Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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Black Tacca Lily. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Tacca Lily - Black Bat Flower, Devil Flower

A flying bat with whiskers. Tacca. It's rare. It's weird.
  • Tacca Lily - also known as the Black Bat Flower or Devil Flower, looks like something brewed up in a witch's greenhouse.
  • The flower isn't really a single flower - it's a full-on performance. Giant black-maroon "wings" stretch out like a bat in flight, while long, drooping filaments dangle like eerie whiskers or jungle jewelry. Some can reach over a foot long!
  • Those weird, wild filaments? They're not just for show - they are believed to help mimic the look of decaying matter to attract pollinators like flies. Creepy? Yes. Clever? Absolutely.
  • The plant blooms best when it feels pampered - think filtered light, tropical vibes, and spa-level humidity. A smart indoor exotic for a bathroom with a skylight!
  • It grows from a rhizome, and while the Black Tacca (T. chantrieri) is prized for its spooky looks, its Green cousin (T. leontopetaloides) is actually used to make a type of tropical arrowroot starch.
  • Some gardeners say it takes a while to bloom (maybe a few months) - but once it does, it becomes the crown jewel of the greenhouse. People will ask if it's real. You'll say, "Yes, and it lives here!"
  • Tacca comes in different species/colors: Black, White, Green:

Tacca nivea - White Tacca
Tacca chantrieri - Black Tacca
Tacca leontopetaloides - Green Tacca

📚 Learn more:

🛒 Shop Bat Head Lilies - Devil's Flower Tacca

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts

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A flying bat with whiskers? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Tacca Lily - Black Bat Flower, Devil Flower - cartoon

Tacca Lily - Black Bat Flower, Devil Flower - cartoon

A flying bat with whiskers?

Have you seen a flower like this? Find out from the next post!⤵️

Tacca Lily - also known as the Black Bat Flower or Devil Flower, looks like something brewed up in a witch's greenhouse.

🛒 Shop Bat Head Lilies - Devil's Flower Tacca

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts

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One look and you're hooked: Macaranga! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Macaranga grandifolia - Elephant Ear Tree

One look and you're hooked: Macaranga! 🐸
  • 🐘 These leaves are bigger than your head!

    • Macaranga grandifolia – the Elephant Ear Tree - came from Hawaii. It has leaves so huge, they look like elephant ears or jungle umbrellas! Each one can grow over a foot wide, with a glossy, rounded shape that's pure eye candy.
  • 🐘 Macaranga is easy to grow - perfect for a frost-free garden or in a big pot.
  • 🐘 Macaranga is a real conversation starter. It looks like something straight out of a rainforest dream. Big, bold, and totally tropical! Fast-growing, it brings that lush, exotic vibe instantly to your garden.
  • 🐘 Hard to find, super cool, and ridiculously showy - you’ll want this beauty front and center. Once you see it, you have to have it!


🛒 Get your giant leaves - Elephant Ear from Hawaii

#Nature_Wonders #Trees

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What is the rarest Tacca? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Tacca leontopetaloides - Green Bat Flower, Devil Flower

What is the rarest Tacca?
  • 💚 Tacca leontopetaloides - Green Bat Flower, Devil Flower - is the rarest Tacca of them all!
  • 💚 Move over Black and White - this is the green bat flower, and it's in a class of its own!
  • 💚 Tacca leontopetaloides is a collector's dream and is rare in cultivation. With eerie greenish-purple flower clusters perched on tall stalks and long, trailing whisker-like bracts, this plant looks like something out of a botanical fairytale.
  • 💚 Unlike its fussy cousins, the Green Bat Flower is surprisingly easy to grow. It thrives in shady or semi-shaded spots, comes back reliably each spring, and doesn’t mind a bit of neglect. Its glossy, deeply divided leaves die back in fall and return with vigor as the weather warms up. A well-draining pot, occasional feeding, and moderate watering are all it asks for.
  • 💚 Native to Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Islands, it's more than just a pretty face - this plant has traditional medicinal uses too. But let's be honest: most collectors grow it for the jaw-dropping display.
  • 💚 Very few collectors have this variety - don't miss your chance to be one of them!


📚 Learn more about Taccas:

🛒 Get the rare Green Bat Flower - easy to grow and unlike anything else in your garden

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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Is it real or porcelain? Discover the flower that fools the eye! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Clusia lanceolata - Porcelain Flower

Is it real... or porcelain? Discover the tree that fools the eye!

🔮 Clusia lanceolata - Porcelain Flower has pink blooms so perfect they look fake! This easygoing tree thrives in both sun or shade and even feeds birds with its apple-like fruit. Great undemanding yet unusual flowering plant for container in a shady spot.

🛒Add a touch of porcelain magic to your garden

📚 Learn more:
A flower that looks plastic ceramic

#Container_Garden #Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts
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From berry to beast: how Black Dragons are born. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Anthurium Black Dragon seedlings from berry to beast: how Black Dragons are born

From berry to beast: how Black Dragons are born
  • 🐉 Baby dragons have hatched! Anthurium Black Dragon from our earlier video has been busy... and now we have baby dragons!
  • 🐉 Each bright red berry holds a single seed, and the seeds sprout easily - usually in just 2 to 3 weeks. The seedlings start off slow, but here's the exciting part: some come out variegated, with white, purple, or even pink coloring!
  • 🐉 No two are alike, and that's what makes Black Dragons some of the most unique houseplants out there. Everyone needs at least one in their jungle!


🛒 Get your own Black Dragon

📚 Learn more:

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders
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Botanical oddball - an alien ribbon plant with a sense of humor. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Homalocladium platycladum - Centipede Fern, Tapeworm Ribbonbush

🐸 Botanical oddball - an alien ribbon plant with a sense of humor
  • 🐍 Homalocladium platycladum - Centipede Fern, Tapeworm Ribbonbush that we mentioned earlier - this leafless wonder grows long, flat, jointed stems that look like green ribbons or, yes, tapeworms. But here's the twist: it also produces charming little flowers that surprise anyone expecting nothing but weird stems!
  • 🐍 Low-maintenance and high-impact, it thrives indoors or out, in bright shade to partial sun.
  • 🐍 The flowers are real! Tiny, greenish-white to pink blooms appear along the joints - subtle but fascinating.
  • 🐍 Conversation piece? 100%. Whether in a pot or in the ground, people will ask what it is - and you’ll love telling them.
  • 🐍 If you like your plants with a sense of humor and mystery, this one is for you.


🛒 Shop Tapeworm Plant now - get ready for double takes!

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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Watercolor-pink Crystal Desert Rose. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Adenium Ploysai

Adenium Ploysai

Adenium Ploysai

Adenium Ploysai

Adenium Ploysai

Adenium Ploysai

🌸 Watercolor-pink Crystal Desert Rose

📸 Photo of Adenium Ploysai for the previous post 👆

🛒 Shop adeniums

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Adenium

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Gemstone of the Desert Roses. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Adenium Ploysai

Adenium Ploysai

🌸 Gemstone of the Desert Roses
  • 🌸 Adenium Ploysai - is named after the Thai phrase for "clear gemstone". Its soft white petals with watercolor-pink edges bloom like a crystal rose at dawn!
  • 🌸 Ploysai features lovely creamy pink petals with soft yellow tones blending around the edges. The flower's layers create a full and elegant appearance, with a gentle gradient effect that adds to its charm. A graceful and vibrant bloom, perfect for brightening up your garden!
  • 🌸 See photos of the actual Adenium Ploysai in next post 👇


🛒 Get your own Adenium Ploysai

📚 More adeniums

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts #Adenium

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Why every collector wants the Gothic Black Dragon Anthurium. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Black Dragon Anthurium

🐉 Why every collector wants the Gothic Black Dragon Anthurium
  • 🌑 A living shadow

    • Anthurium Black Dragon is one of the most prized centerpieces of the Top Tropicals plant collection. This rare and exotic hybrid is celebrated for its deep, dark foliage that looks as if it were painted with charcoal or ink. It belongs to the coveted "dark foliage" group of anthuriums - a favorite among collectors for its dramatic, gothic elegance.
  • 🌑 It changes color with light

    • This plant changes color like magic! What sets Black Dragon apart is its ability to transform. In bright filtered light, the leaves darken dramatically - almost jet black. But in lower light, they fade to a mysterious greenish-maroon. It's like having two plants in one, depending on how you position it.
  • 🌑 Its spadix and spathe are weapons of style

    • Unlike many anthuriums that flaunt bright reds or whites, Black Dragon keeps it sleek and sinister with a brown spadix and dark-brown spathe - adding a sense of surreal drama when it flowers. But wait to see the real show when is sets fruit - cascades of bright red berries!
  • 🌑 Tropical but tough

    • Though exotic-looking, it's surprisingly resilient. With the right humidity and warmth (typical of most anthuriums), it's a slow but steady grower - ideal for collectors who want something dramatic yet manageable indoors.
  • 🌑 A collector's hybrid, not found in the wild

Black Dragon is likely a man-made hybrid created by crossbreeding dark-leaved species like Anthurium watermaliense or Anthurium forgetii. It doesn’t grow in the wild, which makes it even more of a sought-after trophy in aroids circles.

🛒 Get your own Black Dragon

📚 Learn more:
The most unique plant in your collection

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders
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