4 Tropical Flowers that make Great Houseplants

The summer months is where everything is blooming, bright and alive. When you walk through the greenhouse, you’ll see the gorgeous blooming tropical plants lining the walls. To some these may be intimidating, but we assure you they are not as intimidating when you understand their needs. In fact, most of these tropical plants make beautiful indoor houseplants, giving your home a burst of color and fragrance.

Here are 4 tropical flowers that will bright your home and make beautiful houseplants:

MANDEVILLA

This flowering vine produces throngs of bright pink, white and red flowers that are trumpet shaped. These plants do wonderfully in the Colorado climate with the right care. Being a tropical plant mandevillas are USDA hardy in zone 9, which means when the temperature starts getting below 45 degrees you want to bring it inside. You’ll also want to give it some space because it can grow 7 to 10 feet in a season.

During the winter it will go dormant so you can cut back on watering, remove dead leaves and plant material that will encourage growth in the spring. Keep it in a nice bright area and don’t worry about the lack of flowers, that’s normal.

Once spring comes back around move the plant to a nice sunny location and fertilize every two weeks with a plant food that is high in phosphorus.

Light: Bright light/Full Sun
Water: Keep soil moist but not wet
Soil: A well-draining peat moss based potting mix. We recommend Fertilome Organic Potting Mix
Fertilizer: A good all-purpose fertilizer that is high in phosphorus. We recommend Schultz Plant Food Plus

BROMELIAD

These plants are surprisingly easy-to-grow, especially because they are a tropical plant. They can tolerate a wide variety of temperatures for close to freezing to up in the triple digits. This is the one of the reasons they make a perfect houseplant, the other is they are a stylish, bold and beautiful.

They also help improve the air quality in any home by clearing the air of formaldehyde.

Most bromeliads grow best in medium to bright light but avoid direct sun on their foliage as they are not too keen on that. Just like most tropical plants they love to have their soil moist but not saturated. Fear not they will survive even if you forget to water once because they are drought tolerant.

Light: Bright indirect light
Water: Keep soil moist but not wet
Soil: A well-draining peat moss based potting mix with perlite. We recommend Fertilome Ultimate Potting Mix
Fertilizer: A good all-purpose fertilizer. We recommend Schultz Plant Food Plus

HIBISCUS

These plants are always stunning when you see them in the greenhouse. Their giant, bright flowers almost call to you and say, “Look at me, I’m gorgeous and you need me in your life.” Hibiscus plants make a wonderful outdoor patio plant in the spring and summer, but they make an even better plant companion in the winter.

Hibiscus plants love sun so it’s very important that you are keeping them in a bright sunny spot in your house. You can bring them outside when it’s warm (55 degrees and up) to get the allotted amount sun if your home isn’t sunny enough. Tropical plants do love moist, well-draining soil but make sure not to soak the soil as you may cause root rot to the plant.

To keep your hibiscus blooming it’s important to fertilize monthly. Those blooms are huge and need all the food possible.

Light: Bright light/Sun
Water: Keep soil moist but not wet
Soil: A well-draining peat moss based potting mix with perlite. We recommend Fertilome Ultimate Potting Mix
Fertilizer: A good all-purpose fertilizer. We recommend Age Old Nutrients Bloom

BOUGAINVILLEA

These flowering plants are not typically grown as a houseplant, but here in Colorado if we want them to come back next spring, we must bring them inside in the winter. Bougainvillea are sun loving tropical plants that surprisingly don’t require that much moisture, and for those with the right indoor conditions you’ll be rewarded with brilliant color!

The flowers come in many different colors like purple, pinks, oranges, reds and other stunning bright colors. They can be trained to grow in any direction and may require pruning to make sure they stay in control.

Bougainvillea are pretty drought tolerant once they are established and watering deep every couple of weeks is better than shallow watering. Make sure not to over-water as that could cause root rot. When you water is the best time to fertilize bougainvillea’s as those blooms need some extra food to show off. A good liquid fertilizer designed for tropical plants is best.

Light: Bright light/Sun
Water: Water deep once every couple of weeks
Soil: A well-draining peat moss based potting mix with perlite. We recommend Fertilome Organic Ultimate Potting Mix
Fertilizer: A good all-purpose fertilizer. We recommend Fertilome Bougainvillea & Flowering Vine Food

Do you have a tropical plant that you have made into a houseplant? Share with us on Instagram or Facebook and tag @cityfloralgardencenter or in the comments below!