| Here are photos of individual plants around my gardens (mostly taken after a heavy but all-too-brief rain this evening). Some of these are not tropical or even subtropical, but fit well into a "tropicalesque" garden scheme. (Note: all these photos look better at full size; to view click on the photo to go to my Flickr album, and then click on "all sizes".)
Starting with the common tropical Hibiscus, an unknown red cultivar:
Another common plant but one that was practically unknown 10 years ago, one of the many Angelonia hybrids--a great performer in heat and full sun:
Cleome popping up from seed in various colors:
Oddly enough I have not seen a single harlequin bug this year; in previous years they have decimated my cleome by mid-July, to the point that I have to pull them out. I don't think I've ever had cleome blooming and looking good this late in the summer.
I especially like the pink ones: the flowers open deep pink but by the next day are pale pink, usually with 2 different colors of flowers open at any one time:
Chelone lyonii 'Hot Lips', just starting to bloom. A good source of late summer color and with good, glossy foliage that holds up well all summer:
This spring I was feeling a bit nostalgic for some plants I hadn't grown in a while so I dug out some seeds that I'd had in the fridge for several years--I saved seeds from Ceratotheca triloba (African sesame relative, Pedaliaceae) in 2001 and got about 110% germination:
Finally a few gesneriads; first, Seemannia (formerly Gloxinia) nematanthodes 'Evita' that I picked up at Plant Delights Nursery two years ago:
Closer view of the flowers:
Tony Avent claims this species is perfectly hardy for him, but neither this selection nor previous ones I've grown have ever survived a winter in my garden. Drainage is probably key. | 
