Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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A plant wearing a sweater. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Tradescantia sillamontana - White Velvet, Cobweb Spiderwort

👚 A plant wearing a sweater
  • 👕 Tradescantia sillamontana - White Velvet, Cobweb Spiderwort - is one of those plants that stops people in their tracks and makes them ask, "What is that fuzzy thing?" Here's why it's so cool:
  • 👕 It looks like it's wearing a sweater! Its silvery-green leaves are covered in a soft, white fuzz that looks like cobwebbing - hence the nickname Cobweb Spiderwort. It's as if the plant dressed itself for a chilly morning
  • 👕 It grows low and spreads nicely, forming a neat, dense mound about 10-12 inches tall and 18 inches wide, making it perfect for edging, containers, or spilling over walls.
  • 👕 In summer and fall, it surprises you with vivid magenta-purple flowers tucked among the fuzzy foliage.
  • 👕 Despite its delicate appearance, this plant is hardy to light freezes (zone 8) and thrives on neglect. Dry spells? No problem. It pairs beautifully with succulents. Sun or shade!
  • 👕 Whether in a rock garden, pot, or tucked into a sunny nook, White Velvet brings texture, contrast, and plenty of personality. This little spiderwort is weird, wonderful, and surprisingly easy to grow.


🛒 Get your own Fuzzy White Velvet Tradescantia

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

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Instant rainforest for your yard - tropical vibes made easy! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Cyathea cooperi - Australian tree fern

🌴 Instant rainforest for your yard - tropical vibes made easy!
  • 🌴 How to create your own jungle retreat quickly? Bring a touch of the tropics to your yard with the Australian tree fern!
  • 🌴 Cyathea cooperi - Australian tree fern - grows fast and looks like it came straight from a Hawaiian rainforest.
  • 🌴 Its giant, lacy fronds can reach up to 8 feet long.
  • 🌴 It takes bright shade or sun, as long as it stays moist.
  • 🌴 The baby fronds of the Australian tree fern unfurl like little furry scrolls, each one slowly unrolling like a curious creature’s tail coming to life. They look almost animated!
  • 🌴 Even in windy spots, this fern holds its own and adds instant jungle vibes. Create your own jungle retreat!


🛒 Yes, I want tropical vibes! Add to my paradise

#Nature_Wonders #Trees #Shade_Garden

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It blooms in shade: Red Feather for your Shade Garden. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Sanchezia stenomacra - Red Feather

❣️ It blooms in shade: Red Feather for your Shade Garden
  • What colorful flowers can you plant in shade?

    • A true gem for tropical plant enthusiasts, Sanchezia stenomacra - Blood Red Feather - is a rare Peruvian beauty that brings unusual look and and color to your tropical garden.
  • Its feathery, deep red flower plumes rise like flames above glossy green foliage, blooming non-stop and attracting hummingbirds with their vivid orange-red tubes.
  • Perfect for humid spots with filtered light, it thrives in greenhouses, shaded patios, or even indoors.
  • Upright and fast-growing, it bounces back beautifully from hard pruning and keeps blooming year-round.
  • A true collector's treasure with bold style and easy care.


🛒 Bring home the Blood Red Feather

📚 Learn more:
Why is it called Blood Feather

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Butterfly_Plants

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What is the difference between Brunfelsia americana and nitida? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Brunfelsia americana - Lady of the Night

⭐️ What is the difference between Brunfelsia americana and nitida?
  • ⭐️ Brunfelsia americana and Brunfelsia nitida are very similar and both are commonly called Lady of the Night, They are night-fragrant shrubs that bloom with creamy white flowers, but they differ slightly in form and character.
  • ⭐️ Brunfelsia americana grows taller and more upright, reaching up to 12 feet in favorable conditions, with creamy white tubular flowers that release a rich, sweet fragrance after dusk - filling the garden with magic scent.
  • ⭐️ Brunfelsia nitida has a more compact, bushy growth habit, making it better suited for smaller spaces or containers. Its star-shaped white flowers are also fragrant at night, though the scent is typically lighter or spicier than that of B. americana. The foliage of B. nitida is glossier and more refined, adding to its neat, ornamental appearance.
  • ⭐️ While both offer evening blooms and fragrance, B. nitida stands out for its tidy size and formal appeal, whereas B. americana impresses with its height and intense perfume.


📚 Learn more:

🛒 Choose your perfect night-fragrant Brunfelsia

#Perfume_Plants #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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Blooming Lobster Claw Show at TopTropicals. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw

Blooming Lobster Claw Show at TopTropicals
  • 🔻 Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw or Parrot's Beak - is one of the most iconic tropical plants, and for good reason. Its vivid, dangling blooms look like parrot feathers or lobster claws and last for weeks, making them perfect for garden displays or cut flower arrangements.
  • 🔻This bold beauty grows up to 7 feet tall, thriving in tropical climates or large pots in cooler zones. Surprisingly cold-tolerant, it can handle temps in the high 20s and still put on a spectacular show.


🛒 Shop Heliconias and Gingers

📚 Learn more:

#Hedges_with_benefits #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

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Coral-blooming bonsai with a bottle-shaped trunk - perfect container plant. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Jatropha podagrica - Gout Plant

🔥 Coral-blooming bonsai with a bottle-shaped trunk - perfect container plant
  • Jatropha podagrica - Gout Plant - is a one-of-a-kind tropical showpiece with a knobby, swollen caudex, massive umbrella-like leaves, and bright coral-red flowers that pop like underwater treasures.
  • Compact and only 2-3 feet tall, it's perfect for containers, bonsai lovers, and small gardens craving something bold and unusual. It thrives in partial shade, grows giant leaves in low light, and needs little water to stay happy. Easy-care and eye-catching, it's more than a plant it’s a conversation starter.


🛒 Get your Gout plant - the plant with a personality

📚 Learn more:
Attention grabber: swollen trunk, giant leaves, and flowers just like corals

#Container_Garden #Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden

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Black Tacca Lily. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Tacca Lily - Black Bat Flower, Devil Flower

A flying bat with whiskers. Tacca. It's rare. It's weird.
  • Tacca Lily - also known as the Black Bat Flower or Devil Flower, looks like something brewed up in a witch's greenhouse.
  • The flower isn't really a single flower - it's a full-on performance. Giant black-maroon "wings" stretch out like a bat in flight, while long, drooping filaments dangle like eerie whiskers or jungle jewelry. Some can reach over a foot long!
  • Those weird, wild filaments? They're not just for show - they are believed to help mimic the look of decaying matter to attract pollinators like flies. Creepy? Yes. Clever? Absolutely.
  • The plant blooms best when it feels pampered - think filtered light, tropical vibes, and spa-level humidity. A smart indoor exotic for a bathroom with a skylight!
  • It grows from a rhizome, and while the Black Tacca (T. chantrieri) is prized for its spooky looks, its Green cousin (T. leontopetaloides) is actually used to make a type of tropical arrowroot starch.
  • Some gardeners say it takes a while to bloom (maybe a few months) - but once it does, it becomes the crown jewel of the greenhouse. People will ask if it's real. You'll say, "Yes, and it lives here!"
  • Tacca comes in different species/colors: Black, White, Green:

Tacca nivea - White Tacca
Tacca chantrieri - Black Tacca
Tacca leontopetaloides - Green Tacca

📚 Learn more:

🛒 Shop Bat Head Lilies - Devil's Flower Tacca

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts

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A flying bat with whiskers? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Tacca Lily - Black Bat Flower, Devil Flower - cartoon

Tacca Lily - Black Bat Flower, Devil Flower - cartoon

A flying bat with whiskers?

Have you seen a flower like this? Find out from the next post!⤵️

Tacca Lily - also known as the Black Bat Flower or Devil Flower, looks like something brewed up in a witch's greenhouse.

🛒 Shop Bat Head Lilies - Devil's Flower Tacca

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts

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The fiery plant that fights sugar: Nature secret insulin? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Costus igneus - Insulin Plant, Fiery Costus, Spiral Flag

Costus igneus - Insulin Plant, Fiery Costus, Spiral Flag

💚 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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Flowers never seen before: Adenium Rainbow, Part 2. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Adenium Rainbow, Part 2

Adenium Rainbow, Part 2 🌈

Continued from the previous post ⤴️

📚 More about #Adenium

🛒 Shop Adenium colors and hybrids

#Container_Garden #How_to #Shade_Garden #Adenium

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