Tulsi, aka Holy Basil or Queen of Herbs, is a highly aromatic perennial ayurvedic herb native to India.  It is almost effortless to grow and requires little care once established.  Like most Basil's, it has a shrubby growing habit and will reach 2-4 ft tall! Tulsi has delicate pink flowers, hairy stems, and green leaves. The plant is both edible and medicinal and utilized heavily as a cooking spice in Indian cuisine and ancient Ayurvedic medicine.

Holy Basil works wonders for you in your garden as an excellent companion plant! It's strong aromatic oils including Eugenol, Oleanoic Acid, Ursolic Acid, Rosmarinic Acid, and Linalool help make it a natural pest repellent. These constituents within the plant also contribute to the plant's traditional known medicinal effects. Grow this healthy plant in your home or garden! It's a great opportunity to pick your own fresh leaves and flowers, so you too can make your own "elixir of life" tea, as it is known for its flavor profile of being cooling and mellow, and bearing scents of peppermint, cloves, licorice and lemon.

Strawberry Tree fruit will amaze you with it's fantastic buttered popcorn meets cotton candy flavor nearly year-round!  Muntingia calabura, also known as Strawberry Tree or Jamaican Cherry, is a small fast growing tropical fruit tree or shrub with small white flowers that resemble those of a strawberry plant.  It produces tons of red bite-size edible berries that resemble cherries and ripen quickly. Muntingia's fruit is beloved by birds and squirrels but don't worry, since it fruits so prolifically almost all year long, there’s enough fruit for everyone to enjoy abundantly. 

Strawberry Tree is easy to grow and thrives with little care. The plant has its roots in Central and South America with its native range stretching all the way from Southern Mexico through the Caribbean and south to Peru. You will not find this rare fruit at market even in its native range due to short shelf life so picking it off the tree and eating it fresh is a must if you want to experience this wholesome and exotic flavor. Medicinally, the blossoms are said to possess antiseptic properties.  

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.

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. 

Neem, also known as Nimtree or Indian lilac, is a flowering tree in the mahogany family.  Neem is a tall, fast-growing evergreen tree with highly attractive broad-leafed branches that make full, dense, beautiful canopies. The Neem tree is a very low maintenance plant, said to grow almost anywhere in the lowland tropics, thrives in hot conditions, and will need to be protected from the freeze or prolonged cold.  Flowers are self-fertile.

Neem grows in tropical to semi-tropical regions and is native to the Indian subcontinent (i.e. India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Maldives).  It's olive-shaped fruit and seeds are the source of Neem oil which is cultivated for antioxidant, anti-fungal, and anti-inflammatory properties.

Native to Hawaii, the White Jade Pineapple is a super sweet, spineless pineapple with white flesh, low acidity and a totally edible core! 

Most pineapple plants need full sun, but White Jade also thrives in semi-shaded environments. Pineapple plants need excellent soil drainage and are foliar feeders like all bromeliads.  So, be careful not to overwater and be sure to fertilize through the leaves, not the soil. 

Essential for Shipping Tropical Plants to Colder Climates

Don't let Mother Nature slow down your garden plans!  With our new 96 Hour Heat Pack in your shipping box, your plants will arrive safe and warm, with no risk of freezing on the way to your front door. These Heat Packs are ideal for our 1-3 Day USPS Priority Shipping. For orders exceeding six or more plants, we recommend purchasing additional Heat Packs.

• Designed for reliable and continuous heat release for 96 hours
• Provides a minimum warmer surface temperature of 100 ℉
• Environmentally safe with nontoxic ingredients. 

Sow Exotic ships year-round. We are not liable for cold damage to plants for orders shipping to freezing climates (below 32 degrees) without a Heat Pack. Please order Heat Pack or email us immediately after order placement to request a custom winter weather hold.

Originally native to tropical and subtropical climates from India to south-east Asia, Ginger is now popularly cultivated around the world. Ginger is one of the oldest of traded spices, the trade of Ginger being prominent in the establishment of trade routes from China into Ancient Greece and Rome. 

Ginger is a herbaceous perennial plant, prized for its large rhizome which is what the spice Ginger is made from. The Rhizome, when fully grown, is brown and fibrous, and what most people would recognize at their grocery store or local farmers market. The actual above ground portion of the plant is a reed like flowering plant that features yellow flowers that blossom from white and pink flowering buds. 

Ginger prefers fertile and moist soil, similar to its native tropical environment. The plant is generally propagated using cuttings of the root. There are several variations of 'Wild Ginger', but this is your common farmers market variety. 

There are many culinary and medicinal uses for Ginger. Ginger has a wide use of applications including use as a cooking spice for meats, fish, and deserts. Ginger can be made into wine, as well as candied for a spicy, delightful treat! Medicinally Ginger has uses as an anti-emetic, a carminative, as an anti-inflammatory, and as an antiseptic. It is most effectively utilized for the treatment of motion sickness, as well as for digestive issues such as food poisoning. This is due to a calming effect on the stomach. Ginger is also widely recognized for its internal warming abilities.  

Grow your own and enjoy it fresh!  

The Mushroom Herb is a unique and attractive protein-rich perennial herb that tastes like ~ you guessed it ~ Mushrooms!

Mushroom Herb is a leafy green, low-lying shrub native to Papua New Guinea   It's low-maintenance plant and does great in a container.   Leaves are thick and crisp, like spinach. They can be harvested all year long, but this plant should be over-wintered indoors in colder climates. The mild mushroom flavor intensifies when cooked and is a great addition to soups and stir-fries!

Medicinally, Mushroom Herb provides Calcium, Iron, Beta-carotene, Vitamins A and C and other essential nutrients.  

HEAVY PRODUCER! The Vietnamese Pink Asian Pomegranate is an evergreen, everbearing, and fast-growing pomegranate variety that's perfect to grow in warmer climates. This tropical fruit tree produces large pomegranates that have a mild but bright flavor that's great for juicing.

The small to medium-sized fruit tree is indigenous to South Africa. The green grapefruit-sized fruit is round with a very thick woody skin, changing to a warm yellow color as it ripens.  It needs to be whacked pretty hard (think coconuts) to be opened, but it's totally worth it!  Inside, the thick yellow creamy pulp has a strong and sweet aroma with a SUPREME FLAVOR.  African Monkey Orange fruit tastes just like bubble gum and cream soda!  It's pretty cool.  Due to the thick skin, this fruit has an incredible shelf life.  

Monkey Orange trees have various traditional and medicinal uses in their native regions. The wood of can be used for carving and timber; the bark, root or unripe fruit may be used as an anti-venom (due to the possible presence of strychnine). A poultice of the leaves may also be used as a natural insecticide against aphids and scale insects, and so on.

This tropical deciduous fruit tree really blew our minds when we stumbled across it in an old rare fruit park in our hometown. A friend had mentioned there was a really unique fruit tree in the area so we went out on the hunt.  At first, it's attractive growth pattern and glossy flaky bark caught our attention. And then we saw the fruit everywhere! All over the tree and ripe fallen fruit resting in it's shade.

Longevity Spinach is a fast-growing perennial vegetable-like herb in the Daisy family.  It grows effortlessly and makes a beautiful trailing ground cover or shrubby hedge in any garden but it also has several culinary and medicinal uses, making it an essential herb in your edible landscape.  Longevity Spinch is typically grown as a veggie. It's long succulent leaves and young shoots are generally the consumed edible parts of the plant, but it also produces beautiful yellow dandelion-like flowers.  

Longevity Spinach is native to China, Southeast Asia, and parts of Africa where it's known locally as Sambungal or Sambung Nyawa which translates into English as "Life Extender".  This tropical to sub-tropical plant tolerates a variety of different soils, but grows best in the shade. Longevity Spinach is perennial to zones 9-11 and can be grown in northern climates all summer long.  It's easy to propagate and grows quickly from cuttings.

Longevity Spinach has been studied for it's reported abilities to regulate insulin levels, cholesterol, and blood pressure. Research has shown that compounds in the plant are antimicrobial, anti-carcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory. 

Quenepa trees have the potential to take your tropical fruit orchard to new heights. Quenepa (Melicoccus bijugatus), Spanish Lime, or Mamoncillo is a close relative of the Lychee and Longan. This gentle giant can grow to a larger-than-life height, but can be pruned and maintained for container growth. Quenepa fruits grow in clusters with lime green rinds. People from Colombia, Venezuela, French Guiana, and Surinam may remember the Quenepa with a fond familiarity.

Quenepa will feel most at home in deep, calcareous soils, but is heat loving and adaptable to any suitably warm and sunny climates. Harvest the clustered, green fruits of Quenepa in late summer. Cracking open the Quenepa rinds will reward you with an orangey, glistening oasis,  quenching your thirst when you need it most.

Camellia sinensis is a beautiful and popular evergreen shrub that is drought tolerant, cold hardy and easy to grow— This plant is quite literally everybody’s cup of tea. The secrets of the tea plant were guarded for centuries by the Chinese who prized it as an economic crop, now it’s a worldwide household staple. The leaves of Camellia sinensis are used as the base plant for most teas we consume: Green, black, oolong, white tea, and more. Camellia tea is made using leaves and flower buds which are the main parts of the plant, but even the twigs can contribute to a unique Camellia brew. 

Camellia sinensis is native to East Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and southeast Asia, where it is cultivated in tropical and subtropical climates. Left undisturbed, your green tea plant can grow to an impressive 10 ft. However, most people choose to maintain them as smaller shrubs for easy harvesting at 5 ft or less. The fragrant flowers of camellia have a likeness to roses, and will bloom towards the late fall and early winter when the peak of other plants seems to have passed. Harvest the leaves of Camellia sinensis often, depending on your desired use.

Nanche, popularly called Nance, is a very attractive, very fast growing tropical fruiting shrub in the acerola family. Nance produces small yellow-orange fruit about the size and shape of a tropical cherry. Nance fruits have a starchy texture and are somewhat acidic but have a subtle sweetness when fully ripe.  Nance fruit can be eaten raw, fermented (chicha), juiced, distilled, candied, or prepared in deserts or carbonated drinks.

Nance is native to the tropical and subtropical Americas. 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.  If you're planning to grow Nance in a cooler climate, over-winter indoors if possible.  Nance is very well-suited for container growing.

You may also know Byrsonima crassifolia by another of its many common names, including Changunga, Muruçi, Nanche, Nance, Chacunga, Craboo, Kraabu, Savanna Serrette and Golden Spoon.

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. 

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. 

Pink Wampee is a very rare and unique coldy hardy tropical fruit tree native to India and Southeast Asia.  Pink Wampee trees grow up to 25 feet tall and produce giant clusters of flowers and small pink berries.  The translucent lipstick pink fruit has a soft texture and unique flavor that is sweet and citrusy with notes of fennel, coriander, licorice, and coffee.

The show stopping color of the berries makes it an excellent garnish. Pink Wampee grows excellently in subtropical and tropical climates but is also cold hardy into the mid or even lower 20's.

Medicinally, in Thailand and Southeast Asia, Pink Wampee is cultivated for the use of it's bark, branches, and roots as a potherb for variety of ailments.

Hoja Santa, also commonly known as Mexican Pepperleaf, Veracruz Pepper, Rootbeer Plant or False Kava is a hardy perennial herb.  Hoja Santa is native to northern South American and Mexico.  It's native name means "Sacred Leaf".  

Giant, velvety heart-shaped leaves grow to 10 inches or more in length. Both leaves and flowers are very aromatic and full of flavor.  The flavor is very complex, with delightly notes of licorice, eucalyptus, sassafras, anise, nutmeg, mint, tarragon, and black pepper. The plant spreads from the tuber and will quickly sprout many shoots.

Large, fragrant leaves are used fresh in Mexican cuisine for tamales, wrapping fish or meat and as an essential ingredient in true Mole Verde, the green sauce that originated in the Oaxaca region of Mexico. Fresh Hoja Santa can also be chopped to flavor soups and salads.  Despite their culinary popularity, fresh leaves are very difficult to find in grocery stores or at markets, so growing this hardy plant at home is a great idea.

Ask SE co-founder, Jared, what he thinks about Pineapple Guava plants and he'll say, "they have the ultimate best tasting flowers of any edible flower in the world! It's crazy how good it tastes!"  The tree has a waxy flower with, what Jared calls, a flavor that is fragrant, sweet, fruity, and tropical.  The fruit is about the size and shape of a kiwi, with a waxy fuzzy texture on the outer skin like a pear. It has a very sweet aroma before even fully ripe.  It tastes like a cross between a pineapple and a guava with a hint of mint.

Pineapple Guava fruit tree's are easy to grow and well-suited for the ground or a container.  It has heavy production within 3-5 years of planting, especially on the west coast. We recommend planting two for the best pollination and production.

Turmeric is a perennial herb plant in the Ginger family native to Asia but popularly cultivated in tropic regions around the world. Turmeric is commonly known as Indian Saffron, Curcumin, or Jian Huang. It is world renowned for the culinary and medicinal root it abundantly produces each summer. The fragrant spice was made famous for its use in regional and Indian cuisine and Auryvedic medicine.

Turmeric spreads via it's underground rhizome.  It goes dormant in the colder months and returns twice as large each spring. The root can be harvested throughout the summer and fall.  Large smooth and ribbed leaves are both ornamental and edible. Flowers are in bloom throughout the summer. Surprisingly easy and effortless to grow, Turmeric is well-suited for container gardening.  It is often grown as an annual in pots or in the ground.

Medicinally, Turmeric roots contain Curcumin, making it a strong antioxidant with anti-inflammatory properties. Turmeric extracts are marketed as dietary supplements to improve memory, for arthritis, and for cancer prevention.  Turmeric may reduce joint inflammation, reduce blood pressure, lower risk of heart disease, prevent cancer, prevent Alzheimer's disease, and to combat aging and depression.

The Alachua Muscadine is a low-maintenance self-fertile grape variety that is resistant to Pierce's Disease. Large, delicious fruit ripen very uniformly in large bunches. The fruit have a thick skin but soft and juicy interior. The Alachua Muscadine's resistance and dry stem scar make this grape variety an ideal choice for the home garden, especially in the south.

Loved around the world, Black Pepper is a perennial woody vine native to southern Asia. Piper Nigrum can obtain heights of up to to 13 ft and is perfect for trellises, porches, fences, and poles with it's spreading vine. These vines will easily root and take hold to soil and surfaces, making this a great plant for cultivation. 

The fruiting vine bears small flowers which can produce long spikes (around 3-7 inches long) of dark red fruit.  These drupes are commonly called peppercorns and can grow in clusters of 20-30. These fruit are picked and dried in the sun or artificially, and crushed into pepper. Depending on when the fruit is harvested and dried can result in variations such as black, white, or green pepper. Black Pepper grows best in well drained and moist soils. It requires soil with plenty of nutrition, but isn't picky about altitude.  It even makes an excellent houseplant in temperate climates.  

The Sherbert Berry is a unique small tropical tree that produces a small blueberry -sized fruit loaded with Vitamin C and antioxidants!  It's native to Asia, Pakistan, and India and is often known as Phalsa. Sherbert Berry flowers in the spring and can fruit all summer long.  Flowers are yellow, foliage is bronze and green, fruit is a deep pink to purple color.  Fruit is small and firm.  Prune in late Winter to encourage growth and production.