Whether it’s a striking or unusual color combination, a unique shape, or just larger than anything around it, there are plenty of plants out there with a bold personality. Many plants with unique foliage are tropicals, so we’re lucky to be able to grow most of them here in Florida.
Here are 15 of our favorite plants with bold foliage that will stand out in any home or garden.
1. Alocasia Regal Shields
Regal Shields Elephant Ear features dark chocolate brown, almost black leaves. The grand architectural leaves are striking, making this head-turning foliage plant an ideal individual specimen. Alocasia Regal Shields reaches a mature height of approximately 2-4′.
This unique banana features a red trunk and stems, with broad reddish-green leaves with red undersides. The color varies from bright red to a deep chocolatey brown. Ensete Maurellii can grow up to 20’ tall.
Chinese Fan palm has broad, fan-shaped leaves with pointed tips, on long, bright green stems. This palm will grow up to 8’ tall indoors.
4. Colocasia Black Beauty
Colocasia Black Beauty features large dark plum, almost black, leaves with green veins and stems. They get up to 2′ long, and 1′ across. They don’t love temperatures above 90°F, so your Black Beauty may prefer to stay indoors as a houseplant or on your patio in a statement container.
5. Firecracker Bush
Firecracker features slender, wispy reed-like stems that arch gracefully. It develops long stems of bright red or yellow flowers that are popular with hummingbirds and butterflies. Firecracker bush likes to take up a lot of space—spreading up to 4′ and reaching heights up to 5′!—so make sure you’ve got the room for it.
6. Florida Ti Cordyline Hawaiian
This leaves of this unique Cordyline are almost exclusively a deep red, with barely a hint of green. The leaves often feature variegated stripes of pink. These foliage plants are popular for making hula skirts in Hawaii! Cordyline reaches a mature height of 4-8′.
7. Foxtail Fern
Foxtail fern is unique with its bottle-brush like plumes of fluffy vibrant green foliage. It will do best somewhere bright but shaded from the hot midday sun. Foxtail Fern is a more compact option with a mature height of 24″.
8. Macho Fern
Macho fern is a giant, with graceful bright green fronds that grow up to 4’ long. It loves the shade, and is a great option for hanging baskets or large planters.
9. Crotons
Crotons are a popular houseplant with dramatic coloring. The variegated leaves can feature a mix of red, deep yellow, and dark green, stripes, or dark green with pink and white spots. At a height of up to 4′, crotons make a statement in the home or garden.
10. Sago Palm
The prehistoric Sago Palm is known for its exotic and feathery dark green fronds. Sago Palm needs good drainage and will do best if it dries well between waterings. Sago is a perfect stunner for the patio at a height of 4′.
11. Sanseveria Zeylanica
Bowstring Hemp, as this is more commonly called, has tall, dark green sword-shaped leaves with pale green stripes or spots. Slow-growing and easy to care for, this is a great low-light plant. A perfect houseplant for the well-meaning “black thumb”! Grows up to 30″ tall.
12. Stromanthe Triostar Prayer Plant
The leaves of this prayer plant are long and leathery, with striking burgundy undersides. Prayer plant does not like extreme temperature fluctuations, so this will do better as a houseplant. Will grow to a dramatic 4′ tall!
Tractor Seat Plant has unique round leaves that are shaped almost exactly like an old tractor seat. It is a shade lover and will do well in moist or boggy areas. Its shiny, dark-green leaves can grow up to 10’ across and 4′ tall!
Variegated Ginger has flashy yellow and green striped leaves. The stripes meet in a chevron pattern in the center of each leaf. The striping pattern is unique to each leaf and can vary from mostly yellow to mostly green, with only a touch of the contrasting color. These work well in the garden or in mixed containers. Reaches a mature height of 48″.
15. ZZ Plant
ZZ Plant has thick and wide, fleshy leaves that is a glossy dark green. The nearly symmetrical oval leaves reach up to 2 inches wide and 3 inches long. Waxy and shiny, the leaves reflect light and help to brighten a room, these are best as an indoor plant. ZZ plant is the ultimate low-maintenance houseplant; they’ll happily live on, even if you forget to water them for several weeks. ZZ plants reach a mature height of 3′.
Add some drama to your home and garden today with bold and beautiful foliage plants! Order today and bring some extra color and life into your favorite spaces. Learn more about palm trees here.
