Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

💃 Get the Red Jade look without the fuss: cold-hardy Dwarf Red Jade Vine

• 🔥 Love the stunning, fiery blooms of the famous Red Jade Vine (Mucuna benettii) but live outside the tropics?

Its cousin - Dwarf Red Jade Vine - is tougher, easier to grow, and just as jaw-dropping, and delivers the same dazzling display of blazing red flower chains - without the high-maintenance, ultra-tropical demands.
• 🔥 Camptosema grandiflora - Dwarf Red Jade Vine, Cuitelo, or Rooster's Crest - this Brazilian superstar brings cascading chains of bright red blooms that look like flames frozen in mid-air.
• 🔥 Unlike the ultra-tropical and finicky Mucuna benettii, this cousin is tougher, easier to grow, and just as jaw-dropping. It thrives in full to partial sun, forgives a little drought, and even shrugs off light frost. Blooming in fall and winter, it gives your garden a fiery finale when everything else starts to fade.
• 🔥 Got a pergola or arbor? Perfect. The hanging flower clusters will light up the space like a botanical chandelier. Just prune it hard in spring and feed it well, and it will thank you with a blooming spectacle year after year.
• 🔥 If you've been dreaming of the iconic Red Jade Vine but thought it was out of reach - this is your sign.

🛒 Get all the wow of Red Jade Vine - without the worry

📚 Learn more:
Camptosema grandiflora, Dwarf Red Jade Vine - my favorite plant

#Nature_Wonders #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

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💐 The shrub that smells like a royal bouquet and grows like a weed?

💐 Clerodendrum bungei - Glory Bower, Cashmere bouquet, fills the air with sweet perfume and bursts of pink blooms that butterflies love. Its dark leaves add contrast, and it grows fast - maybe too fast - so plant it in a pot or tucked-away spot unless you want a fragrant takeover!

🛒 Add Clerodendrum bungei to your garden today - before it grows away!

📚 Learn more:

• 💋How to get a large, lush and fragrant bush in no time
• 💋Cashmere Bouquet

#Hedges_with_benefits #Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden #Butterfly_Plants

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💞 Bleeding Heart Vine surprised everyone this year!

• ❣️ Bleeding Heart Vine (Clerodendrum thomsoniae) is not just a winter bloomer! Despite the common belief that it blooms only in winter, this beauty actually flowers year-round in warm climates, putting on a continuous display of red and white "hearts". It bloomed in winter, then in spring, and now - it's a summertime - it is still full of flowers!
• ❣️ The "bleeding heart" look comes from the striking contrast between the white calyx and the deep red flower inside - like a heart bursting with color.
• ❣️ It's a vigorous vine, perfect for trellises, arbors, or containers. It can even be trained as a shrub!
• ❣️ Grows best in bright filtered light or partial sun, and appreciates regular watering - but it's not fussy.
• ❣️ Pollinator magnet! The blooms attract hummingbirds and butterflies, adding motion and life to your garden.
• ❣️ Tough and tropical - i'’s hardy, low maintenance, and stays evergreen in frost-free areas.
• ❣️ It's not shy, not seasonal, and definitely not boring!

📚 Learn more from previous posts:

• 💋When is the season for the Bleeding Hearts
• 💋Bleeding Heart Vine

🛒Get your own Bleeding Heart

#Butterfly_Plants #Shade_Garden #Fun_Facts #Hedges_with_benefits #Container_Garden

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💜 This is what we plant for a compact colorful hedge solution

• 💜 Thunbergia erecta - Kings Mantle - is currently in full bloom in our garden, showcasing its vibrant flowers that last almost year-round.
• 💜 One of our favorite flowering shrubs, it's compact, easy-going, and perfect for adding a splash of color.
• 💜 Available in blue, white, and even variegated lavender flowers, King's Mantle thrives in both sun and filtered light, with its dense, manageable habit making it ideal for low-growing hedges or garden specimens.
• 💜 It attracts butterflies and hummingbirds, and with simple pruning, it stays under 4 feet while producing a profusion of blooms.
• 💜 Hardy to 30°F and suitable for USDA Zones 9-11, it's also great for container gardening in colder regions.

🛒 Shop Thunbergias - colorful flowers for sun and shade

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️ Variegated flowers of Lavender Ice
• ▫️ Why is it called King's Mantle
• ▫️ Perfect everblooming hedge for shade

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

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Top 20 plants for a Butterfly Haven

🏆 The most spectacular butterfly plants for the previous post 👆

*️⃣Acacia farnesiana, Sweet Mimosa
*️⃣ Antigonon leptopus - Mexican Coral Vine
*️⃣ Aristolochia - Pelican Flower, Dutchmans Pipe
*️⃣ Caesalpinia - Dwarf Poinciana, Bird of Paradise
*️⃣ Calliandra - Powderpuff
*️⃣ Cassia (Senna) - especially yellow-flowered varieties
*️⃣ Clerodendrums - all varieties
*️⃣ Clitoria ternatea - Butterfly Pea
*️⃣ Dombeya - Tropical Hydrangea
*️⃣ Jatropha - Coral Plant
*️⃣ Justicia - Brazilian Plume
*️⃣ Lonchocarpus violaceus - Lilac Tree
*️⃣ Lonicera - Honeysuckle
*️⃣ Mansoa alliacea - Garlic Vine
*️⃣ Passiflora - Passion Vine
*️⃣ Petrea - Queens Wreath
*️⃣ Pyrostegia venusta - Flame Vine
*️⃣ Quisqualis Indica - single flower
*️⃣ Senecio confusus - Mexican flame vine
*️⃣ Tecoma and Tecomaria

🛒 Transform your yard into a Butterfly Haven with exotic plants

📚 Learn more:
#Butterfly_Plants
Five best butterfly attractors for a Southern garden

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Butterfly Haven or a Heaven on Earth?

❓Q: What should I plant in my yard to create a butterfly haven? I love butterflies and want to create a unique butterfly paradise, but I'm looking for something exotic and unusual - nothing like the typical Milkweed or Pentas that everyone recommends. What can you suggest to make my yard stand out from the usual native landscape while still attracting butterflies? I have plenty of space and want something diverse and showy!

‼️ A: In previous posts we introduced many #Butterfly_Plants including Five best butterfly attractors.
In next post you will see the most spectacular tropical and subtropical plants perfect for Southern gardens so you can create a dynamic and colorful butterfly haven. These options are unique, eclectic, and exotic - your flowers will not only be butterfly magnets but will also turn heads with their striking beauty! 👇

🛒 Transform your yard into a Butterfly Haven with exotic plants

#Butterfly_Plants

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🔥 A perfect Summer plant: red bells are hot without bringing heat

• 🔥 Meet the Fireball Abutilon, a fiery beauty that doesn't burn! This charming hybrid (A. darwinii x striatum), also known as Biltmore Ballgown, shows off glowing red bell flowers with elegant curled petals and bold red veins.
• 🔥 Its maple-like leaves add even more style.
• 🔥 It can grow up to 8-10 ft tall but stays neat with pruning. Loves summer pampering - water, fertilizer, and sunshine. Not a fan of cold snaps, so give it a cozy spot.
• 🔥 It's the perfect plant for turning up the color without turning up the heat!

🛒 Shop Flowering Shrubs for Hot Summer

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_plants

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💥 Redder than red: when orange wasn't enough, nature made this hottest flower

• 🔻This vine didn't get the memo about "'just orange"! Senecio confusus variety Sao Paulo (Pseudogynoxis chenopodiodes), or Bright red Mexican flame vine - is our favorite variety of the classic Mexican flame vine here at Top Tropicals. Sao Paulo isn't just orange, it's fire-engine red!
• 🔻Spectacular bright red blooms year-round and thick evergreen leaves that are larger and darker than regular Orange variety; they provide a lush, tropical look. Red variety is also more vigorous than regular Orange Senecio.
• 🔻Fast-growing and easy to train over fences, arbors, or trellises.
• 🔻Drought-tolerant once established and thrives on neglect.
• 🔻Attracts bees, butterflies, and birds
• 🔻A must-have for beginners and collectors alike, this vine delivers a nonstop show of blazing color all winter and beyond.

🛒Bring home the brightest flame vine on the market!

📚 Learn more:

• • Plant this if you want a vibrant color over your fence quickly
• • Most colorful carpet for your fence
• • Spectacular winter-flowering flame vine that everyone wants
• • A Fiesta of Mexican Flowers for beginners and butterflies

#Butterfly_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

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Have you ever seen a Half-n-Half Parrot's Beak?

‼️ Just landed: Half-n-Half Parrots Beak - rare variegated form! Limited quantities - first time ever!

• 🐦 We just got our hands on a super rare twist of a beloved classic - Half n Half Parrot's Beak! This is not your average Gmelina philippensis. It's a variegated version you've probably never seen before, and it's ready to steal the show!
• 🐦 Classic Parrot's Beak is already a fan favorite with its whimsical, hanging branches and cartoonish yellow blooms that really do look like parrots mid-laugh. Now imagine all that - with variegation!
• 🐦 Why is it special? Because each leaf is half green, half creamy-white - a stunning two-tone effect . It's got the same iconic yellow parrot-beak flowers, but with a brand-new flair.
• 🐦 Compact growth and ivy-shaped foliage make it ideal for bonsai. The leaves reduce beautifully with training. Develops character as it ages: spiny branches, textured bark, and an artistic form perfect for styling.
• 🐦 Fast grower with a naturally tidy canopy, it produces eye-catching yellow flowers shaped like parrot beaks, hanging in chain-like racemes. This rare form is perfect for collectors, bonsai lovers, or anyone who wants a showpiece plant that sparks conversation.
• 🐦 Note: Gmelina is pronounced "Melina" - the G is silent, but the plant is anything but!

📚Check out the Classic Parrot Beak in earlier post and in the Video

🛒 Limited quantity available - grab your Half n Half before they’re gone!

#Butterfly_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits #Nature_Wonders

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Why Hummingbird Tree?

• 
  🍥 Why is Sesbania grandiflora (Hummingbird Tree) so popular? Because it's as useful as it is beautiful. This small, fast-growing tree stands out with its striking, bird-shaped flowers and incredible versatility:
• 
  🍥 Ornamental beauty: The large flowers (ivory-white or red) resemble little birds and bloom in abundance, creating a floral canopy from fall through summer.
• 
  🍥 Edible flowers and leaves: Used in curries, salads, and even fried in batter. Tender leaves and green fruits are also eaten in Southeast Asian cuisine.
• 
  🍥 Fast-growing, flood-tolerant: Great for reforestation, shade, or as a quick ornamental tree for wet or challenging areas.
• 
  🍥 Medicinal: Every part of the plant is used: bark for fiber and medicine, flowers for food, wood for light construction, gum for fishing lines, and even as natural pest control.
• 
  🍥 It's a food plant, a medicine cabinet, a garden centerpiece, and a support system for other plants - all in one tree. That's why gardeners, farmers, and chefs all love the Hummingbird Tree.

🛒 Get an edible Hummingbird Tree

📚 Learn more about Sesbanias:
Black flowered Sesbania
Hummingbird trss: you can eat the whole tree!

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Butterfly_Plants #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts

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