Give the gift of growing what they want with a Sow Exotic gift card.  Gift cards are delivered by email and contain instructions to redeem them at checkout.

• No additional processing fees
• No expiration date

Monstera deliciosa, aka Swiss Cheese Plant or Split Leaf Philodendron, is a very ornamental perennial fruiting vine native to tropical Mexico and Central America. It can be grown both indoors and outdoor and regarded as a highly sought after exotic houseplant. Monstera produces large white showy flowers that yield an amazing tropical fruit.  Monstera fruit tastes like a combination of mango, banana, and pineapple. The plant is fast-growing and requires very little maintenance.

It’s name comes from the latin word for "abnormal", because of it's odd, perforated leaves, often punctured through with holes.  This is known as leaf fenestration.  Hardy and beautiful, the Monstera vine has large glossy splitting leaves that can reach an incredible 2-4 ft size themselves.  Growers marvel as the impressive new leaf growth unfurls over 1-2 days. Grown outdoors in the shade, the Monstera plant will thrive for many years climbing up large oak trees. 

Jamun, also known as Jambul or Black Plum, is a large tropical fruiting tree that can live for hundreds of years and produce thousands of fruit each year.  Native to the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, Jamun thrives in tropical regions but is slightly cold hardy and now grows wild in Florida.

The fruit is sweet, tangy and astringent and popular for its myriad of medicinal qualities. Jamun is popularly used in Auyervedic medicine to treat diabetes. Jamun is an excellent source of antioxidants, phytochemicals and vitamin C.  It contains high levels of carotene, iron, folic acid, calcium, potassium, magnesium and phosphorus. Wine or vinegar can be made from the fruit.

Essential for Shipping Tropical Plants to Colder Climates

Don't let Mother Nature delay shipping your plants this winter!  Adding a Heat Pack to your order ensures that your plants ship as scheduled and arrive safely, with no risk of freezing on the way to your front door. For orders exceeding six or more plants, we recommend purchasing additional heat packs.

We ship year-round with heat packs.  Please email us immediately after order placement to request a custom order hold.

Katuk is an evergreen perennial shrub, also commonly known as Sweet Leaf, Star Gooseberry, or Tropical Asparagus. It reaches up to 8 ft tall with multiple upright stems full of lush, dark green foliage. The leaves have a nutty, sweet flavor and are very high in protein! 

Katuk's tender shoot tips are cultiva ted as tropical asparagus. The small purple flowers and fruits are not only beautiful, but edible as well! All parts of Katuk are highly nutritious and full of vitamins andcan be eaten raw or cooked, in soups, salads, stir fries or steamed. In Indonesia, Katuk is believed to improve the flow of breast milk for breastfeeding mothers.

This plant is native to tropical and subtropical Asia.

Okinawan Spinach is a perennial medicinal herb that's cultivated like a veggie.  It's native to China, Thailand, and Myanmar and is a member of the daisy family.  Okinawa Spinach is very closely related to another Sow Exotic fave, Longevity Spinach. 

Bi-color bright purple and green leaves and young shoots can be harvested year round.  Leaves have a crisp succulent, spinach like texture. They can be eaten fresh, stir-fried, blanched, steamed or as a tea and are very popular in Asian cuisine.  Nutritionally, Okinawan Spinach is rich in iron and potassium, calcium, vitamin A.  It also has a high content of Proanthocyanidin, which is being researched for it's ability to offer antioxidant protection against heart disease and cancer.

Okinawan Spinach is a very easy perennial veggie to grow and will thrive in nearly any condition. It is fast-growing and spreads quickly.  We recommend both Okinawan and Longevity Spinach to all new and experiences gardeners. 

Zingiber zerumbet, commonly known as Shampoo Ginger, is perennial from the ginger family of plants. It grows great in moist, shaded, forested areas in tropical areas around the world such as it's native home Hawaii. It is a deciduous ginger that goes dormant in the winter. Both the leaves and the pine cone-like inflorescence's arise each year in the summer from underground rhizomes. The floral bracts are green when young and red when mature.

The flowers and rhizomes are very fragrant, with a pleasant warm ginger spice scent. They produce a red juice that collects inside of the flower cone. It is slightly sudsy (saponins!) and the cones can be squeezed and used for shampoo, hence the name of the plant! Collecting the sap into a paste and applying it to the hair can help brighten and condition it. The sap can also be massaged into the skin. The root is edible and traditionally used in native medicine, but is bitter to the taste, because of saponins, and seldom used. This plant and extracts of it are used in several popular industrial hair cleaning and conditioning products. Shampoo Ginger is a great plant for those seeking a natural solution to hygiene and hair care. 

The leaves and leaf stalks are edible, and can be used in cooking to impart a ginger flavor and taste to pork, fish, and other sources of meat. Traditionally meat is wrapped in the leaves and placed in underground ovens to cook. Medicinally the plant has several well researched uses including as an anti-inflammatory, for digestive issues, for treating diarrhea, and for treating intestinal worms. Usually, the leaves and rhizomes are macerated, powdered, and combined with alcohol as a tincture for use in Traditional Chinese Medicine. 

Stevia is a perennial herb widely cultivated for it's unique sweet leaves which are used as a natural sweetener.  Stevia, also known as Sweet Leaf, Candy Leaf, or Sugar Leaf, is a related to sunflowers and is native to Brazil and Paraguay. 

Although the common Stevia sweetener that we see in the grocery store is made from a Stevia extract, leaves from the plant can be picked fresh and simply crushed and added to your teas or smoothies. Leaves can also easily be dried and ground into a powder.  With Stevia, it's easy to grow your own natural sweetener at home!

Helpful hint: as a sweetener, 1/4 of ground leaves is equal to 1 tsp of sugar. 

Growing a Thai Guava fruit tree in North America requires a  tropical habitat, it loves sunny and warm locations and thrives in both humid and dry climates. It's rare to see these trees grown outside of California, Hawaii, and Texas due to tropical environment requirements, but it is possible to grow guavas in containers. It is important to know that these fruit trees are very frost tender, especially when young. They must have shelter from freezing winds, even in sunny warm climates where occasional icy temperatures occur.They are evergreen, shallow-rooted shrubs or small trees and produce sweetly scented flowers, small round, oval or pear shaped delicious fruits, and have a beautiful tropical appearance. The bark is smooth, green or reddish brown and peels off in thin flakes to reveal the attractive "bony" aspect of its trunk.

The guava plant thrives in any soil with good drainage and lots of nutrients. These trees love fertilizer, so regular application is recommended. Keep the soil slightly moist while the plant is young. At the time of fruiting (3-4 months after flowering the fruits will be mature), keep the soil evenly moist as this will help develop more juicy and sweet fruits. This fruit tree is very tough but you should keep an eye out for common garden pests.

Harvest - In warmer regions guavas will ripen all year. Guava fruits usually mature in 3 to 4 months after flowering. There is a distinctive change in the color and aroma of the guava that has ripened. For the best flavor, allow fruit to ripen on the tree. 

The Lemon Guava, also commonly called Cattley Guava, is a small sub-tropical fruit tree.  It abundantly produces sweet lime-green to golden-yellow guava fruit. The petite fruit, range in size from 4-8cm, and have a delicious blend of lemony guava flavor and aroma.  Lemon Guavas are mainly eaten raw but can also be cooked. The pulp is often used in fruit salads, smoothies, or in a marinade.  Lemon guavas, like most guava varieties, contain a high amount of vitamin A and folate. It also contains vitamins C (even greater amounts are in the skin) and B-complex vitamins as well as minerals like potassium.

Lemon Guava trees are excellent producers, fast-growing, and are an excellent design element for an edible landscape.  Well-suited for growing in a container and grows successfully as a potted plant in northern zones.  Somewhat drought tolerant!

Nanche, popularly called Nance, is a very attractive slow-growing tropical fruiting shrub in the acerola family, native to the tropical and subtropical Americas.  Nance produces small yellow-orange fruit. The tree can grow up to 33 ft.  The fruit can be eaten raw, fermented (chicha), juiced, distilled, candied, or prepared in deserts or carbonated drinks.

In Central and South America, the Nance tree ranges from sea-level to an altitude of 6,000 ft. It is highly drought-tolerant, but not very cold hardy.  Over-winter indoors if possible. 

Another one of our absolute favorite fruits!  Tamarind is adapted to a wide range of growing conditions and grows exceedingly well and effortlessly in Florida, especially in the south. 

Tamarind is a leguminous tree native to tropical Africa.  Tamarind trees can obtain impressive heights, reaching anywhere from 30-100 feet tall in the right habitat.  However, Tamarind trees are also highly prized Bonsai specimen and can be pruned and maintained at impressively small sizes as well.

Tamarind fruit is actually a long seedpod that can grow to be 12 inches in length.  The pulp within the seedpod is tart and sweet.  It is popularly used to make chutneys (yum!), candies, salsas, sauces, flavor cocktails, etc. Tamarinds are available at markets in both sweet and tart varieties but are fairly expensive supermarket items.  Grow your own Tamarind trees and enjoy your own bounty of deliciously tart Tamarinds each season.

Beach Bean (Canavalia rosea, synonym Canavalia maritima) is a salt-tolerant vine that’s got it all together. As a plant that thrives on sandy soils and full sun, it has a tendency to weave and spread into seaside landscapes that are vulnerable to drought and erosion. Canavalia rosea is a popular and heat-hardy ground cover in Florida, which is a great first step to transforming your yard into a native landscape that can act as restored ecosystems for wildlife.  It is a popular Florida native bean plant that is edible while seed pods are still young. However, when the bean pods are mature, they will require extra processing to eat! 

Enjoy Canavalia rosea’s signature fuchsia blooms that contrast the plant’s shrubby, lime green leaves throughout the year, with the most abundant bloom time in the peak of the summer. As any beach bum could tell you, plenty of heat, warm soil, and long summer days will help beach bean plants thrive.

Give the gift of growing what they want with a Sow Exotic gift card.  Gift cards are delivered by email and contain instructions to redeem them at checkout.

• No additional processing fees
• No expiration date