Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

❗️ The hot Guyanese secret to perfect skin 💥

• 🌶 Who said Peppers can't be cute? These two little fireballs prove otherwise! They might look small, but they’re full of personality, flavor, and heat.
• 🌶 Biquinho Pepper (Capsicum annuum x chinense)

This heart-shaped hottie is an ancient hybrid between bird pepper and habanero is as beautiful as it is flavorful. Each tiny 1-inch red pepper packs a fruity, tangy punch with just enough heat to make your taste buds dance. Perfect for container gardens, Biquinho peppers decorate the plant like tiny red ornaments – and they’re just as tasty in pickles, salsas, or fresh salads.
• 🌶 Wiri Wiri Pepper (Capsicum frutescens)

From the kitchens of Guyana comes a true legend - the Wiri Wiri pepper. These little berry-shaped peppers turn from green to orange to bright red, bursting with intense heat and flavor. Guyanese chefs swear by it - it's the secret behind their famously spicy, flavorful dishes. Locals even say it’s the reason they live long, have glowing skin, and look amazing… it's not just spice, it's magic!
• 🌶 Fun facts:

· Both peppers belong to the same botanical family as potatoes, tomatoes and eggplants.

• · What makes them special isn't just the heat - it's the flavor!
• · True pepper lovers know that great peppers are about depth, aroma, and the fruity fire they bring to every meal.

🌶 Growing tips:
Feed your peppers with Sunshine C-Cibus plant booster for abundant crops and extra flavorful fruits. These compact plants thrive in containers and bring tropical flair to patios, balconies, or edible gardens.

💥 These two peppers are a must for spice lovers - intense fruity habanero flavor packs quite a bang!
Extremely showy, these ornamental peppers have culinary benefits and are great for container garden.

🛒 Add the flavor of Hot Peppers to your garden and kitchen

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️ Hot-hot-hot HEART! How hot is it?
• ▫️ Wiri Wiri Pepper: how to live long and have a great skin.

📱 How" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" > to grow the hot Wiri Wiri and Biquino Peppers

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden

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🍴 Hot Pepper pickles: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🔴If you like hot and spicy pickles - Biquinho and Wiri Wiri peppers (Capsicum) are perfect for new experiments!
• 🔴Pickle whole little peppers in vinegar, garlic, Bay leaves (Laurus nobilis) and sugar.
• 🔴Sweet, tangy, and spicy little bites! Perfect as appetizers, chasers and hot parties! 🔥

Hot Pepper pickles: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

🍲 Ingredients

• 🔴 A mix of Biquinho peppers (Capsicum chinense) and Wiri Wiri peppers (Capsicum frutescens)
• 🔴 Fresh Bay leaves (Laurus nobilis)
• 🔴 Garlic cloves
• 🔴 Vinegar and sugar
• 🔴 Salt to taste

🔥 Instructions

• 🔴 Place whole peppers, garlic, and Bay leaves into sterilized jars.
• 🔴 Boil vinegar with sugar and salt, then pour over the peppers.
• 🔴 Seal and let cool. Store in the refrigerator for a few days before enjoying.
• 🔴 Sweet, tangy, and spicy — perfect for appetizers, chasers, and hot parties!

🛒 Invite Biquinho, Wiri Wiri peppers and Bay Leaves to your kitchen

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🌠 What's that fragrance in the dark?

• 💐 Brunfelsia? People often ask: what can you plant in a shady spot that blooms year-round and smells amazing? The answer is Brunfelsia, known as Lady of the Night.
• 💐 This Brazilian beauty is a compact, shade-loving shrub that thrives in low light and rewards you with creamy white flowers. As the sun sets, the blooms release a sweet, unforgettable perfume that lingers through the night. It’s like nature’s way of setting the mood for evening strolls.
• 💐 Brunfelsia is more than just fragrance. Its flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds, turning shaded corners into lively little stages. Low-maintenance, pollinator-friendly, and elegant, it’s the answer to your prayers: shade, flowers, and fragrance all in one plant.
• 💐 The most fragrant Brunfelsias are the creamy-white varieties, often called Lady of the Night.

Popular species include: B. americana, B. isola, B. nitida, B. lactea, B. manaca, B. densifolia, B. gigantea.

Do you already grow Brunfelsia? What kind do you have in your garden?

🛒 Experience Brunfelsia fragrance

📚 Learn more about Brunfelsias:

• ✦ Five best fragrant plants for summer plantings
• ✦ What is the most fragrant Brunfelsia?
• ✦ What happens when you cross Cream and Lavender?
• ✦ Lavender Marble Perfume
• ✦ What is the difference between Brunfelsia americana and nitida?
• ✦ Brunfelsia americana - Lady of the night
• ✦ Brunfelsias

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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🍴 Curry leaf rice: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🟢Fry curry leaves (Murraya koenigii) with mustard seeds, garlic, and chilies
• 🟢Stir into steamed rice for a fragrant side dish 🍛

🍛 Curry Leaf Rice recipes

Ingredients

• 1 cup steamed rice
• 1 handful fresh curry leaves (Murraya koenigii)
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3-4 dried red chilies
• 1 tbsp oil or ghee
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds until they pop.
2. Add garlic, chilies, and curry leaves. Fry until fragrant.
3. Stir in steamed rice and mix well.
4. Season with salt and serve hot as a fragrant side dish 🍲

🛒Grow your own Curry Leaf Tree for exotic recipes

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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Plant for birds: feast for wildlife and people from a tiny vine!

• Passiflora suberosa - Corkystem Passion Flower: did you know this Florida native passion vine is more than just a butterfly host? Birds love it too - they’ll happily snack on the little fruits and sing you thank-you songs all day long!
• And yes, the fruit is edible for people as well! The berries are small, but they make a fun and exotic treat.
• The plants has a tiny flower and a tiny fruit – both only about half an inch – but together they create a mighty native habitat.
• It's a triple win: butterflies, birds, and people can all enjoy something from this charming little plant. Plus, it’s the larval host for Gulf Fritillary, Zebra Longwing, and Julia butterflies, and its tiny greenish flowers provide nectar all year long. Fast-growing, easy, and full of life – a real gem for any Florida garden.
• This vine is delicate and compact, perfect for a medium trellis or climbing a small tree. Unlike the big, aggressive passion vines that can cover a whole fence, this one stays manageable.
• This Passion vine is not just charming and wildlife-friendly, it’s also tough as nails. Cold hardy and easy to grow, this native vine takes whatever Florida throws at it – heavy rains, long droughts and heat, poor sandy soils, even total neglect – and still thrives. A perfect choice if you want beauty, wildlife, and resilience all in one little plant.

🛒 Plant this small and tough vine with food and wildlife benefits

📚 Learn more:

• ✦ What is the sweetest Passionfruit?
• ✦ How big is Giant Granadilla?
• ✦ Does Red Passion flower produce edible fruit?
• ✦ The truth about Passion flower and Passion fruit
• ✦ Top 20 plants for a Butterfly Haven
• ✦ Top Eight irresistible vines for a hummingbird haven

#Food_Forest #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants #How_to

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🍴 Peanut butter fruit smoothie: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 🔴Peanut butter fruit (Bunchosia argentia) makes delicious shake!
• 🔴Blend ripe peanut butter fruits with milk and honey.
• 🔴A creamy shake that tastes like dessert straight from the tree!

Peanut Butter Fruit Smoothie

Ingredients

• 1 cup ripe peanut butter fruit (Bunchosia argentea), seeded
• 1 cup cold milk
• 1–2 tablespoons honey
• Ice cubes (optional)

Instructions

1. Remove seeds from ripe peanut butter fruits.
2. Blend fruits with milk and honey until smooth.
3. Add ice cubes if desired for a chilled version.
4. Serve immediately and enjoy a creamy shake that tastes like dessert straight from the tree!

🛒 Harvest Peanut Butter Fruit - the tree is fast fruiting!

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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🌷 Ten shrubs you need to have for winter colors

Many snowbirds ask what to plant when they’re here just for the season. The answer is simple: go for trees and shrubs that bloom in winter. Fall is the perfect time to get them in the ground so your garden will be bursting with flowers once the cool season arrives. In our earlier video, we shared 8 best flowering trees that will bloom for you in Winter. Now, here are the shrubs that will complete your colorful winter garden.

• 🌷 1. Mansoa alliacea - Garlic Vine

Known for its garlicky scent, it also puts on clusters of lavender to purple flowers in cool weather. Reliable and eye-catching, often trained on fences or trellises. 👉plant it
• 🌷 2. Dombeya wallichii - Tropical Hydrangea

Large pink pompom clusters hang like lanterns from the branches. Sweetly fragrant and showy, it creates a hydrangea effect right in winter. 👉plant it
• 🌷 3. Brunfelsia pauciflora Compacta - Dwarf Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow

Small and manageable, it opens purple flowers that fade to lavender and then white, giving the look of three colors at once. A cheerful winter bloomer for pots or borders. 👉plant it
• 🌷 4. Clerodendrum minahassae - Fountain Clerodendrum

This shrub lives up to its name with cascades of long white flower sprays, blooming heavily in the cooler months and brightening shaded corners. 👉plant it
• 🌷 5. Tibouchina multiflora (grandifolia) - Glory bush, Quaresmeira

Covered in clusters of soft, fuzzy purple blooms, this shrub adds tropical flair during the cooler months. Its velvety leaves are ornamental year-round. 👉plant it
• 🌷 6. Holmskioldia sanguinea - Red Chinese hat

Cup-shaped bracts form red “hats” around small flowers. This shrub stands out with unique form and long-lasting blooms. 👉plant it
• 🌷 7. Barleria cristata - Philippine violet

A hardy shrub with masses of purple-violet blooms in the cool season. It flowers when many plants are quiet, adding dependable winter color. 👉plant it
• 🌷 8. Thunbergia erecta - King’s Mantle

A compact shrub with velvety purple blooms and bright yellow throats. It’s neat, easy to manage, and flowers generously in winter. 👉plant it
• 🌷 9. Eranthemum pulchellum - Blue Sage, Lead Flower

Few shrubs can match its electric-blue spikes of flowers in winter. Compact and low-care, it brings a rare color to the cool season garden. 👉plant it
• 🌷 10. Petrea volubilis (racemosa) - Queen’s wreath

A woody vine-shrub that bursts into cascading sprays of lavender stars. It flowers heavily in winter, resembling wisteria in the tropics. 👉plant it
🛒 Explore Winter bloomers

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️8 best flowering trees that will bloom for you in Winter
• ▫️9 best tropical shrubs that bloom all summer long or year around
• ▫️4 best low-growing perennials that bloom all summer

#Hedges_with_benefits #Discover

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🍴 Loquat salsa: quick-n-fun exotic recipes

• 
  🔴Dice Loquat fruit with tomato, onion, and jalapeno.
• 🔴Great spooned over grilled fish or eaten with chips.

Loquat Salsa Recipe

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh loquats, peeled, pitted, and diced
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 1 jalapeno, finely diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime
• Salt to taste

Instructions

1. Peel and pit the loquats, then dice them into small cubes.
2. Dice tomatoes and onion, finely chop the jalapeno.
3. In a bowl, combine loquats, tomato, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro.
4. Add lime juice and salt to taste, stir gently to mix.
5. Chill for 15 minutes before serving.

Serving Suggestions

• Serve with tortilla chips.
• Spoon over grilled fish, chicken, or shrimp.
• Use as a topping for tacos or salads.

🛒Plant your Loquat tree

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Loquat

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🚚 How do we ship plants?

🚚 How do we ship plants?

📦 More pictures of packing plants for the previous videos:

• ▫️How do we ship plants? Part 1: prepare the plant
• ▫️How do we ship plants? Part 2: packing in the box
• ▫️How do we ship plants, Part 3: it's Christmas - unwrapping is fun?

📸 In the pictures:

• · James Coconuts managing Shipping Department at TopTropicals
• · Plants packed in boxes and ready to go
• · Plant packing conveyer
• · Mittens is a new Shipping hire

🛒 Shop plants online

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Shipping information page
• ▫️Planting instructions

#How_to

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🚚 How do we ship plants, Part 3: it's Christmas - unwrapping is fun?

• 📦 In the previous videos (Part 1: prepare the plant and Part 2: packing in the box), we showed you how we ship the plant to you.

You received the package - what is next?
• 📦 Every order comes with planting instructions. Read them first!

How to take care of your mail order plant (potted plant)

When your plant arrives, carefully remove it from the box and water it right away.

• ▫️Place it in bright light but out of direct sun for the first few days so it can recover from shipping.
• ▫️Keep the soil evenly moist, not soggy.
• ▫️After about a week, gradually introduce it to more sun or move it to its permanent spot.
• ▫️Read detailed instructions.

🌴 How to plant your mail order plant in the ground

• ▫️Don't put a new plant straight from the box into the ground!
• ▫️First, pot it up and let it recover and grow strong for a few weeks.
• ▫️Once it's well established, choose a sunny, well-drained spot outdoors.
• ▫️Dig a hole twice as wide as the pot, place the plant at the same depth, and backfill with good, rich soil.
• ▫️Water thoroughly to settle the roots and add mulch around the base, keeping it away from the stem.
• ▫️Keep watering regularly until the plant takes off.
• ▫️Read detailed instructions.

🎥 Part 3 shows you how to unpack a plant. Happy Gardening!

🛒 Shop plants online

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Shipping information page
• ▫️Planting instructions
• ▫️How do we ship plants? Part 1: prepare the plant
• ▫️How do we ship plants? Part 2: packing in the box

#How_to

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