Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date:

Gardeners finally found a perfect everblooming hedge for shade! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Gardeners finally found a perfect everblooming hedge for shade!

Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta

Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta purple

Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta purple

Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta Lavender Lace Variegated

Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta Lavender Lace Variegated

Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta White

Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta White

⚡️ Gardeners finally found a perfect everblooming hedge for shade!
  • 💜 Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta - is a perfect flowering bush or hedge for the shady garden.
  • 💜 Ever-blooming: Perfect for a continuously blooming hedge.
  • 💜 Dense shrub: Bushy, fast-growing, and ideal for mixed beds or medium-to-low hedges.
  • 💜 Beautiful flowers: flowers resemble morning glories, with common varieties having rich purple petals and yellow throats.
  • 💜 Attractive foliage: Small, dark green leaves.
  • 💜 Climber relatives: Unlike many Thunbergia species, this one is a sprawling shrub.
  • 💜 Pruning responsive: Can be shaped into a dense hedge, pruning promotes flowering.
  • 💜 Sun or shade: Prefers bright light and well-drained soil, but will also bloom in partial shade.
  • 💜 Colors: comes in dark blue, white, and the unique, vigorous variegated variety - 'Lavender Ice'.


🛒 Shop King's Mantle

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Why is it called Clock Vine? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Why is it called Clock Vine?

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine

👁 Why is it called Clock Vine? It will cover a Pagoda in NO TIME!
  • 🕰 Thunbergia mysorensis - Clock Vine - is a stunning vine originating from India.
  • 🕰 Vibrant yellow flowers with a dark mauve border, of a unique, eye-catching shape.
  • 🕰 Supposedly, it is called the Clock Vine because the flowers hang down in a regular, clock-like pattern around the vine. This consistent and orderly arrangement of the blooms resembles the numbers on a clock face, giving the plant its charming and unique name. Do you see it in the flower?
  • 🕰 The blooms hang in cascading clusters, creating a spectacular display that can beautifully drape over a trellis or pagoda.
  • 🕰 Attaracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
  • 🕰 Though it's one of the most popular species among garden enthusiasts, its rarity adds an element of exclusivity to any garden lucky enough to host it.


🛒 Shop flowering vines

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

🏵 TopTropicals

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Breaking news: flower smells of freshly baked bread! It smells so good, you want to eat it! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Breaking news: flower smells of freshly baked bread! It smells so good, you want to eat it!

Vallaris glabra - Bread Flower

🍞 Breaking news: flower smells of freshly baked bread! It smells so good, you want to eat it!
  • 🍔 Vallaris glabra - Bread Flower - is one of the most impressive tropical vines that is very popular in Thailand and other South-East Asia countries.
  • 🍔 Moderate growth woody climber with clusters of freshly-baked-bread fragrant white flowers.
  • 🍔 Easy to care and tolerates wide range of conditions. It can be trained as a compact bush and is good for container culture.
  • 🍔 Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.
  • 🍔 Relatively cold hardy, mild frost doesn't do any damage to it, even large tropical leaves stay glossy, green and healthy.
  • 🍔 It is very vigorous grower that can create nice privacy hedge or cover a large fence.


❓ Have you smelled the Bread Flower? Did you like the fragrance? Share in comments👇

🛒 Shop tropical vines

#Hedges_with_benefits #Nature_Wonders #Butterfly_Plants

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Everyone wants this showy Butterfly Attractor! Dwarf. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Everyone wants this showy Butterfly Attractor! Dwarf

Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Dwarf Poinciana, with Monarch Butterfly

Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Dwarf Poinciana, Red

Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Dwarf Poinciana, Red

Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Dwarf Poinciana, Yello

Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Dwarf Poinciana, Yello

🔥 Everyone wants this showy Butterfly Attractor! Dwarf Poinciana.
  • 🟥 Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Dwarf Poinciana, that we mentioned earlier, is probably number 1 flowering plant that everybody wants in their garden.
  • 🟥 Pride of Barbados, Dwarf Poinciana, Peacock flower, Flower Fence - common names speak for themselves.
  • 🟥 National flower of Barbados.
  • 🟥 Comes in different colors - red, yellow, pink, orange...
  • 🟥 Eye-stopper! Showy flowers almost year round.
  • 🟥 Butterfly magnet


🛒 Shop Dwarf Poinciana

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

Hamburger Bean: A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Hamburger Bean:

Mucuna sloanei - Yellow Jade Vine or Hamburger Bean

Mucuna sloanei - Yellow Jade Vine or Hamburger Bean seeds

Mucuna sloanei - Yellow Jade Vine or Hamburger Bean seeds

Mucuna sloanei - Yellow Jade Vine or Hamburger Bean flower

Mucuna sloanei - Yellow Jade Vine or Hamburger Bean flower

🍔 Hamburger Bean: how to cover a fence fast with an exotic vine: Jade Vine here.
  • 🟡 Mucuna sloanei - Yellow Jade Vine or Hamburger Bean. You saw the Sea-Green Jade vine in our earlier post. This one is lemon yellow.
  • 🟡 It is much more hardier than the Sea-Green variety and is super fast growing!
  • 🟡 This is a high-climbing woody vine native to rain forests of South America.
  • 🟡 It has long, rope-like stalks hanging below the forest canopy where night-flying bats can easily access the fragrant blossoms.
  • 🟡 The name Brown Hamburger Bean is because of the beautiful seeds (looking like little hamburgers) that are often collected and polished by natives and made into lovely necklaces and bracelets.


🛒 Shop Jade Vines

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🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

Medusa's Head Flower - from Greek mythology. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Medusas Head Flower - from Greek mythology

Strophanthus preussii - Poison Arrow Vine, Medusa Flower

Strophanthus preussii - Poison Arrow Vine, Medusa Flower

Strophanthus preussii - Poison Arrow Vine, Medusa Flower

Strophanthus preussii - Poison Arrow Vine, Medusa Flower

Strophanthus preussii - Poison Arrow Vine, Medusa Flower

Medusa's Head Flower - from Greek mythology...
  • 🐙 Strophanthus preussii - Poison Arrow Vine, Medusa Flower - has an intriguing flower!
  • 🐙 The faintly fragrant flowers have long, slender, and curly petals that resemble the snakes on Medusa's head from Greek mythology, giving it the nickname "Medusa Flower." The petals often extend and twist dramatically, creating an eye-catching appearance. The tips of the petals become narrowed and elongated, forming a twisting, sticky string that dangles down from the flower and touches lower leaves.
  • 🐙 The flowers are brightly colored, often in shades of white, yellow, and red, which can attract pollinators and add to their striking visual appeal.
  • 🐙 As suggested by another common name "Poison Arrow Vine," parts of the plant contain toxic compounds. Historically, the seeds were used by some African tribes to poison the tips of arrows for hunting. This gives the plant a certain mystique...
  • 🐙 Interesting pollination mechanism: the elaborate design of the flowers is not just for show; it plays a role in the plant's pollination strategy. The intricate structure can help ensure that pollinators come into contact with the reproductive parts of the flower, thereby facilitating cross-pollination.
  • 🐙 Blooms almost year around


❓ What bizarre plants do you have in your collection? Share in comments👇

🛒 Order Medusa Flower

#Hedges_with_benefits #Nature_Wonders #Butterfly_Plants

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Date:

Fragrant Fried Eggs for bees and butterflies. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Fragrant Fried Eggs for bees and butterflies

Oncoba spinosa - Fried egg tree

🍳 Fragrant Fried Eggs for bees and butterflies 🐝
  • 🟡 Oncoba spinosa - Fried egg tree - is a conversation piece in your garden.
  • 🟡 A medium shrub or small tree.
  • 🟡 Beautiful white and yellow camellia-like flowers look like 'fried eggs' when they drop off and fall on the ground with their yellow stamens facing upwards.
  • 🟡 Flowers are honey-sweet fragrant and attract butterflies and bees.
  • 🟡 The fruits have a sour, edible pulp.


🛒 Get a Fried egg tree

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants #Perfume_Plants

🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

Cabernet Allamanda is in full bloom again! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Cabernet Allamanda is in full bloom again!

Allamanda x violacea Cabernet - Wine Red Allamanda

🍷 Cabernet Allamanda is in full bloom again!

♥️ Allamanda x violacea Cabernet - Wine Red Allamanda that we mentioned earlier - blooms non stop most of the year. We never saw it without flowers! Spectacular vine.

🛒 Add some Cabernet to your garden

#Hedges_with_benefits

🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

The number one seller of tropical flowering shrubs: A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

The number one seller of tropical flowering shrubs:

Dombeya seminole - Tropical Rose Hydrangea

⬆️ The number one seller of tropical flowering shrubs: Tropical Rose Hydrangea.
  • 🌸 Dombeya seminole - Tropical Rose Hydrangea is one of the showiest landscape plants and a real showstopper
  • 🌸 Known as the tropical hydrangea due to similar flowers. Flowers are pink to rose in color.
  • 🌸 Blooms from fall to spring. Blooms all winter, providing much-desired color
  • 🌸 Grows up to 7 feet tall and about the same in width. Can be pruned to about 5 feet tall. Does well in a container.
  • 🌸 Thrives in full sun to partial shade, tolerates poor soil. Fuller shrub and more flowers with more sun.

    • Fairly drought-tolerant once established.
  • 🌸 Serves as a nectar plant for many butterflies


🛒 Shop Dombeyas

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🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

Do you want an unusual flowering plant for a shady spot? Panama Queen is the winner! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Do you want an unusual flowering plant for a shady spot? Panama Queen is the winner!

Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen

👑 Do you want an unusual flowering plant for a shady spot? Panama Queen is the winner! 🏆

❓ What is your favorite shade plant? Share in comments👇

🛒 Order Panama Queen

#Hedges_with_benefits

🏵 TopTropicals
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