Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

What is in bloom right now?

🚩 Calliandras are known to be spectacular winter bloomers, but in our garden, they seem to flower year-round. They make fantastic ever-blooming hedges or striking small specimen trees.

📸 Red-flowering Calliandra tweedii "With Love" - Red Tassel Flower. This beautiful bush is covered in red blooms in front of Top Tropicals office at Sebring Farm.

📚 Calliandras from previous posts:

• · Powderpuff and a Bee
• · The best fast growing flowering bush for a privacy screen
• · Baby-pink fluffy flower for butterflies - Lilian
• · Flowering bush that everyone loves
• · Tree Calliandra
• · How to get a big flowering bush quickly? Calliandra - Powderpuff for blocking the unwanted view

🛍 Shop Calliandras - Powderpuffs

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What is in bloom right now?

😡 Orchid trees are among the most spectacular trees in Florida, flowering from late winter through spring. They are fast-growing, not fussy about soil or water, and bloom for several weeks in a stunning display of white, purple, pink, or red flowers.

📸 Bauhinia alba (candida) - White Orchid Tree - the most cold-hardy of all Bauhinias, tolerating temperatures as low as 26F. You can see them in full bloom across Florida right now!

📚 Orchid trees from previous posts:

• 💋Pure white and elegant
• 💋The most beautiful of all orchid trees - Hong Kong
• 💋Orchid tree with stunning red-and-yellow flowers
• 💋How to grow Orchid Trees in pots
• 💋Pride of De Kaap or Nasturtium Bauhinia
• 💋What is the best shade tree that is fast growing and beautiful?
• 💋Why Bauhinias are called Orchid Trees: orchid flowers with butterfly wings

🛍 Shop Orchid Trees

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🎈 Clerodendrum schmitii and Clerodendrum wallichii

📸 Clerodendrum wallichii (left) and Clerodendrum schmitii (right)

🛍 Shop Clerodendrums

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What is the difference between Clerodendrum schmitii and Clerodendrum wallichii?

• 
  ⭐️ The main difference between Clerodendrum schmitii and Clerodendrum wallichii lies in the color of their flower stalk and a slight variation in their growth habits, though both share similar overall characteristics.
• 
  ⭐️ Clerodendrum schmitii - also known as Chains of Glory or Light Bulb Flower, is a rare species that features elegant white, fragrant flowers held in loose, pendulous panicles. These blooms are showy against the plant's dark green foliage and typically hang down a foot and a half or more. This winter bloomer often has two flowering periods during the season and is distinguished by its striking red stems, adding a touch of drama to its graceful form.
• 
  ⭐️ Clerodendrum wallichiii, also known as Bridal Veil, has a similar cascading growth habit with fragrant white flowers in loose panicles, which appear around Thanksgiving. The flowers are beautiful, but the key difference is in its green stems. This plant grows up to 7 feet tall and has narrow, pointed leaves. It blooms from fall to spring, preferring to be protected from wind and hot afternoon sun.
• 
  ⭐️ While both plants feature fountain-like shapes and are covered in flowers during the winter to spring season, the red flower stalks of Clerodendrum schmitii and the green ones of Clerodendrum wallichii set them apart.

🎥 Clerodendrum schmitii - Chains of Glory, Light Bulb Flower.
More pictures in next post ⬇️

📚 More about Clerodendrums in previous posts:

• 💋What is the most spectacular Clerodendrum
• 💋How to grow Clerodendrums
• 💋Fireworks of Winter
• 💋Fragrant Cashmere Bouquet
• 💋Fountain Clerodendrum
• 💋What is better - Blue or Pink
• 💋Why is it called Blue Butterfly
• 💋Clerodendrum paniculatum
• 💋Seaside Clerodendrum
• 💋Pink Bleeding Heart
• 💋Why is it called Musical Notes
• 💋Bleeding Heart Vine
• 💋Cashmere Bouquet

🛍 Shop Clerodendrums

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Get this most colorful carpet for your fence

• 🔥 Senecio confusus - Mexican Flame Vine, Orangeglow Vine - fast-growing, drought-resistant vine quickly covers fences with bright orange, daisy-like flowers all winter.
• 🔥 It attracts bees, butterflies, and birds, while its thick evergreen leaves provide a rich backdrop.
• 🔥 A great choice for beginners, it creates a stunning carpet of vibrant blooms that fill the garden with color.

🛍 Plant Mexican Flame Vine

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👑 The Royal Snow White that everyone loves

• 👻 This snow white sister of Petrea volubilis (Queen's Wreath or Sandpaper vine) that we mentioned earlier is called Petrea glandulosa Alba, or White Queen's Wreath.
• 👻 It is a rare variety of Petrea. Unlike its purple cousin, it boasts clusters of snow-white, pinwheel-shaped flowers that cascade gracefully, resembling a delicate white wisteria.
• 👻 These blooms appear from late winter through spring, creating a stunning display that will captivate any onlooker. The tall clusters of flower can be reaching over 1 foot long!
• 👻 Its lush green, sandpaper-like leaves provide a perfect backdrop, enhancing the contrast with the brilliant white flowers.
• 👻 Thriving in warm and humid conditions, its blooms last a couple of days, but the blue calices persist much longer, and more new flowers are coming every day.
• 👻 Attracts butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds 🐝
• 👻 This vigorous vine has woody stems and requires sturdy support, such as a fence or large trellis, to showcase its full beauty. It grows fast and can cover a large fence within just a couple of seasons.

🛍 Shop Petrea - Queen's Wreath

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💥 When you need a Bottlebrush right now

• 💖 Bottlebrush Tree (Callistemon spp.) is in full bloom right now!
• 💖 It is a striking, low-maintenance tree with fiery red, brush-like blooms that attract bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
• 💖 Bottlebrush is a carefree dream tree: tolerates both heat and cold (hardy to zone 8), and is drought-resistant once established.
• 💖 Its vibrant flowers and unique texture make it perfect as a focal point, hedge, or standalone specimen.
• 💖 With varieties like the compact Little John, ideal for containers at just 4 feet tall, this tree brings year-round beauty and pollinator activity to any landscape.

📚 Learn more: Cleaning bottles with bottlebrush

🛍 Shop Bottlebrush trees

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❤️ Why Azaleas are so popular

• 🔠 Everyone loves Azalea flowers. What is so special about them? Azalea flowers are cherished for their breathtaking clusters of vibrant blooms, their ability to transform landscapes with a burst of color, and their adaptability to gardens, hedges, and containers.
• 🔠 The Vivid Red Cherry Miniature Azalea is a stunning, cold-hardy evergreen that blooms with vibrant cherry-red flowers in spring and fall. Very compact and easy to care for, it thrives in shady spots and offers year-round beauty with its glossy, dark green leaves. Whether used as a hedge, accent, or screen, this semi-dwarf variety adds a pop of color to any garden or home.

🛍 Plant miniature Azalea
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👏 What is your favorite blue tropical flower?

• 💙 In full bloom right now: Eranthemum pulchellum - Blue Sage, Lead Flower that we mentioned earlier.
• 💙 It is the brightest gentian blue flower - very unusual color in the tropics!
• 💙 Winter heavy bloomer
• 💙 Attracts butterflies and bees 🐝
• 💙 Compact shrub, responds well to pruning.
• 💙 Shade lover. Will happily bloom in the shade!

🛍 Order oline

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🔔 A flowering hedge everyone wants: how big and fast does Hawaiian Sunset grow?

❤️ Check out yourself: Stictocardia beraviensis - Hawaiian Sunset Bell - this dense live hedge grew from just ONE plant over the fence in one season! Just give it some space and Hawaiian Sunset Bell won't disappoint you.

📚 Learn more from previous post:
Everybody wants it: the breathtaking dramatic Hawaiian Sunset

🛍 Get your own Hawaiian Sunset

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