Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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This is how the flowers of a Hog Plum look like. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

This is how the flowers of a Hog Plum look like

😳 This is how the flowers of a Hog Plum look like

✏️ The Hog Plum tree blooms with small, red flowers that grow directly on the stems of the tree, a unique feature known as cauliflory. This early-blooming trait allows the flowers to appear before the leaves, creating a striking display.

See pictures of fruit in next post🔽

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What is coffee made of? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What is coffee made of?

Coffee berries (Coffea arabica)

Coffee berries (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

Coffee beans (Coffea arabica)

☕️ What is coffee made of?

☕️ Coffee beans are actually the seeds of red or purple cherries that grow on Coffee Trees (Coffea arabica). Once harvested, the beans are dried, roasted, and ground to make the coffee we drink. The roasting process brings out the rich, aromatic flavors that coffee lovers enjoy!

📚 Learn more from previous posts:
Coffee tree is the best gift
Top 10 fruit you'll ever need for your health benefits: #2. Coffee Tree
The best Gift plant
The most popular and the easiest tropical fruit tree grown as a house plant

📱GROW your own COFFEE plant - Free Coffee Everyday

🛍 Shop Coffee trees

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What is fruiting right now? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What is fruiting right now?

Mulberry

Mulberry

❤️ What is fruiting right now?

😎 it's Mulberry season! Some varieties have already ripened, while others are just about to. At Top Tropicals garden we're competing with the birds to see who gets the first fruit, but honestly, there's plenty for everyone! These trees are very cold hardy and highly productive.

📚 Mulberries from previous posts:
What are the best Mulberry varieties
Top 10 fast-fruiting trees: #7. Mulberry
How Mulberry fruit helps with diabetes

🛍 Shop Mulberry varieties

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The fruit tree that every garden must have. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

The fruit tree that every garden must have

Fig Tree (Ficus carica) leaves

Fig Tree (Ficus carica) leaves

Fig Tree (Ficus carica) fruit

Fig Tree (Ficus carica) fruit

😊 The fruit tree that every garden must have
  • 🍎 Fig Tree (Ficus carica) is a great addition to your garden or patio, offering delicious fruit and attractive, lobed leaves with minimal care.
  • 🍎 Delicious Fruit: Figs come in violet, brown, or black colors, offering a sweet flavor with health benefits.
  • 🍎 Nutrient-Rich: High in Iron, Fiber, Potassium, and Calcium - perfect for a healthy treat!
  • 🍎 Beautiful Leaves: Large, lobed, green leaves provide landscape value even when the tree isn’t fruiting.
  • 🍎 Cold Hardy: Sensitive to frost during active growth but can withstand up to 10°F when dormant.
  • 🍎 Low Maintenance: Grows easily with minimal attention, prefers alkaline soil (unlike most tropical plants!), and can tolerate wet conditions.
  • 🍎 Prolific: Bears fruit from early summer to late fall, with fruits maturing quickly. It is self-fertile and low-maintenance, perfect for growing at home.


🛍 Shop Fig Trees

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Carambola Jam recipe. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Carambola Jam recipe

⭐️ Carambola Jam recipe

😁 Ingredients:

  • · 4 ripe carambolas, washed and thinly sliced
  • · 1 cup granulated sugar
  • · 1/2 cup water
  • · Juice of 1 lemon
  • · 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger (optional)


📞 Instructions:

  • · In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  • · Add the sliced carambola and ground ginger. Reduce heat and simmer for 25–30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the fruit softens and the mixture thickens.
  • · Remove from heat, let cool slightly, then transfer to sterilized jars.
  • · Refrigerate and enjoy on toast, with yogurt, or as a glaze for meats.


🎁 This simple yet unusual jam highlights carambola’s unique star shape and tangy-sweet flavor! 😏

🛒 Plant your own Carambola Tree

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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When young Carambola trees are covered with fruit. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

When young Carambola trees are covered with fruit

Carambola trees

😎 When young Carambola trees are covered with fruit

😇 Young Carambola trees, planted just last year (2024) at Top Tropicals garden, have been fruiting non-stop since fall! Though small, they’re loaded with fruit, and with so many trees, we’ve had more than we knew what to do with. So, we turned our bounty into jam - and it came out absolutely delicious! Stay tuned for the recipe in our next post. 👎

🛒 Plant your own Carambola Tree

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How to grow tons of fruit in limited space - it's incredible! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

How to grow tons of fruit in limited space - its incredible!

100 Papaya trees in 6"x100" strip

💥 How to grow tons of fruit in limited space - it's incredible!
  • 🍊 Yesterday we planted 100 Papaya trees in 6"x100" strip of the garden. That’s right - 100! This year, we’ll have BILLIONS and BILLIONS of fruit. Unbelievable! You should do it too. And here's how.
  • 🍊 Want to grow more fruit trees? Different varieties? But look at your space - it's never enough! What can you do? Most people have no clue. But we do.
  • 🍊 "Fruit cocktail trees" - great idea, right? Different varieties grafted onto one tree. Used to be very popular, especially citrus. But guess what? Doesn’t work well. The strongest variety takes over, dominates - very unfair.
  • 🍊 The best solution? It's called "One Hole Planting." Genius! Just plant several varieties in the SAME hole. Each variety gets its own root system - no fighting, no losers. Just winners.
  • 🍊 The absolute best candidates? Papaya Trees! (Carica papaya). They grow tall, straight, strong - just like a palm tree!
  • 🍊 Here’s the trick: plant several varieties together. Both male and female trees (you thought male papaya was useless? Plant it in, and watch what happens!). It's the best way! Saves space, supercharges pollination, maximizes fruit production. You get different flavors, non-stop harvests.
  • 🍊 Watch the video - 14 huge holes, 100 trees! It’s going to be HUGE! And guess what? We'll be back in just a few weeks - showing off the harvest! Stay tuned!


📚 Learn more from previous posts:

🛒 Shop Papaya Trees

#Food_Forest #Papaya #How_to

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What is the most beautiful winter flowering tree for Florida snowbirds? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What is the most beautiful winter flowering tree for Florida snowbirds?

Tabebuia impetiginosa - Dwarf Pink Tabebuia, Pau DArco, Taheebo

🌸 What is the most beautiful winter flowering tree for Florida snowbirds?
  • 🌸 It's not a cherry blossom! It's one of the most beautiful Florida trees - Tabebuia impetiginosa - Dwarf Pink Tabebuia, Pau DArco, Taheebo. It is in full bloom now, and it's a spectacular view!
  • 🌸 This tree is a Florida favorite that's sure to make your garden stand out. This beauty is a winter-spring bloomer that'll have your landscape looking fabulous with bright pink flowers and a splash of yellow in the throats.
  • 🌸 These gorgeous blooms pop up before the tree even puts out new leaves.
  • 🌸 Perfect for smaller yards, this compact tree brings a burst of color without taking up too much space. Plus, it's the ideal choice for snowbirds visiting Florida in winter - when you're craving some color!
  • 🌸 But this Tabebuia isn't just pretty - it's also practical! This tropical beauty is cold-hardy down to the upper 20’s, making it a great fit for Central Florida.
  • 🌸 It's been a prized medicinal tree for centuries! Pau DArco (Taheebo) bark is brewed to make a smooth, earthy, and subtly sweet tea that contains compounds like lapachol and quercetin, used for centuries by indigenous South American tribes. A tree that's not only lovely to look at but also useful? That’s a win-win!
  • 🌸 Starts flowering in very small size - see next post ⬇️


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How easy to grow is Pigeon Pea. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

How easy to grow is Pigeon Pea

Cajanus cajan - Pigeon Pea

How easy to grow is Pigeon Pea
  • 🍿 Cajanus cajan - Pigeon Pea - is a bushy perennial shrub with pretty yellow flowers and abundant production of beans!
  • 🍿 It is very fast growing, free branching, easy to grow and very low maintenance plant. Cold hardy to light frost. The plant tolerates poor soils, drought tolerant, improves soil quality like many other beans. Can be grown in container
  • 🍿 Provides flavorful, nutritious, and healthy super-food. The beans used in rice dishes, soups, stews, tempeh, tofu. Unripe pods eaten in curries, leaves and young shoots cooked as a vegetable. Rich source of fiber, protein, vitamins (B, C, E, K), and minerals (calcium, iron, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, zinc). It has many medicinal uses.


📚 Learn more from previous posts:
What was discovered in the Pyramids
Pigeon Pea - an Ancient Superfood

🛍 Grow your own Pigeon Pea Superfood

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Container_Garden

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What are the most beautiful ornamental Banana varieties and which one should I plant? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What are the most beautiful ornamental Banana varieties and which one should I plant?

Blood Leaf, Musa x sumatrana Zebrina Rojo Banana

Blood Leaf, Musa x sumatrana Zebrina Rojo Banana

Musa coccinea - Scarlet Red Flowering Banana

Musa coccinea - Scarlet Red Flowering Banana

Bordelon, Red Striped Banana

Bordelon, Red Striped Banana

Banana Red Leaf, Musa x sumatrana

Banana Red Leaf, Musa x sumatrana

Musa Zebrina Rojo - Blood Leaf Banana

Musa Zebrina Rojo - Blood Leaf Banana

🚩 What are the most beautiful ornamental Banana varieties and which one should I plant?

Continued for the previous post🔼

❤️ The most popular ornamental banana varieties
  • 🔥 Blood Leaf, Musa x sumatrana Zebrina Rojo - a striking banana variety with green leaves splashed with red, burgundy undersides, and small red fruit, thriving in containers and overwintering well in colder climates.
  • 🔥 Musa coccinea - Scarlet Red Flowering Banana - is a rare, compact tropical banana from China and Vietnam, prized for its stunning red flower bracts with yellow blooms, glossy green leaves, and small ornamental orange fruits, making it a vibrant choice for gardens, pots, or cut arrangements.
  • 🔥 Bordelon, Red Striped - a hardy ornamental banana variety with 10-15' tall stalks, striking red-striped leaves, and red undersides, discovered in Bordelonville, Louisiana, and capable of flowering and producing seeded fruit if protected in winter.
  • 🔥 Banana Red Leaf, Musa x sumatrana - is a striking ornamental banana with large variegated leaves, red stems, and a solid maroon underside, growing 3-5 feet in containers or up to 8 feet in the ground, making it a stunning focal point or tropical backdrop.
  • 🔥 Banana Siam Ruby - a striking ornamental banana with beautiful ruby-red leaves splashed with bright lime green, intensifying in color with sun exposure, thriving in hot, humid areas, and perfect for tropical backdrops or large patio containers.


📚 More about ornamental Bananas:
Musa Zebrina Rojo - Blood Leaf Banana

🛍 Shop Banana varieties

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