By Karen Weir-Jimerson

Mixing and matching the members of the Trending Tropicals® collection is an ideal way to create a fantastic ensemble look from these amazing individualistic star-power plants. 

The Trending Tropicals® collection

This group of distinctive and rare plants are hand selected by a team of plant hunters (led by plantsman Mike Rimland). These plants truly offer the best of what the plant world has to offer. The houseplants hail from locations from around the world—South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. We source our plants from breeders and plant collectors who are as excited about these new discoveries as we are. Read more about this plant hunter’s dream collection.

Viva la difference!

When it comes to combining houseplants, it helps to choose different leaf colors, shapes, and textures to create interesting planter combos. 

For the plant aficionado

Trending Tropicals® are ideal for the plant collectors who pride themselves on sourcing the most unusual plants. It’s super satisfying to create a grouping that is so unique -- plants that you won’t see in everyone's living room. 

Yet easy enough for beginners

The houseplants in the Trending Tropicals® collection have been selected, bred, and tested to excel in the home environment. While each plant species has specific light and care requirements (as all houseplants do), this group of plants has been chosen because they are  easy to care for. That means that even a new houseplant parent can successfully grow (and love!) these exciting new varieties. 

Perfect pairings 

Trending Tropicals® plants offer a wide range of leaf shapes. The black glossy leaves of Raven® ZZ look beautiful next to the rich green, finely cut leaves of Little Swiss or the bushy leaves of Little Fiddle fiddle leaf fig. In fact, the rich dark color of Raven® ZZ looks good with every plant. The plant world has been abuzz about this variety for years. So how better to highlight the dark glossy foliage than to pair it with a lighter foliage plant, like Little Swiss monstera. The rich green leaves of this little trailing monstera makes Raven's® darker leaves stand out even more. The same goes for the Swiss-cheese effect of the heart-shape leaves of Little Swiss. The intricate pattern of the hole-y leaves is magnified by the solid, rigid symmetry of the ZZ leaves. Opposites not only attract, but they enhance. 

Combine colors

Trending Tropicals® plants offer a painter’s palette of colors. Chartreuse Birkin philodendron. Glossy black Raven®. Red-stemmed Polka Dot begonia. Electric green-and-yellow Network calathea. Red, green, and white colorful aglaonemas. Individually, these plants can shine on their own. But they also can work together, showing off their charms when combined with plants that help elevate their decor power. 

Try a trio

A trio of plants makes a simple, yet beautiful statement. Choose your trio for their strong suits -- and let them sing together. Network calathea for its bushy-ness, Little Swiss for its ability to climb or trail, and Polka Dot begonia for its artistic colorful leaves. The dots in Polka Dot echo the holes in Little Swiss monstera. What a playful combination!

Something tall, something trailing, something bushy

You can combine Trending Tropicals® together into one planter using the classic “thriller, filler, spiller” planting concept. In a nut shell, this planting model starts with a tall focal point --- your thriller plant. You add a bushy “filler” plant to occupy the spaces  around the accent plant. And for some vertical downward appeal, you plant a trailing variety around the edges to spill or cascade over the sides of the pot. This planting method allows you to create a single container with vertical appeal -- ideal for a corner of a room or as a focal point at the end of a hallway. The trick is to combine plants that like to grow in the same type of light and moisture requirements. You can use a Little Fiddle fiddleleaf fig  or Raven® ZZ plant as a thriller, Birkin philodendron and  Network calathea as fillers, and Little Swiss monstera as a spiller. 

Your look: Individual or combined
Trending Tropicals® plants are sold in classic white ceramic pots because white is a clean look that goes with everything. They are right at home in the simplicity of a Mid-Century Modern home. They add perky appeal in a farmhouse aesthetic. Line them up on a mantle, and they take on a formal feel. And, of course, these plants fit right into an eclectic vibe.