Q: I was visiting Ford Myers recently and attended the Edison
Ford Winter Estate Garden Festival. I could not help but notice two stunningly
beautiful Chestnut vines on your stand at the event. I have never seen this
plant anywhere before. I was told they make a great indoor plant. I was also
told your company ships to all 50 states. I have been looking for something
unusual to grow in my office and this may be just the plant! How do I take care
of it indoors?
A: If you want to bring a little bit of the tropics into your
office, you have chosen the perfect plant. Tetrastigma voinierianum - Chestnut vine - is a long-lived perennial
plant that will stay green all year long. It is a native of Laos and a member
of the grape (Vitaceae) family. This is a truly striking vine with beautiful
lush and large leaves. It is a vigorous climber with 8 inch or longer tendrils
for climbing purposes. The underside of the leaves has clear pearl-like
bumps, which are actually plant secretions that are used by ant colonies when
growing in its wild habitat...
Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Bagheera
Bagheera and Mowgli are Kristi's PeopleCats, originally they came
together and they stick together. As little kittens, they were raised by Moe, the Mama-cat. Although she is not technically their Mom, but...
she is a Mom for everyone!
Bagheera was born with his brother at a gator farm. He was too little to
leave his mom, but he needed out. Bagheera is one of the sweetest boys we
know. When he was a baby he could not sleep without laying on Kristi's face,
both paws stretching across her mouth. Now he's a big brave boy. He rules the
inside PeopleCats, stealing food from his human's plates and asking
forgiveness at night when he lays above your head with his hands on your face. He's a
reminder that we are all still little kittens on the inside...
Bagheera's new nicknames are Mr Biggs, Biggie and Biggy Biggy Biggy!
Q: Has anyone ever tried using heat packs under frost blankets to
protect tropical plants from frost?
A: The reality is, the heat packs used for shipping do not have enough heat capacity to create
efficient warming effect. From our own experience, the best way is to use
small 25W incandescent bulbs which produce lots of heat (considering observing
all safety precautions and fire safety). Some gardeners use Christmas lights.
See picture of our plants in the ground during a cold night. We called them
Ghost Cold Protection! ;)
Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cindy's Purry - Jackson's Nanny
Purry came in the same litter with LadyBug, Ricki, and Charlie.
She now lives in Cindy's house as an indoor cat. She is the most lovable and purring purrrrson.
Purry (or Pursey) has a little ward she faithfully looks after... Her
soft purrs put Baby Jackson Michael every time to sleep!
...The most impressive plant-life for me was a single native tree
growing near a parking area along the Bay. It was the largest, oldest, "Shortleaf
fig" I have ever seen. It was growing on a mass of bare exposed karst
limestone and bore a small plaque describing it as being the largest Ficus citrifolia
in the National Park. As it was dropping some of its little fruits at the
time, I ended up taking a couple home for cultivation...
Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Anna Banana's Kiki and Bandit
Everyone knows and loves our Anna Banana - the Heart of Top Tropicals
Customer Service. Today she found herself another exciting project... to build
a Cat Play Room! She sacrificed her whole living room and the whole paycheck
for that.
The girl kitty with a black face is Kiki Tails. She is a bobtail.
Bandit is a black and white boy with a white tip on a black tail. Anna Banana got
them when they were just 7 weeks old. Kiki and Bandit were born on August 26,
2019, in Buckingham, just down the street from Top Tropicals Nursery!
Call Anna Banana's direct line
239-771-8081 to say hi to Kiki and Bandit! We will follow up on these babies and soon
will update you with their new stories. Stay with us!
Now, here is Anna Banana's million-dollar question to her favorite
customers: how do Cats and Plants go together in your garden or indoor plant
collection? Tell us how your cats help you to grow plants, with pictures! The
Winner will receive a FREE plant of $50 value! Participating stories and
photos will be featured on Top
Tropicals Facebook page.
Please use our contact form to submit your stories with pictures, with a subject "Cats
in the Garden Contest"
Q: What exactly is Feijoa - Pineapple Guava? Does the fruit really taste like pineapple? I
am curious to know if it is easy to grow.
A:Feijoa is certainly one of the easiest fruit trees to grow as it does
not require much care. It is an attractive, evergreen tree or large shrub with
dark green, oval, leathery leaves. It has an abundance of uses in the garden
and produces lovely edible flowers and fruit! The fruit is eaten fresh,
added to smoothies or fruit salad and is also commonly used to make delicious
jams and wicked chutneys. Feijoa fruit go a long way in flavor.
This plant is drought tolerant and will grow in almost any soil type. It
loves full sun or partial shade and is wind resistant. A lot of gardeners like
to grow it as a wind barrier for this reason. It can easily be shaped into a
dense, informal hedge or screen that needs very little pruning. Because of
this density, it provides excellent shelter for all kinds of wildlife.
Butterflies, birds, and butterflies will all love you for growing Feijoa!
Space the plant five feet apart to create a wind barrier hedge. Heat does
no not bother it at all and it will also withstand temperatures to 10 degrees
F.
The plant gets its names from the delicious perfume it emits. Some folks
seem the fruit taste like pineapple, with a slight minty undertone. Others feel
the flavor reminds them of juicy fruit gum! The texture is described as
smooth and slightly gritty - almost like a pear, but firmer.
If you prefer to grow this plant as a tree rather than a large shrub,
simply remove the lower branches up to one-third of the tree's height over a
period of time. The Pineapple Guava can grow up to 15 feet wide and tall. They
also do really well as a container plant on patios where you can truly enjoy the
lovely fragrance of the fruit. It prefers rich, organic, well-drained soil
and will need light fertilization every other month in most soils.
Pretty, pink, edible flowers will wow you from May to June, followed in
late summer or fall by the delicious and fragrant fruit. An interesting thing
about this fruit is that you don't pick it. It falls to the ground when it
is ripe. Or simply place something under your tree, like a tarp, and shake the
tree. The ripe fruit will fall off. You can store the fruit in your
refrigerator for up to a week. And remember! The fruit of the Feijoa is not only a
very rich source of soluble dietary fiber, but also an excellent source of
Vitamin C, and very rich in antioxidants. They are also low in calories. Each
fruit only holds 55 calories.
Q: I learn a lot from your emails and it is one of the few subscriptions that I actually (usually) open and read. I don't mean to be negative but I'm not really a fan of the cat content that you now feature above the plant content. I'm surprised that you dedicate so much space to material that really is off-topic... I'm glad you guys are in business and you educate as much (or more) than you sell. I actually drove to your location to buy stuff a few years ago and most of what I bought is still alive. My neighbor also bought a cocoa plant from you and it is thriving!
A: Thank you for your comments and orders with us. We really appreciate your interest in our newsletter.
As far as cats, we added regular Cat of The Day section because it became so popular and many customers asked for it ;) While we all know that the World is made of 2 halves - CatPeople and DogPeople, most PlantPeople are PetPeople and they find this combination fun and garden-productive!
Besides, TopTropicals Garden Center is a cat-friendly Plant facility, so the cats are part of our business, as a matter
of fact... Not only do they help us with our daily hard work, they also give us so much love, and helps us to become better people. Our employees take care of them; the cat care is on their daily task list!
Do not worry, our plant content always comes first, and more interesting
stuff coming every week! Thank you for staying with us.
...What makes these rare beauties so wonderful is not only the very nice white Hydrangea-like flowers on the ends of the branches, but also the slowly unfolding new leaves. A number of times a year, they develop little bracts on the
ends of their branches which then erupt into stunning cascades of long, weeping ivory-pink new leaves. Most notably, in the more horizontal light of morning or evening, against the deep bottle-green of older leaves, these new hanging growths create the impression of being nearly
incarnate apparitions floating in mid-air. I am sure this is the reason for its scientific name Maniltoa, deriving from the New Guinea name for the tree, Manilto - which means "ghost" or "manifestation"...
Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Charlie, the Indoor Hunter
Carlie was a kitty drop off with LadyBug, Rickie, and Purry.
Charlie is Jamie's baby. She has an attitude of a teenager, one minute she
loves you and the next - wants nothing to do with you. Carlie stays with the
inside PeopleCats, she says it's too big in the outside world for her and she
gets scared. Carlie has a fun game (fun to her): she plays around 2:00 am in
the morning, she loves to drag random items down the hall (socks, toys,
shirts, even blankets) in her mouth MEOOOWWWING as loud as she can. She then sets
the items down on her human's bedroom rug and waits for her human to say
thank you. We're pretty sure her hunting instinct is off...
