Dig into the joy of a life outdoors
Find peace and purpose by reconnecting with nature, creativity and the joy of making things in your own patch of paradise.
Discover extraordinary, unusual, and beautiful plants from around the world — each with growing and care tips to help you cultivate these weird and wonderful species in your own space.
Hedychium coccineum
Red ginger lily
A hardy ginger lily with narrow grey-green leaves and fragrant spikes of scarlet to coral flowers…
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 1.5–2.5 m (5–8 ft)
- H3 · Zone 9
Trachycarpus wagnerianus
Miniature Chusan palm
A compact, wind-resistant windmill palm with small, stiff, neatly pleated fan leaves.
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 4–8 m (13–26 ft)
- H5 · Zone 7
Musa velutina
Pink banana
A compact banana that quickly produces upright pink flower bracts and velvety pink fruits, even in…
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 1.5–2.5 m (5–8 ft)
- H1b · Zone 12
Musa acuminata
Banana
The wild parent of most edible bananas: fast, lush, paddle-leaved and fully tender, for tropical gardens…
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 2.5–4 m (8–13 ft)
- H1b · Zone 12
Sabal minor
Dwarf palmetto
A very hardy, trunkless palm with stiff blue-green fan leaves and tall sprays of fragrant cream…
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 1.5–2.5 m (5–8 ft)
- H5 · Zone 7
Rhapidophyllum hystrix
Needle palm
Possibly the hardiest palm in the world: a slow, shrubby clump of glossy fan leaves guarded…
- Full shade, Full sun, Partial shade
- 1–1.5 m (3–5 ft)
- H6 · Zone 6
