Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🌟 Starry fruit and rusty leaves: the tropical tree full of surprises

❓ Is it Star Apple, Star Fruit, Cainito or Caimito? Are you lost? Don't be - and here is the truth:

• ⭐️ Don't confuse Chrysophyllum cainito (Caimito) with Pouteria caimito (Abiu), or Averrhoa carambola (Star Fruit) - which are all different fruit entirely!
• ⭐️ The Star Apple tree - Chrysophyllum cainito, also known as Caimito, is a tropical treasure admired for both its fruit and foliage. It is related to Sapote and Sapodilla and produces round, glossy fruit that comes in stunning purple and green varieties.
• ⭐️ When sliced open, the juicy flesh reveals a star-shaped pattern - hence the name "Star Apple"!
• ⭐️ The flavor is mildly sweet, often described as a mix of grape, lychee, and apple with a hint of caramel.
• ⭐️ The tree also features lush green leaves with a striking rusty-red underside, making it as beautiful as it is bountiful.
• ⭐️ Caimito thrives in warm climates and is popular in the Caribbean, Central America, and Southeast Asia.

🛒 Plant your own exotic Star Apple tree

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️ Where can I try a rare Abiu fruit and what does it taste like?
• ▫️ Why is it called Star Apple?
• ▫️Star fruit: the Star of the orchard

#Food_Forest #Nature_Wonders

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🌱 Bright, bold, and edible: Variegated Chaya

• 🌿 Cnidoscolus aconitifolius variegatus, known as Chaya "Jatropha" or Variegated Maya Spinach Tree, is a rare gem for gardeners who crave both beauty and function. On top of health benefits of regular Chaya we mentioned earlier, this one is also a rare spectacular ornamental!
• 🌿 With its striking, creamy-splashed fan-shaped leaves and sculptural form, this plant brings dramatic texture to sunny landscapes or large containers. And as a bonus, it sends up charming clusters of white flowers!
• 🌿 More than just a looker, it's a productive perennial too - its leaves, once cooked, are a nutritious green similar to spinach. Just don't eat them raw.
• 🌿 This drought-tolerant shrub thrives in sun, asks for little more than space to grow, and rewards you with year-round color and character. Whether you grow it for food, flair, or both, the Variegated Chaya is an unforgettable addition to your garden.

🛒 Add rare beauty and purpose to your garden

📚 Learn more:
Chaya's health benefits: a must-have tropical leafy vegetable for sustainable gardening

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover

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🍈 This is what we discovered inside Jackedak - the biggest fruit on earth!

• 🍐Meet Jackedak - the superstar of the jackfruit world!
• 🍐Originally grown from a seedling of Cheena (Jackfruit x Chempedak, Artocarpus x integer), this TopTropicals hybrid fruited in just 3 years and blew us away with its flavor.
• 🍐Each massive fruit (20-25 inches!) is super sweet, crunchy, and rich, with hardly any latex - making it easy to prep and impossible to resist.
• 🍐 Jackedak is also a garden hero: it fruits low on the trunk, so you can keep it short and tidy, and it's survived both light frost and 48 hours under 3 feet of floodwater during hurricane Irma in 2017, without breaking a sweat.
• 🍐 If you want the best-tasting jackfruit hybrid we've ever tried, Jackedak is the one!

📚 Learn more from previous posts:

• 🟡about #Jackfruit
• 🟡Ten best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes. Jackfruit Tree.
• 🟡How good is Cheena Jackedack - a cross between Jackfruit and Chempedak
• 🟡How to grow the biggest fruit on Earth
• 🟡How to Grow Jackfruit: Practical Guide

🛒 Buy Jackedak Cheena Tree - Delivered to Your Door

#Food_Forest #Jackfruit

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Wise Mango - a smart choice for flavor lovers: sweet, juicy, and Florida-tough.
Mango Rainbow🌈

Mango Wise is a forgotten gem from the golden age of mango breeding in South Florida. Originating in Miami during the post-1930s boom of cultivar development, it was once part of a wave of exciting new introductions. Over time, many of these excellent varieties faded from commercial propagation, despite having outstanding eating qualities. Wise stands out with its nearly round fruit, minimal to no fiber, and rich, juicy sweetness. It's a smart, flavorful choice that deserves a comeback in Florida gardens.

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

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What are Health Benefits of Alpinia galanga (Galangal)

🌿 Galangal, also known as Thai ginger, is more than just a fast growing ornamental ginger and flavorful root - it's also a powerful healing plant with centuries of use in both kitchens and traditional medicine. Here are some of its top health benefits:

• Digestive aid - Galangal stimulates digestion, reduces bloating, and relieves nausea. It's especially helpful after heavy or oily meals.
• Anti-inflammatory properties - Contains compounds like galangin that help reduce inflammation, making it useful for joint pain and inflammatory conditions.
• Antioxidant rich - Packed with flavonoids and polyphenols that fight oxidative stress and may help slow aging and support overall wellness.
• Immune support - Traditionally used to fight colds and infections thanks to its antimicrobial and antiviral properties.
• Respiratory health - Used in Thai herbal remedies for clearing the lungs, soothing sore throats, and reducing coughs.
• Brain function - Some studies suggest galangal may help protect brain cells and improve cognitive performance due to its antioxidant profile.
• Circulatory support - Acts as a natural stimulant and may help improve blood flow and circulation.

🛒 Grow your own Thai ginger – fresh, healing, and flavorful!

#Food_Forest #Discover #Remedies

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🍊The wild fruit with a secret: health benefits of rare Spanish Tamarind - the exotic fruit you've never heard of

• 
  Looking for a new exotic fruit to love? Meet Vangueria infausta - Spanish Tamarind, also called Wild Medlar. Native to Southern Africa, this little-known gem grows on a small tree and produces round, golden-brown fruit with a sweet-tart flavor. You can eat them fresh, dried, or even turn them into a tropical jam or homemade fruit beer!
• 
  But it's not just tasty - it's super healthy. The fruit is packed with vitamin C, fiber, and minerals like iron and magnesium. Locals use it as natural medicine: the leaves and bark are brewed into teas for colds, fevers, and stomachaches. The roots are even used for coughs and snakebites.
• 
  Secret bonus? Its bark and leaves make natural dyes in yellow, green, and purple!
• 
  The Wild Medlar is easy to grow in warm climates (Zones 9-11) and can handle poor soil and dry weather. In cooler zones, just grow it in a pot and bring it in for winter. Give it full sun, some water, and it'll reward you with 20-40 fruits per season.

🛒 Grow your own wild superfruit - Spanish Tamarind

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover

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🍒 The sweetest tropical cherry for your yard

📱

🛒 Plant Sweet Grumichama

#Food_Forest #Discover

🍒 What is the best tasting and most beautiful tropical cherry? Grumichama!

• 🍒 If you are hunting for a fruit tree that does it all - gorgeous looks, unbelievable flavor, and nonstop productivity - meet Grumichama (Eugenia brasiliensis), the tropical cherry you'll fall in love with!
• 🍒 Grumichama is a compact cherry tree that steals the show. In spring, the tree transforms into a cloud of delicate white starburst flowers, like fireworks frozen in bloom. The blossoms are pure white with long, golden-tipped stamens, giving them a soft, lacy glow. The entire tree hums with life - bees and butterflies swarm to sip the nectar, turning your garden into a pollinator paradise.
• 🍒 And then comes the fruit! The cherries are dark purple-black, glossy, and almost too juicy to believe. One bite and you're hooked- sweet, smooth, with hints of cherry, grape, and plum. It's our favorite tropical cherry at Top Tropicals, hands down. So good, you'll eat one - then a handful - and then realize you've picked half the tree. They're that good!
• 🍒 Grumichama tree is a dream come true for beginners. It tolerates heat, partial shade, even salt spray. It's drought-tough, yet grateful for a little water with a crazy fruit yield - up to 500 fruits per tree. And it's perfect container fruit, so even small-space gardeners in colder zones can grow it. Cold hardy to the upper 20s!
• 🍒 Even when not fruiting, Grumichama is a stunning ornamental. Shiny evergreen leaves, showy blooms, and a neat, upright form make it a standout in your landscape.
• 🍒 And the fruit? Packed with vitamin C, fiber, and even a bit of plant protein, it's a sweet treat that’s also healthy. Perfect fresh off the tree, or turned into jam or jelly - if you can stop eating them long enough.
• 🍒 Start your food forest with Grumichama. It's easy. It's beautiful. And it's the most addictive fruit!

🛒 Start your food forest with Grumichama

📚 Learn more:
Why grow Grumichama? Benefits of Brazilian Eugenia Tree - Cherry of the Tropics

#Food_Forest #Discover

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What Mango fruits year around? Xosi Tu Quy - Four Seasons crisp Vietnamese mango perfect green or ripe.
Mango Rainbow🌈

Xosi Tu Quy, Four‑Seasons, or Jin Huang, is a Vietnamese variety celebrated for its ability to flower and fruit multiple times annually. It produces medium-to-large, bright yellow, firm, fiber‑free fruit with a small seed and crisp, mildly sweet flesh. Ideal for green-eating and pickling, it also ripens to a gentle sweetness with floral-honey nuance. The tree grows vigorously with a dense canopy and shows good resistance to anthracnose - perfect for warm, humid, tropical or subtropical yards. In Florida it typically fruits May-August, possibly longer in ideal conditions.

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

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💚 The fiery plant that fights sugar: Nature secret insulin?

• Costus igneus - Insulin Plant, also known as Fiery Costus or Spiral Flag, this vibrant tropical plant is famous for its potential health benefits - especially for people managing diabetes. Nicknamed the insulin plant, it's believed to help lower blood glucose levels naturally.
• Its lush, turmeric-like leaves spiral around upright stems, with a glossy dark green top and a striking light purple underside. The plant grows up to two feet tall and forms elegant clumps from underground rhizomes.
• In warm months, it produces bright orange, cone-like flowers that stand out beautifully in the garden.
• Beyond its beauty, the insulin plant is credited with aiding digestion, reducing cholesterol, boosting energy, improving skin health, supporting weight loss, relieving stress, and promoting heart wellness. A real botanical multitasker!

🛒 Grow your own sugar-fighter - order the Insulin Plant

📚 Learn more:
Most interesting edible gingers

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Shade_Garden #Fun_Facts

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