Apart from bananas
and canna, there are of course plenty more tropical foliage plants for
you to choose. The plants mentioned below have all been
selected
because of their good nature. They are easy to grow and in
most cases inexpensive to produce on an annual basis.
So in no particular order....

Known by some as the elephant ear plant, by others the eddoe and by
scientists as Colocasia esculenta var. antiquorum.
Due to similar horticultural requirements both Colocasia and Xanthosoma
are dealt with on the same page (link below)
Colocasia
esculenta var. antiquorum

Also known as the
elephant
ear plant to some, to others this is the
coco yam and to the scientists a straight forward Xanthosoma sp.
Xanthosoma sp.

Another nice group of tropical foliage plants are the
hedychiums or
ginger lilies.
The plant featured here is hedychium 'maximum'
Hedychium 'maximum'

As with the hedychium featured in the above picture, Alpinia's are
also plants belonging to the ginger family. The
plant featured
here is Alpinia zerumbet 'variegata'.
Alpinia zerumbet
'variegata'
Ricinus communis, the
castor
oil plant is one of the fastest growing
tropical foliage plants you can use. It produces highly toxic
seeds (popular with terrorists) but is pretty safe in the garden.
The plant featured in this picture is Ricinus communis
'New Zealand
purple'.
Ricinus communis
'New Zealand
purple'
Somebody once described
Echium
pininana as sinister when visiting my garden. This
plant
contrasts well with the more standard tropical foliage plants.
A
bit of a weird plant really.
Echium pininana
Cyphomandra
betacea the tree tomato produces large nicely veined
leaves. This plant also contrasts well with the more lance
shaped tropical foliage plants.
Cyphomandra betacea