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  Tropical flowers remain popular for their wide variety of sizes, colors and shapes that add eye-catching appeal, indoors or in an outside garden. Most tropical flowers grow well outdoors only in the southernmost portions of the United States, although many gardeners in cooler climates grow these plants in containers and bring them indoors during the cold winter months. Some of the most popular varieties of tropical flowers develop unusually shaped flowers in bright colors.
  
  

Anthurium

• The tropical anthurium, or flamingo lily, is a popular flowering plant from the Araceae family that is often used as a houseplant. It has glossy, pointed leaves and develops large flowers anywhere from 1 to 12 inches in diameter in white, red, pink or orange hues.
  
  

Bird-of-Paradise

• Known scientifically and strelitzia, this popular flower in floral arrangements gets its name from its bird-shaped flowers. Native to South Africa, this unusually shaped flower is related to the banana. It grows 3 to 5 feet tall, with blue-petaled flowers and orange sepals. It blooms all year long, developing as many as 36 blooms annually. Gardeners in cooler climates overwinter this flower indoors, as it succumbs to temperatures below the mid-20s.
  
  

Torch Ginger

• Also known as walking stick ginger, this tropical plant grows 5-foot-tall stems with spiky, 8-inch red flowers that look like pine cones. With more than 1,400 species, gardeners have plenty of variety from which to choose with this flower.
  
  

Brugmansia

• Also known as Angel's Trumpet, these tropical flowers reach 4 to 6 feet in height, although pruning enables gardeners to easily contain this plant to a pot. Fluted, hanging flowers grow more than 1 1/2 feet in length, hanging down from the stems as it blooms during the summer. Provide frequent moisture, watering as soon as the topsoil appears dry. Monthly fertilization increases growth and encourages blooming.
  
  

Mandevillas

• This fast-growing vine reaches 30 feet in length, at the rate of 7 to 10 feet of new growth annually. With glossy, green leaves and red, pink or white trumpet-shaped flowers, the mandevilla requires temperatures of 55 degree F or higher. Provide full sun, weekly watering and trim as desired. They overwinter indoors well in colder climates, but stop blooming during this time unless provided with additional, supplemental light.
  
  

Heliconia

• This tropical flower, also known as the Parrot Flower, comes in a variety of colors and sizes, with as many as 400 different cultivars, most native to the tropical climates of America. Take care when cutting flowers for floral arrangements -- once flowers are cut, they do not open any more, remaining at whatever stage they were when cut.