Thank you from Top Tropicals PeopleCats

Cat friends, thank you for your support!

TopTropicals Cat Club

Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! If you want to help, you may do so directly from our website. Check out the Video: Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals and more Cat of the Day stories.

Back to Earth Check List

1. Stay calm. Remember, it's not the problem that creates the biggest problem; it is our reaction to it.
2. Focus on positive. Do not dwell on things you can't change. The Universe will unfold as it should, and your happy thoughts will provide the guidance.
3. Get connected with the Nature. It has all the answers. Go outside and see the Sun, the Sky. Now it is finally the time to smell the flowers.
4. Bring simple good things in your every day life. Like a simple food recipe, or a good movie with a happy end.
5. Connect with friends and talk only about nice things (remember 2)
6. Start a vegetable and fruit garden. Begin your sustainability with herbs at the end of this email. We will help you step by step in our next letter.
7. Go to bed with happy thoughts. Together, we will make it.

March 17: Day of Saint Gertrude the Patron Saint of Cats and Gardeners

Cat Patron: Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, 626 - March 17, 659

Did you know that March 17 is not only the day of St Patrick, but also of another Saint? Saint Gertrude of Nivelles!
Cat lovers revere Gertrude of Nivelles most of all. After all, gentle Gertrude is the Patron Saint of Cats and Cat lovers. The idea seems to have started in the 1980s, more than 1300 years after she lived. Some sources say the first publication to link Gertrude and cats was a 1981 catalog, Metropolitan Cats, put out by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Since then, the idea that Gertrude is the patron of cats - and cat owners - has spread. She is the Patron of Cats, the Recently Diseased, Gardeners, Travelers, Those with Mental Illness, and Those with a Morbid Fear of Mice and Rats.
Most of us can find themselves in this list!
St Gertrude's feast day of March 17 is observed by gardeners, who regard fine weather on that day as a sign to begin spring planting!
See more info

TopTropicals Cat Club

Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community! If you would like to help, you may do so directly from our website: 6464 Donation for Cats - TopTropicals Cat Club. Every little bit helps. All donations will go to cat care, and you will receive appreciation surprise presents from TopTropicals, including TopTropicals Cat Club bumper sticker. Thank you, and God bless you and your pets!

Check out the Video: Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals and more Cat of the Day stories.

We got a letter that we must share!

To the folks at Top Tropicals,
This is not really a question, more of a statement of gratitude. Top Tropicals has been my go to resource for everything tropical plant related for more than a decade... You have always been a source of information, knowledge and of course, beautiful plants. And now, more than ever, in these stressful times, I find myself returning to the world of plants that I love so much. Staying out of the public and away from friends and familiar places is hard on many of us. I guess they are calling it "social distancing" and I understand the sensibility of it all. So I take great comfort in spending relaxing time with my other friends and family, my plants. The weather is getting warmer, Spring is in the air, and I choose to not worry about things I can't change and instead I will devote time, energy and love to my special plants. Thank you Top Tropicals for being there for all of us gardeners and plant lovers. I look forward to browsing your newsletters each week to see pictures of the People Cats and to pick out my next best friend!
Sincerely, Becky M. - Woodland Hills, CA

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cats of the Day: Abu, Raja and their 9 lives.

Just a couple weeks ago you met Abu and his tiny sister Raja whose Mom died after a car accident, and Kristi rescued her two little kittens. Who knew that the troubles were not over... yet. The kittens looked very weak and undernourished, with lots of fleas and infected wounds... Kristi took them to the vet and after intensive care they started to look much better... until a few days ago Raja woke up with paralysis in her back legs... while sores on Abu's paws didn't heal. Kristi rushed them both to the hospital again.
The vet said it all didn't look good... that symptoms looked like possible rabies or cat coronavirus! He said that chances are, the kittens wouldn't last long and he put them in 10 days quarantine.
Day and night we all at TopTropicals have been praying for the little babies. Every day vet's updates got worse... it was hard to believe that after all the efforts to save them, they may be gone!
Then all the sudden, after 5 days in the hospital, a miracle happened. All tests came out negative! And the kitties started getting better, fighting bad infections under doctor Bowers care. Raja got back on her feet. There is still a long way to full recovery from their miserable experience of a street life, but Something saved their lives! Doctors, prayers... or simply Kristi's BELIEVE that they WILL make it! She told them when she left them in the hospital: "You have to keep fighting, you are fighters." And they did. The Nurse said Raja hissed at her every time she walked by, but when Kristi came to pick her up and opened the cage, Raja rubbed her ears and just pressed her head in Kristi's hand.
Now they both at home, sweet home, taking medication and eating sooo much!
"I just kept thinking after all they have been through this can't be the way their story ends!" - Kristi says.
Have happy and loooong lives, kitties! All 9 of them or whatever you have saved!

TopTropicals Cat Club

Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCats, especially local customers who leave donations in our Cat jar in the office. If you would like to help Raja and Abu to pay their bill for 5 day hospital stay under intensive care, you may do it directly from our online store, by purchasing item 6464 Donation for Cats - TopTropicals Cat Club. Every little bit helps. All donations will go to cat care, and you will receive appreciation surprise presents from TopTropicals, including TopTropicals Cat Club bumper sticker. Thank you, and God bless you and your pets!

Check out the Video: Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals and more Cat of the Day stories.

The stunning beauty of Brownea

by Mark Hooten, the Garden Doc

Recently, while admiring the stunning beauty of a large flowering Brownea planted on the grounds here at Top Tropicals, I began wondering why these most splendid of tropical flowering trees remain so rare and obscure in South Florida. Much of our local climate seems perfectly conducive to their cultivation...

CONTINUE READING >>

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: King the Hobo

King, who has been famous with his ability to get in trouble, without a doubt is the Cat of the day, week, and month. His recent adventure went above and beyond our expectations. King decided to take a ride.
He jumped inside the truck of our supplier from Homestead, for very innocent reason: inspect the quality of plants delivered. No questions asked, he did his job.
Next thing we remember was the driver calling us on his way to Homestead: "Looks like I have your cat in my truck, and he is pretty happy with the ride!"
Luckily, the discovery of the Hobo happened pretty quickly, before the truck left Ft Myers area. So King did not get all the way to Homestead as he planned, his adventure was interrupted. He was dropped off at Edison Estate Botanical Garden. The director Eric happen to know TopTropicals well, just visiting us a few days before for the Leap Year Celebration event. He kept King in his office until Onika came to pick him up.
What an adventure!

Dear visitors of Top Tropical Garden Center! When leaving our Nursery, please check your vehicles for cats! Apparently, they like to travel!

Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCats. Every dollar you spend on TopTropicals plants is split between plant growers and PeopleCats who help us become better people.

Check out the Video: Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals and more Cat of the Day stories.

Boosting Mango Flowers and Fruit

Q: I've been a long time customer of yours and always been very happy with my purchases. Last year I purchased a coconut cream mango tree from you and while it did flower and show signs of starting to fruit, they soon fell off and I never got any fruit from the tree. This year, there are many more little buds on the tree and much earlier in the season. I want to do whatever possible to get as much fruit as I can and prevent these from all falling off again. Please advise what I should do.

A: Mango flowers can be tricky and there are several factors that may affect setting fruit and especially possible fruit drop. Here are a few ideas that may be helpful...

CONTINUE READING >>

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Poor Little Raja

In our last newsletter we told you about little Abu, a Baby-Purrrson that Kristi rescued from the woods where he had been surviving along with other feral cats: his little sister and his Mom who was badly injured in a car accident. We received messages from our customers asking if we were able to rescue the other two cats...
For the past few days Kristi, Jamie and Onika have been trying to capture them... The feral cats didn't want to come to humans, they were hiding away. The ladies were able to trap Abu with a tuna can... then tried and tried again with the other two with no luck... Even tried to call Animal control asking for help catching the animals so we could give them medical help. We were told that they don't trap cats! ("unless it's a cat-hating neighbor going against a crazy cat lady" - Crazy Cat Lady's comment). The girls continued their efforts again and again, with treats, traps and different capture plans... day after day.
Unfortunately, the sick mother-cat did not survive and we found her yesterday with her little baby crying over her cold body.
Kristi was able to grab the tiny kitten who was even smaller than her brother Abu. She named her Raja - a friend of Abu. Raja said that her poor mother's words were: "Go to that lady, my baby, she looks kind. It's my time to go now, and you will be in good hands..."
The little Raja was in very poor shape herself, with eyes full of tears. She was covered by fleas, and looked like passing out from anemia. Her paw was injured and infected, and her little nose... first we just thought she was pig-nosed! But her nose is also swollen. Kristi rushed her to the vet where Raja got treatments and meds. She got much better the same day and finally stopped crying. Raja finally recognized her brother Abu and cuddled with him.
Now Raja is on her way to recovery and will be sending her updates soon!

Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCats. Every dollar you spend on TopTropicals plants is split between plant growers and PeopleCats who help us become better people.

Check out the Video: Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals and more Cat of the Day stories.

Tu BiShvat - New Year for Trees

By Alex Butova

Tu BiShvat is the Israeli Arbor Day, and it is often referred to by that name in international media. Ecological organizations have adopted the holiday to further environmental-awareness programs. The modern practices and interpretations of Tu BiShvat often revolve around the earth and environment. This holiday is a celebration of nature and appreciation for creating the natural world. In Israel, Tu BiShvat is celebrated as an agricultural holiday. The 15th of Tu BiShvat was celebrated this year on February 10, 2020. This day marked the beginning of a new year for trees. This day marks the season in which the earliest-blooming trees emerge from their winter sleep and begin a new fruit-bearing cycle. Often the date of Tu BiShvat is used for determining the age of fruit baring trees and therefore establishes their birth dates. Therefore, Tu BiShvat is the "birthday" of trees!

The traditions and customs of Tu BiShvat vary, however, the most common include planting trees and gathering with family and friends for a meal. It is celebrated by eating fruit, particularly the kinds that praise the bounty of the Holy Land: grapes, figs, pomegranates, almonds, dates, olives and others. It reminds people that "a man is a tree of the field", and reflects on the lessons we can derive from the botanical analogue.

Check out fruit trees and nuts:

Persimmon tree

Loquat tree