Date: 24 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

To prune or not to prune?

Q: We had a few nights with light frost and some of my tropical plants look sad, lost all leaves. I scratched the bark and it is green inside. Should I prune back all branches that look dead?

A: Never prune during winter time, even if some branches look dead. There is a chance you will be surprised by Spring when they sprout new leaves. Be patient and postpone all pruning until active growth starts, then cut off only damaged part, approximately 2" above new growth.

See list of deciduous plants.

Date: 19 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Featured plant. Acalypha pendula, Dwarf Chenille Plant

Strawberry Firetails, Dwarf Cat Tails, Kittens Tail...

Everybody wants this plant! Acalypha pendula, Dwarf Chenille Plant gets its common name from the fuzzy plumes of tiny, foxtail-shaped bright red flowers that trail above a thick mound of small, serrated leaves. Given enough light, this plant blooms nearly year-round! The blossoms that begin as wispy buttons and elongate into fuzzy cones. At maturity, they become 3-4" long streamers.
A spectacular plant for a hanging basket, container or ground cover, it is heat tolerant, great for both hot Southern landscapes or as an easy houseplant, providing bright light. Place this unusual house plant on a pedestal stand or pot it in a hanging basket to show off those eye-catching fuzzy blooms.
This is a dwarf plant that stays small and doesn't need pruning. It's naturally bushy, so you don't have to pinch its growing tips to get it to branch out. A favorite with children, and cats too!

Get it from our store with FREE shipping!

Date: 19 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Australia Planting 1 Billion Trees To Fight Climate Change

Australia plans to plant 1 billion new trees to fight climate change, by the year 2050. That is a lot of trees and is the first real effort the country has made toward combating climate change. The only real problem is finding enough space to plant that many trees...
A billion trees is a billion trees, and even with a team of 30,000 people planting a tree per day for the next 31 years, the final tally would still only be 339,450,000 trees. Australia will need a tree army to get that many trees planted by 2050... Read the whole story...

How about planting just one tree today and save the World one step at a time?

On the photo: Callistemon, Australian native tree.

Date: 16 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Featured plant. Randia formosa - Blackberry jam fruit

Randia formosa - Blackberry jam fruit

This unique compact plant, perfect for container culture, combines features of a fragrant flower and tasty desert fruit. Kids love it! Originally from Central and South America, this rare tropical small evergreen tree bears fruit which tastes like fresh Blackberry jam. Many claim that it's even better than preserves. Closely related to the gardenia, its flowers are sweetly fragrant. This relatively hardy tropical has attractive foliage and can be grown in a container as well as in the ground. The Randia formosa (or Rosenbergiodendron formosum) produces as many as 25 to 30 fruits at a time. Since it blooms for a few months in the fall and winter, fruiting and flowering can be enjoyed when many other plants are dormant. Large tubular white flowers that attract nocturnal moths... Read more about this plant...

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Date: 16 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Deciduous plants soon sprouting

Many people believe that living in a warm climate will dissuade a plant from its deciduous nature. However, deciduous plants react to not only temperate but also shortened hours of daylight and changes in precipitation. Additionally, some plants will drop foliage in phases between new growth, and others use abscission to aid in pollination; blooming without wind-blocking leaves and making flowers more visible for insects.

When pruning a deciduous tree or shrub, it's generally best to wait until late winter or early spring, before the plant begins to leaf out. Avoid pruning during periods of new growth; during this time, the plant is weakened by the struggle to reestablish its growth process. Before pruning your deciduous plant, first research the specific plant, as there will always be exceptions to general instruction. For example, many Rubus varieties desire to prune in late fall, as their buds are developed during the dormant winter season. Some trees may have flower or fruit during winter while having no leaves, give them a chance to flower before pruning.

On the photo: Winter flowering Bombax ceiba in full bloom.

Date: 10 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Featured plant. Capsicum frutescens - Wiri Wiri Pepper

Capsicum frutescens - Wiri Wiri Pepper

A variety from Guyana, the Wiri Wiri pepper is the illustrious gem; hard sought and rarely found. This plant produces good yields of small 1/2" berry shaped hot peppers. Peppers grow upright, are very hot, and turn from green, to orange, to red when mature. What makes it so much different than any other hot pepper grown in the garden or bought at the store?
Hot? Yes, it is important that hot peppers are, but the people who really know, know that it is not just about heat, it is about flavor! And that is exactly what makes this little red gem so special. Guyanese dinners will only take one of those meals for you to never forget! The secret of their food is the flavor, and one of the cornerstone ingredients in many of their dishes is the Wiri pepper. The Guyanese population claim that it is not just a key ingredient to their diet, but also to why they are so good looking, live so long and have such great skin.

Lovely Madagascar Jasmine (Stephanotis)

By Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

Question: Could you recommend an easy to grow flowering vine for a large trellis? Something with a sweet fragrance?

Answer: Personally, I have to consider the "Madagascar Jasmine" (Stephanotis) as being one of my favorite flowering vines. I used to grow one as a windowsill-plant in Indiana when I was just a kid. Even indoors in the far north, (wrapping itself around a small home-made bamboo trellis), it somehow managed to reliably flower off and on all year long, even in mid-winter... Continue reading...

Date: 5 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Featured plant.Camptosema grandiflora - Dwarf Red Jade Vine

Camptosema grandiflora - Dwarf Red Jade Vine

Dwarf Red Jade vine. If you always wanted to own THE Red Jade Vine, here is your chance! Also called Cuitelo, Crista-De-Galo (Rooster's Crest), it is sometimes miss-identified as a Mucuna species. This amazing eye-catcher is closely related to Red Jade Vine, however, it is much hardier than the ultra-tropical Mucuna benettii! It is a spectacular fast-growing vine from Brazil with long pendulous chains of fiery bright red flowers. Heavy vine, it needs large trellis or pagoda. An arbor is ideal so that the brilliant flowering racemes can hang down from the ceiling. Blooms in fall and winter. Prune heavily in spring after flowering. Give full or partial sun with adequate moisture and fertilizer. It is very easy to grow, can tolerate some drought and light frost.

Happy 2019 - Year of Earth Pig!

2019 is the Year of the Earth Pig, according to the Chinese Calendar, and it just started February 5!
In 2019, the corresponding element is once again Earth, as it was in 2018. So what happens when you mix the Pig with the Earth Element?

An Earth Pig year combines a realistic but happy-go-lucky sociable pig combined with the steady and sensible characteristics of Earth, it combines the relaxed attitude of the animal with a very "down-to-earth" realistic climate, don't try to push too hard, this is a time to take things in stride. For the Pig, it was definitely all about the journey and not the destination! Because of the Pig's willingness to always help others out, it tends to bring good things to everyone around him. The Pig in Chinese culture represents wealth and prosperity.

2019 is a good year for giving your garden a fresh start, and especially for establishing new fruit trees that will bring you the enjoyment of deliciousness and... always healthy good food on the table!

2019 Super Fruit

This year, to keep the Pig happy and helpful, every tropical gardener should get a Hog Plum - a fast-growing and easy to care rare fruit tree with delicious aromatic fruit. It will fruit for you this year!

For lucky Zodiac plants, see Plant Horoscope Page.

Date: 3 Feb 2019 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Aquarius Plant Horoscope

Aquarius - 1/22 - 2/18. Aquarius is an AIR sign ruled by odd-ball Uranus.
The water-bearer's plants will often grow in unusual places and may vary in appearance. They often have purple or blue flowers, or may have unusual colors.
The most healing and beneficial plants for Aquarius are the ones that help circulation, relax the nervous system, or promote inspiration. When Uranus was discovered, it replaced Mercury as ruler of Aquarius. Physiologically, Uranus rules the bioelectrical impulses that power the body’s nervous system (nervous tension and nervous exhaustion brought on by powerful changes in the environment are related to both Mercury and Uranus). Physically, Aquarius rules the lower legs, the calves, and the ankles, and the electrical impulses that travel through the body’s nervous system. The nervous system itself is ruled by Mercury, and Uranus is said to be a "higher octave" of Mercury. Since Uranus was discovered after the correspondences with plants had been established, the herbs used in Aquarius are Mercury herbs. Always difficult to pinpoint, quirky Aquarius appreciates the unusual and complex flavor of star anise. Use this star-shaped spice when you wish to bring happy surprises into your life.

Aquarius Zodiac lucky plants:

Anise, Orchid, Golden rain - Koelreuteria paniculata, Bird of Paradise, Heliconia, Petrea, Mandevilla, Jasminum, Kiwi, Persimmon, Loquat, Olive, Alocasia, Colocasia, Citrus, Apple, Peppers, Gingers, Carambola, herbs spicy with an unusual flavor, White Pothos, Ivy, Shami - Prosopis cineraria, Neem, Medinilla, Sheesham Tree, Catnip, Passion fruit, Valerian, Aloe, Myrrh, Kava-kava, Cinnamon, Clove, Eucalyptus, Coffee, Cola nut, Nepenthes, Vanilla Orchid, Strongylodon - Jade vine, Tacca - Bat Lily, Eranthemums, Agapanthus, Orchid trees, Bolusanthus, Chamaedorea metallica, Clerodendrum ugandense, Clitoria, Duranta, Guaiacum, Jacaranda, Lavanda.

For other signs information, see full Plant Horoscope.

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