Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

👚 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

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🐶 Beware of the Wigglebutts!

Another year passed, and here is another Lab Family reunion!
Exactly a year ago: 8 cute puppies update: wet dog fragrance. Mango's puppies turned into big monsters.

🐈📸 Sunshine, Draco and Lila visiting their Mom Mango at Top Tropicals Bfarm and PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Tebow Mango - smooth, sweet, and melting.
Mango Rainbow🌈

• 🟡 Mango Tebow is Kent x Edward hybrid, an excellent late season variety. It is a Florida-born favorite named after Tim Tebow.
• 🟡 Fiber-free, smooth orange flesh with a sweet, tropical pineapple-coconut twist. It's juicy, fragrant, and just melts in your mouth.
• 🟡 A compact, heavy-bearing tree - perfect for home growers.

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🌞 National treasure of Thailand: Golden Shower Tree

• ☀️ Cassia fistula - Golden Shower Tree is known as the national flower of Thailand. It is one of the most spectacular flowering trees for tropical and subtropical gardens.
• ☀️ From late spring through summer, it puts on a breathtaking display of golden-yellow flower clusters that hang in long, pendulous chains, often over a foot long. When in full bloom, the entire tree appears drenched in gold.
• ☀️ This deciduous tree drops its leaves in the dry season, allowing the brilliant flowers to take center stage. The leaves re-emerge after flowering, followed by long, dark brown seed pods that can reach up to two feet.
• ☀️ Cassia fistula is fast-growing, typically reaching 20-30 feet tall, and thrives in full sun with well-drained soil. It prefers a dry season to initiate heavy blooming and is tolerant of drought once established.
• ☀️ Aside from its beauty, the tree has cultural and medicinal significance in Asia in Ayurvedic medicine.
• ☀️ Fun facts:

▫️In Thailand, it’s called Ratchaphruek and symbolizes royal identity.

• ▫️Its golden flowers are often used in local festivals and ceremonies.
• ▫️It attracts bees and butterflies and provides seasonal shade.

🛒 Shop showy Cassia trees

📚 Learn more:
▫️Compact and showy flowering trees: Rainbow Cassias.

#Butterfly_Plants #Trees

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

✨ Royal Cat’s Daily Schedule

5:00 am - 5:15 am - Wake the servants. With authority. Use claws if ignored.
6:00 am - 6:15 am - Morning grooming. A monarch must sparkle.
6:15 am - 7:30 am - Vigorous athletic training: zoomies, ambush drills, and hallway races.
7:30 am - Light royal snack. Not what was offered - something better.
7:30 am - 1:00 pm - Refreshing slumber in a sunbeam. Royal snoring allowed.
1:00 pm - 1:15 pm - Afternoon snack. Preferably something the servants just opened for themselves.
1:15 pm - 1:16 pm - Optional stretch. One paw is enough.
1:16 pm - 5:30 pm - Do not wake. The royal being is not to be trifled with.
5:30 pm - Servants return from wherever they’ve been. Deliver loud complaints. Make it personal.
5:35 pm - 6:00 pm - Festive banquet. Fit for feline royalty.
6:00 pm - 6:05 pm - Digestive pause. Stare into the void.
6:05 pm - 6:30 pm - Additional nap. Important things can wait.
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm - Allow audience with the servants. Bonus points if they offer tummy rubs. Caution: traps may be set.
8:00 pm - 11:00 pm - Evening nap to prepare for major operations.
11:00 pm - 2:00 am - Advanced night training: furniture parkour, the Wild Mustang routine, and expert-level feng shui via object relocation.
2:00 am - 5:00 am - Cuddle enforcement: close contact with a sleeping servant, accompanied by motivational purring.
5:00 am - What do you mean you're still sleeping?!

📚 See also:
PeopleCats.Garden Official Cat Feeding Policy

🐈 PeopleCats.Garden  #PeopleCats

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Van Dyke: the mango that glows and flows.
Mango Rainbow🌈

• 🟠 Van Dyke is a Florida classic mango that’s loved all over the world - and once you try it, you’ll know why!
• 🟠 The trees are strong, spreading, and loaded with beautiful fruit.
• 🟠 Walking through the grove, this one really pops - bright yellow skin with a red blush, like it’s lit from within.
• 🟠 I pick it, slice it open... and wow! No fiber, just rich, juicy flesh with a sweet, spicy twist. It’s dense, meaty, and bursting with tropical flavor. This mango isn’t just pretty - it's pure magic!

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🌸 Fragrance lovers, this plant changes everything!

• 🌸 Cerbera x manghas - Enchanted Incense - is one of the newest and most sought-after perfume plants, prized for its incredible fragrance that outshines even jasmine and gardenia. Its red-and-white flowers release an intense, sweet scent you won't forget.
• 🌸 This compact, plumeria-like tree has beautiful mauve-tinted leaves and grows slowly, making it perfect for containers.
• 🌸 Easy-care, evergreen in warm climates, and low on water needs - this is a rare gem for fragrance lovers.

🛒 Add rare perfume power to your patio

📚 Learn more:
▫️ What flower is sweeter than any Jasmine

#Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

🎤 All you need is cat

• 🎵

All you need is cat...
All you need is cat...
All you need is cat, cat...
Cat is all you need.

No need for Mars or progress plans,
Just paws that march across your hands.
A garden patch, a sunbeam spot -
The world makes sense when cat is what you've got.

All you need is cat...
All you need is cat...
All you need is cat, cat...
Cat is all you need.
• 🎵

🐈📸 Percephone, one of our rescued cats, has quickly become a star of our Blog and PeopleCats.Garden 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals