Create an exotic fantasy: flora for your home

Best for eating:

'The growth in exotic tastes for plants, has boomed alongside more exotic tastes for cooking,' says Sue Bosustow, from Cross Common Nursery in Helston, Cornwall. Among the choices are:

Baby chillis
You'll find more than 10,000 varieties of chilli around the world but the best for keeping in the kitchen, and handy for cooking, is a dwarf variety called Apache.

They'll last for up to two years, and their vivid red fruits brighten up indoor spaces. 'To maintain, make sure you keep picking the chillis, otherwise the plant thinks it has done its job, then shrivel and die.' Feed it Baby Bio (£3, www.greenfingers.com) every two weeks. Average plants should last up to three years.

• Discover the health properties of chillis and how to cook with them

Coffee Plants
It's one of the lowest maintenance plants you can keep indoors. In natural state they prosper in hot conditions so require little watering.

'As well as being able to bear fruit, they also produce big glossy leaves, so are good to look at,' says Bosustow. Once ripe, red fruit will fall from the plant and is ready to be roasted.

You may find that it will take a while before the plant has produced sufficient quantities of fruit to roast, and while it's possible to roast them in the oven, you can make life easier by buying a 'home roaster' made specifically for this job. You can pick one up from Whittards for £150.

Olive Plants
Contrary to what you might think, these plants of Mediterranean origin can thrive in extremes of temperatures, and survive sub-zero conditions. Olive plants need good light, so keep near a window.

In its infancy, the Olive plant takes an appealing mini-tree form with small silver-grey leaves. Small white flowers appear in the summer, followed by olives later in the year which you can then marinade to eat.

The olives will last through winter if you bring the plant into a warmer environment. They'll bring a heart-warming Mediterranean look to your space, whatever temperatures are ravishing your garden.

Best for scent:

As well as throwing in some stunning visual treats, exotic plants can also tantalise your nostrils. A pick of the crop include:

Kaffir Lime
'This plant gives off a great citrus aroma,' says Bosustow, 'It's the same fragrant aroma used in Thai cuisine, plus it will bear limes within time.' Growing kaffir lime in the UK is the only legal way to own the plant fresh, as import restrictions only allow it dry.

You'll need to nurture the plant with a citrus feed or a nitrogen-based liquid supplement over the winter months - try Baby Bio. Keep the plant in a cool, light room and away from radiators.

Try crushing up the leaves and adding to a pot pourri around the house.

Chocolate Cosmos
A plant which smells like chocolate? Sounds like the stuff that dreams are made of, but this really is true. 'It's almost identical in smell to Terry's dark chocolate,' says Bosustow. It works best as a herbaceous perennial, but you can keep cuttings in a pot inside over winter. The bonus is its beautiful velvet-rich purple flowers, similar to a dahlia.

Photo credits: House of Plants, Marcelo Corrêa & Nick Fraser