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Index > Garden Blog

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Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the day: Ditta - the Botanical Cat

Ditta lives in Botanical Garden of Riga, Latvia. Our columnist Alex Butova has been writing about that garden a lot and posted numerous plant photos in our Catalog; now it is time to introduce its PeopleCats!
Ditta is the Boss of Riga Botanical Garden. She owns the security room and watches her premises. Ditta is in charge of all events and exhibits of the Garden, and her favorite spot is the Rose Garden.

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Philodendron Burle Marx

by Onika Amell, tropical plant expert

Are you looking for an exceptional ground cover that is incredibly easy to grow? Burle Marx is a low growing variety of Philodendron. This plant works exceptionally well in mass plantings as they develop runners which creates that beautiful tropical feel and look so many gardeners desire. You can also create wonderful borders with this Philodendron. Plant them in your favorite container and watch them cascade beautifully over time. Give them a tree and they will climb. This plant is almost prehistoric looking with jungle-green, shiny, leathery, elongated heart shaped leaves on reddish stems...

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PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the day: Midnight - Prince from Bombay

No animals were harmed during the photo-session.

...Prince Midnight was adopted at 6 weeks from a large family of Bombay cats from a nearby neighbor. At the time we didn't realized they were Bombays, just that the entire group were pure black with gold eyes. It was later that we realized he had all the traits of a Bombay including not a speck of white, the gold eyes and the facial characteristics, and even an obscure trait known to them: a tendency toward stuffy nose, which has always come and gone, sounding like a mild snore, even when awake. He is going on 17...

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Plant of the Month: Tecomaria capensis Apricot

Stevie's Pick: what's in bloom?

Today we are starting a new column about the most spectacular specials that are in bloom or in fruit today. Our exotic plant grower Steven Gowdy will spotlight the most interesting plants he discovers and recommends today while working in TopTropicals greenhouses.

Summer is in full bloom and everyone is wanting dirt under there nails after being quarantined for two months! Enjoy warm tropical breezes with Apricot flowers of this showy African Tecomaria in your garden.
Tecomas and Tecomarias make a wonderful splash of color in any garden, and apricot is no exception. Tecomaria Apricot has pretty unusual color of flowers, ranging from bright apricot color to light-salmon. Ever blooming in warmer climates, it can grow 3-4 feet high and a whopping 4-5 feet wide. In addition to its beautiful flowers, this plant has many medicinal benefits. An easy fast growing addition to any landscape, it is a great hummingbird and butterfly attractor. It is pretty cold hardy and can tolerate light frost which is a great benefit for gardeners living in subtropical climates with cooler winters.

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PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the day: Jim, Happy 16th Birthday!

A few days ago Jim celebrated his 16th birthday. He is our oldest Purrrson.
We are extending this opportunity to wish him to stay Happy, in Good Health and Full Body - the way he always has been! And you know what is his secret of healthy and wealthy life?

Eat well and don't sweat the small stuff!

Photo above: Jim in 2004 - eating well

2 photos above: Jim today - shaved and gray-haired, but still eating well!

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Make your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us! Every little bit helps. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!

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How to prevent mango fruit drop

Q: My mature mango tree is fully grown 15 yrs old and each year it fully blooms, sometimes twice. Shortly thereafter, all the baby mangos and flowers fall off providing no mangos for the season. I have tried fertilizing, spraying the tree for fungus or other insects, to no avail. I give up, any suggestions?

A: Dropping fruit in pretty common issue with mango trees. There may be several reasons, or a combination of reasons.

  1. Fungal disease (anthracnose), and/or powdery mildew. To avoid fungal disease problems, spray your tree when it just begins to form the flower spikes. Treat foliage with Copper fungicide. There is also another one, very effective for anthracnose: Thiophanate methyl.
  2. Inadequate nutrition. Feed your tree with a combination of granulated fertilizer Mango-Food, liquid booster SUNSHINE Mango Tango and micro-elements Sunshine Honey and Sunshine Superfood

Check out pictures of our mango tree problems that were fixed within a month by using Sunshine Boosters.
3. Too much rain or heavy dew during blooming and fruit set (see 1 - use preventive treatment for fungus)
4. Cold. Sometimes the cause of premature fruit drop is from the cold weather during bloom and fruit set. Usually the most affected varieties are the early bloomers including Glenn, Haden. The cold damages the developing embryo in the seed. The fruit starts to develop but because of ethylene gas given off by the damaged embryo, the fruit is triggered to drop before maturity. To see if cold temperature was the cause for your fruit dropping, cut open the fallen fruit. Even if there is a small speck of brown in the seed, that’s enough damage to stop fruit development.
To learn more how to care for your mango, please read this publication.

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People of TopTropicals. Pets of the day: Luna, Queen of Night and Lil Frank the Possum

We had a friend over for dinner, lovely Mrs Mom Luna the Raccoon. She had a bunch of her baby raccoons! This is the second Raccoon of TopTropicals (see our previous visitor - Raccoon Charity).
Then we discovered a little opossum that had a night time swim... We helped him out in the morning using a pool net. Little Frank, apparently, is our Possum Pete's grandson.
All PeoplePets were fed with cat food and received a big portion of Love!

Luna is learning how to eat out of hand... and Lil Frank just got out of the pool.

Possum Pete - grandpa of Lil Frank, guarding the cat food at night

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Make your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us! Every little bit helps. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!

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Perfumed Milky Way Tree

Stemmadenia litoralis

by Onika Amell, tropical plant expert

What is a garden without fragrance? Unknown to so many gardeners because of its rarity, the Milky Way tree or Stemmadenia litoralis is one of those trees that are simply unforgettable. This is without a doubt one of the most fragrant flowering trees you can plant in the tropics or warm greenhouse conditions...
When this tree is in full bloom, masses of large, white, tornado-shaped flowers cover the branches. The fragrance is something to behold… soft, vanilla sweet and musky. Leaves are dark green and sparkly and a striking contrast against the large, white flowers. Even the seed pods are pretty, double-horned and orange-gold, born in pairs and hanging from the tree. This tree is so ornamental!..

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PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cats of the day: the most unusual and weird.

Biggy and Marco won/shared today's contest of Cat of the Day for being the most DIFFERENT. For eating corn and for sleeping in a tree like a bird!

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Thank you for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community!
Make your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us! Every little bit helps. Thank you and God bless you and your pets!

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How to prevent Jasmine flower drop

Q: My jasmine buds turn purple to brown and drop before it blooms. What should I do to get the jasmines to bloom fully. Appreciate your help & suggestions.

A: At this time of the year in Florida, jasmines may drop flowers because of the sudden hot weather. The plants didn't have a chance yet to change their metabolism to summer type. The high temperatures promoted early bloom, but the plant is not strong enough to support the flowers. It needs extra food. To improve flower quality and reduce bud drop, we recommend these supplements:
SUNSHINE Pikake - Fragrant Plant Booster
Sunshine Honey
and Sunshine Superfood