not after.

Where tropical plants thrive

This collection is rated for the true tropics: Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Darwin, Broome and the coast between. Nearly all of it also carries a subtropical rating for Brisbane and northern New South Wales, and more than 700 plants extend into warm temperate coastal gardens, so a Sydney courtyard can borrow plenty of this look. The reverse caution matters more: over 450 plants here are frost tender, so if you garden inland where winter nights dip low, treat the tropical palette as strictly frost free or grow it in pots you can shelter. Monstera, fiddle leaf figs and crotons all double as indoor plants further south.

Planting and spacing before the wet

The early dry season, roughly April to June, is the ideal planting window: roots establish in warm soil and the next wet season does the growing for you. Dig twice the pot width, plant at the original level, water in deeply and mulch 75mm, keeping mulch off stems.

• Screens. Lilly Pilly 'Resilience' at 1m; native gardenia at 1.5m for a perfumed rainforest screen; golden penda at 2m.
• Lush understorey. Heliconia 'Red Christmas' at 1m centres; giant taro at 1.5m for bold foliage in damp spots.
• Shade and avenues. Tuckeroo at 4m spacings for a windbreak or street style planting with roots that behave near paving.
• Poolside. Foxtail palms and evergreen frangipani, both with non-aggressive root systems and salt tolerance.

Care basics for the tropical year

Feed at the start of the wet season, when plants can actually use it, with a low phosphorus fertiliser for natives. Water new plantings deeply twice a week through their first dry season; established gardens need far less than most owners give them. Do the structural pruning late in the dry, and thin heavy canopies before storm season so wind passes through rather than pushing trees over. Be honest with yourself about the big feature trees: a royal poinciana is glorious shade at 10m across, but its surface roots lift paving, so it belongs in open lawn, and a tuckeroo is the better choice near paths.

Common questions

What grows fast for privacy in the tropics?

Lilly Pilly 'Resilience' at 1m spacings gives real cover inside 18 months here, and golden penda builds a taller flowering screen at 2m spacings. The lilly pilly range includes narrow selections for tight boundaries.

Which shade tree will not wreck my paving?

The tuckeroo is the standout: about 8m tall, non-invasive roots, salt and wind tolerant, and comfortable in poor coastal soil. Save poincianas and figs for open ground well away from pipes and pools.

Can I grow these plants in Sydney or Perth?

More than 700 of them are rated for warm temperate gardens, provided the position is frost free. Give borrowed tropicals a warm north facing wall, and grow the strictly tropical foliage plants in pots or indoors. The tropical plant collection can be filtered by climate to check any individual plant.

What flowers reliably through the build-up and the wet?

Heliconias carry their bracts through the warm months, evergreen frangipani flowers close to year round, and golden penda erupts in massed yellow. The heliconia range and the palm collection cover the classic resort look between them.

How does delivery work?

Plants are delivered Australia wide, with delivery from $29.95 and a minimum order of $300 before delivery. Advanced and large stock is freighted at cost, and every plant carries our 30 day healthy plant guarantee.