Travel to the tropics might be difficult, but bringing the
tropics indoors is completely doable; most nurseries and
warehouse stores carry numerous tropical plants. The best plants
combine hardiness with interesting and attractive leaf or flower
features. Since 90 percent of all plant species exist in the
tropics, according to the website National Tropical Botanical
Garden, it is not hard to find a few that work in the home
environment. Originating in the jungles of South America,
bromeliads produce spectacular flowers usually growing on tall
stalks and large leaves with interesting colors and shapes. In
"The Garden Primer," Barbara Damrosch recommends aechmea
fasciata, or urn plant, for its green leaves banded with silver
and its large, spiked flower cluster that begins blue and
changes to deep rose over a six-month blooming period. Rex and
Rieger Begonias Damrosch calls these begonias the "most
spectacular and popular" houseplant begonias. Both begonias grow
a foot tall with large leaves in multiple shades