Tropical Flowers to Grow in the US: Zones and Pots

Tropical flowers fit into US gardens in two ways: outdoors in the few frost-free zones, or in pots and on windowsills everywhere else. Our two published tropical guides show both. Bird of paradise is a landscape plant in zones 10 and 11 and a big pot plant beyond them, and moth orchids are houseplants almost everywhere. This collection gathers them, says plainly what each needs, and lists the tropicals we have not written yet.

What we have published

Plant	Outdoors	Everywhere else
Orchids (moth orchid)	Not frost-hardy (Clemson); our sources give no USDA zone	Bright window, little or no direct sun; flowers about once a year (Penn State)
Bird of paradise	Zones 10–11, further north with frost protection (UF/IFAS)	Large pot, outside in warm months, indoors before the first frost (Wisconsin)

Orchid care goes deeper in how to get a moth orchid to rebloom and repotting orchids. For bird of paradise, see bird of paradise indoors and bird of paradise in winter.

Reading “tropical” as a zone

The word tropical does not tell you a minimum temperature, so use the plant’s own numbers. Clemson says to bring bird of paradise indoors when temperatures begin to drop below 60°F. UF/IFAS EDIS warns that freezing damages developing flower buds and flowers. Our orchid sources give a comfort figure rather than a zone: a minimum night temperature of 65°F from Clemson and 60°F from Penn State. A tropical plant in a pot is not a trick. In cold-winter regions it is the standard way to grow one.

Still to come

Hibiscus, plumeria, bougainvillea, anthurium, heliconia, mandevilla, gardenia and protea show below as tiles without links. We have not published their guides, so we make no claims about their zones, light or bloom time. Each one is written from extension sources first.

Where to start

Want flowers in a bright window? See our flowering houseplants collection.
Frost-free garden? Start with the bird of paradise guide.
Cold winters? Read bird of paradise in winter before you buy a plant.
Planning when things bloom? The bloom calendar lines up the months our sources give.
Looking for color in the dark months? See flowers that bloom in winter.