Feature Tropical plants are the ones you build a tropical garden around — the dramatic form, the outsized leaf, the flower that visitors ask about. These are our picks for the job: tropical plants with enough presence to anchor a bed, fill a courtyard corner, or stand alone against a wall or pool fence. Some earn their place through sheer scale, others through colour or an unusual shape, but all of them hold their looks year-round rather than doing one brief show and fading. If you’re planning a new garden, start with your feature plants and let everything else fill in around them — it’s far easier than trying to fit a statement plant into a finished bed. Grown in the Wet Tropics, so they arrive with size and vigour behind them. Plants that make your tropical garden stand out.
Flowering Trees, Shrubs and Vines
Strictly Tropical collector's tree, there is truly nothing like it!
Advanced Plants for Pickup
Advanced Flowering Trees — Available for Pickup at the Nursery A genuine range of striking flowering trees, from starter tube stock through to advanced, flowering-size specimens ready to be a feature in your garden. Saraca Our all-time favourite for the foliage, the cauliflorous orange flowers, and just how much wildlife it attracts — see our [...]
Excellent landscaping tulip with purple backed foliage and chocolate flowers. Highly recommended.
Palms and Bamboos
Ultratropical Palm, not for the faint at heart. We also have larger multistemmed Lipsticks starting to show color available in the palm section.
Bulk Buy Tropical Plants
This beautiful clumping palm isn't widely seen on the Bunnings circuit but is a great landscaping/screening palm.
Gingers
Must have for ginger collectors! Etlingera corneri is native to Malaysia and thrives in a tropical subtropical climate in part shade with bright light. It can be picky in it's requirements, so please be aware! It can also be grown as a pot plant.
Cordylines
This seedling select from Robyn Ganley has a similar group habit to New Guinea Fan but darker leaves and more purple petioles. It is rarely seen for sale and a must have for collectors.
Flowering Trees, Shrubs and Vines
Showy displays of deep red sepals and tiny yellow flowers make this lovely shrub from Trinidad a standout. This is a highly sought after strictly tropical shrub, we are only able to propagate limited numbers. Strictly tropical!
Flowering Trees, Shrubs and Vines
Manitoa lenticellata is native to parts of FNQ as well as the Torres Straits and New Guinea. The spectacular folded new leaves are the draw card for this stunning tree as well as the creamy clusters of powderpuff flowers that appear in spring. Their fruity scent fills the air and are also attractive to nectar feeds.
Flowering Trees, Shrubs and Vines
Starburst Clerodendrum is an attractive large growing shrub native to New Guinea and the Philippines. Clusters of pink to white, colored flowers that burst into bloom through late winter till early spring.. The explosion of blooms is truly stunning, with each flower head being made up of dozens of smaller 5cm long flowers. The foliage is attractive with a green top and strong purple underside. This is an excellent feature plant/landscaping plant for tropical and subtropical gardens. It's a shame that it isn't used more. They make a spectacular hedge.
Gingers
Tahitian Ginger has long been a sought after feature plant for tropical gardeners. As the clump matures, the masses of red bracts get larger and eventually form a massive ball that lasts for months on the plant (this takes places over a few years). Eventually little plantlets grow from the bracts that can be re planted. Truly stunning and like no other alpinia, Tahitian Ginger prefers a tropical climate and high humidity to perform to it's best.
Flowering Trees, Shrubs and Vines
Long tubes opening as a white fragrant trumpet, soft green shiny foliage. This plant is related to coffee and needs similar conditions. Super Rare and hard to find, this lovely shrub isa must have for tropical gardeners.