Fruiting Lime Tree

Fruiting Lime Trees have attractive large leaves, fragrant floral blossoms, and fruit commonly used for both cooking and mixing into beverages.  This seedless fruit variety is commonly grown in California and does well in a temperate climate.

Rhododendron Tree

'Dinosaur Food' (Gunnera Chilensis)

Gunnera Chilensis is a tropical large-leaf plant native to southern Chile and Argentina.  It is commonly known as 'Dinosaur Food,' given its prehistoric appearance and the size of the leaves during the growing season.  

This medium sized Gunnera is shown next to a calla lily for comparison.

Yucca Trees

Yucca Trees are in the Agave family, and grow either low on the ground or higher up with a trunk.  They are hardy plants from the southwestern and southeastern United States, and low maintenance plants once established.  Because of their distinctive symmetrical look and profile, they make ideal specimen trees for focal points in a garden or on a patio.

Probably the most well known yucca tree variety is the 'Joshua Tree' (Yucca Brevifolia), at home in the Southern California desert and Joshua Tree National Park.  Other more common varieties are Yucca Rostrata ('Big Bend Yucca'), from both sides of the Texas/Mexico Border, and 'Spanish Bayonet' (Yucca Aloifolia), which grow from the southeastern United States down to the Mexico Cariibean coast.

Mature Yucca Rostrata (Big Bend Yucca)

Younger Yucca Rostrata

Yucca Giganteum

Yucca Aloifolia (Spanish Bayonet)

Manzanita Trees and Shrubs

Manzanitas are a Native California genus that is a low water plant.  The varieties of the plant vary from trees to flowering shrubs.  Some varieties of manzanitas grow as a low shrub and makes good ground cover.

Manzanita Densiflora is a shrub from with attractive flowers.

Manzanitas 'Dr. Hurd' is a San Francisco Bay Area tree form cultivar that has 

Oval green leaves and attractive reddish bark.  

Another Bay Area cultivar, 'Myrtle Wolf' was developed and released by the University of California Botanical Garden in Berkeley, California.

Agave Plants

Banana Plants

IOrnamental Banana plants are grown for their natural beauty rather than for their fruit.  The banana plant is so obviously tropical that it changes the atmosphere of an entire area, suggesting warm and humid and bountiful places by its mere presence.

Recommended banana trees that are cold-hardy for temperate and Mediterranean climates such as the San Francisco Bay Area include :

(1) Ensete Ventricosum (Abbysinnian Banana Tree) -- large oval green yellow leaves with reddish hue veins, ribbing, and stalk.  A highly decorative ornamental specimen plant that ca be a focal point for garden planting or a attractive patio or entranceway 'marker'.

Red Abbysinian banana tree

(2) Musa 'Blue Java' Banana Plant, commonly referred to as 'ice cream,' or Hawaiian banana tree --

The Abyssinian Banana Plant (Ensete Ventricosum) is a highly decorative

And attractive plant with its large oval green leaves.

Abbysinnian Banana Tree leaves arch over 

smaller perennial and annual flowering plants.

3 foot tall Musa 'Java Blue' has long, arching leaves.