Best Tropical Plants For Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia

Tropical plants in Washington DC, Maryland and Virginia?

You bet. These exotic beauties won't survive outside in the winter, but, treated as annuals, they add eye-catching drama to your commercial property in a host of ways.

They’re dramatically different than the typical annuals people are used to seeing in beds and pots, so tropicals automatically attract attention.

What are the best tropical plants for Washington DC? We can’t wait to show you — along with some ideas on how and where to use them to add instant impact to your commercial property.

Palms

Nothing says “tropical” like a palm. One look and you feel like you're on a beach vacation. Palms are available in many different species and require little maintenance.

Cordyline

Known for its stunning foliage, the leaves of cordyline range from glossy green to reddish purple to red, white or yellow.

It produces red or yellow flowers with a sweet fragrance.

Bananas

Create your own leafy jungle with pots of bananas. The plants boast huge leaves that unfurl majestically from spring until fall, and they’re ideal for large containers.

Cannas

Large, dramatic leaves make cannas impressive even when they aren’t flowering. Their blooms add an extra pop of color with red, orange or yellow flowers.

Hibiscus

This stunner boasts 6-inch flowers in shades of red, orange, yellow, coral, pink, purple and white, with glossy, dark green leaves. 

Mandevilla

This climber boasts graceful, trumpet-shaped flowers. Plant them in a bed with an arbor to climb, or against the walls adjacent to an entrance. The flowers grow in pink, rose, red, and white. They love bright, indirect light or full sun with midday shade.

Caladium

Caladium are the stunners of the shade world. Their heart-shaped leaves come in striking color combinations of red, pink, rose, white, chartreuse, and green. They light up containers and beds.

Caladiums are great companions for impatiens, begonias, and ferns.

Crotons

One of the boldest plants around, crotons boast colorful foliage marked with bright yellow, orange, red, and black. These aren't shade lovers — they lots of light to produce all those colorful leaves.

Variegated Ginger

This beauty offers leafy, arching stems with boldly striped yellow and green foliage. Large, drooping clusters of white and pink flowers are lightly fragrant and even the leaves have a tangy aroma.

Ginger looks great surrounding palms, or it’s a beautiful anchor in a container.

Bird of Paradise

This elegant plant with the fun name forms 3 -to 5-foot-tall clumps of leathery leaves, but the flowers are the highlight. The flower stalks are a combination of blue petals and orange petal-look leaves that emerge from a beaklike leaf structure. It adds an exotic feel and texture to a bed or planter.

Where To Use Tropicals To Pack A Punch

Tropical plants add a lush, dramatic touch to annual beds. Use them anywhere you want high-impact color and interest — around signage, along walkways, at entrances.

They’re also great in oversized containers. One stand-out palm can anchor a pot on its own, or mix it up with a stunning combination. Tropicals look great with lantana, dragon wing begonia, creeping Jenny, coleus and sweet potato vine.

Raised planting beds and containers brimming with exotic tropicals are ideal for store fronts, restaurants or commercial buildings where seating areas beckon customers and visitors to linger, enjoy lunch or hold outdoor meetings.

While dramatic tropicals are eye-catching even from a distance, they really captivate up close.

Make Dramatic Impact With Level Green Landscaping

At Level Green Landscaping, we know how important it is to attract customers, visitors, tenants and clients to your commercial property. And we know how to add attention-getting dramatic impact with plants, including exotic tropicals.

The best tropical plants for Washington DC? Let us show you how they’ll add dazzle to your commercial landscape.

We provide commercial property maintenance for properties throughout Washington DC, Maryland and parts of Virginia. Level Green Landscaping services commercial properties like office buildings, homeowner associations (HOAs), mixed use, condominiums, retail, institutions and government entities.

Contact us today at 202-544-0968 or by filling out our form online. We’d love to hear from you.