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.
Roscoea purpurea
Purple roscoea
A hardy Himalayan ginger relative with leafy stems and exotic, orchid-like purple flowers in late summer.
- Partial shade
- 20–50 cm (8–20 in)
- H5 · Zone 7
Ficus carica ‘Ice Crystal’
Ice Crystal fig
A hardy fig grown for its deeply cut, lacy leaves like snowflakes, with small edible figs…
- Full sun
- 2–4 m (7–13 ft)
- H5 · Zone 7
Cyperus alternifolius
Umbrella papyrus
An elegant, water-loving sedge with tall green stems topped by umbrella-like whorls of narrow leafy bracts.
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 0.6–1.5 m (2–5 ft)
- H1c · Zone 10
Canna ‘Musifolia’
Banana-leaved canna
A towering canna grown for its enormous, banana-like green leaves edged and veined in burgundy.
- Full sun
- 2.5–4 m (8–13 ft)
- H3 · Zone 9
Francoa appendiculata var. sonchifolia
Bridal wreath
An evergreen Chilean perennial with rosettes of wavy leaves and tall, slender spikes of pink flowers…
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 50–90 cm (20–35 in)
- H4 · Zone 8
Abutilon ‘Lilli’
Lilli flowering maple
An upright flowering maple with open, nodding bells in a warm red-orange, their petals overlapping in…
- Full sun, Partial shade
- 1–1.8 m (3–6 ft)
- H3 · Zone 9
