Plants like to snack!
How to feed Poinciana tree

(and other tropical flowering trees)

Q: We purchased a Royal Poinciana tree from TopTropicals not too long ago and we gradually gave it more sun until finally we were able to plant it in direct sunlight where it's been for a week or so. Rain has been sporadic lately so I'm giving it a little bit of water every day. It seems to be doing fine. I do have a question about whether the leaves are as green as they should be? I read online that I should fertilize it with gardenia / ixoria fertilizer in March, June, and October. I looked on homedepot.com but didn't really find anything that goes by that name. Would fertilizer help? Can you suggest a fertilizer?

A: Your Poinciana tree looks pretty healthy and happy, congratulations with a great job!
Traditional (old-school) fertilizer recommendations usually suggest feeding a plant 2-3 times a year with a slow-release fertilizer. And although a plant will benefit from any fertilizer application (extra food is always good), however, for the best results, faster growth, sooner and more profuse blooming, your should use complete plant nutrition products - liquid fertilizers (see why liquid fertilizers are better than dry).
Here is an example. Some people eat a big heavy meal once a day which we all know, is not very healthy. Other people eat balanced food more frequently but in smaller portions - this is always the best way to go.
From this point, plants prefer SNACKING - frequent feeding, but with less concentrated, mild and balanced nutrients.
For your beautiful Poinciana tree (and other flowering plants), we suggest the following nutrition program:

1) SUNSHINE Megaflor - Bloom Nutrition Booster - you may use this fertilizer as frequent as with every watering, it won't burn the roots, and will provide a complete nutrition for all plant needs throughout the year. You can continue fertilizing with Megaflor even during winter time. Sunshine Megaflor will help you to keep the plant healthy, vigorous, and resistant to stress and diseases. It turns leaves green and makes the plant strong so it will start flowering sooner for you.

2) Tropical Allure - Smart-Release Booster. Apply it once a month during hot season only (in Florida - from March to November).

Plant of the Month: Golden Dewdrop - Duranta erecta

Stevie's Pick: what's in bloom?

Duranta - Golden Dewdrop - is simply stunning with cascading flowers in abundance. Either it has lavender, blue, or solid white flowers, it is a sight to behold. The popular name Golden Dewdrop is inspired by the clusters of bright orange-yellow berries that follow the flowers, in such quantities that they often cause the slender branches to droop gracefully.
Duranta erecta blooms off and on all year and can be pruned to size as a bush or a standard tree. If let go, it can grow up to 20 feet tall and wide.
Durantas are excellent butterfly and hummingbird attractors. They will complement your tropical garden or a stand alone in your Southern landscape. Great for providing a color contrast in the landscape, they are especially well-suited as a bright-colored background or screening.
White Golden Dewdrop has pure white flowers that appear in loose clusters, and both berries and blossoms are often seen on a plant. This evergreen fast growing shrub spreads and arches to 10 feet tall and wide and is great for live hedges and covering fences and corners.
Variegated variety, also called Variegated Sky Flower, is grown for its summer flowers, and very showy leaves that are dark green with bright white variegation and creamy-yellow margins around the one inch long serrated leaves.. In the summer, cascading clusters of blue tubular flowers appear followed by wonderfully contrasting orange-yellow berries.
In mild climates, Durantas can be in flower nearly year round with flowers and fruit appearing at the same time. It does best in full sun with frequent deep watering and is pretty hardy, to about 20-25F. It is a good choice for espaliers, as a small tree or large bush; all forms benefit from frequent selective pruning. Prune back in late-winter to encourage a more compact shape and strong flush of fresh spring foliage. Requires moderate watering in a well-drained soil.

The easiest to grow Gardenia

Gardenia (Kailarsenia) vietnamensis

by Onika Amell, tropical plant expert

One of the easiest and hardiest Gardenias in our collection is the Vietnamese Gardenia. This plant is much easier to grow than many other Gardenias. It can handle overly moist soils much better, is quite drought tolerant once established and has a high resistance to the typical Gardenia woes. It is hands down also the most cold hardy Gardenia in our collection!

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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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Plant of the Month: Tecomaria capensis Apricot

Stevie's Pick: what's in bloom?

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.

Perfumed Milky Way Tree

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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Quirky Brazilian Starfish Pepper

by Onika Amell, tropical plant expert

There is something very rewarding in growing your own peppers. Brazilian Starfish pepper - Capsicum baccatum is a little bomb of flavor! This is not a plant you will find just anywhere in the United States.
This is a very uniquely shaped pepper which makes it an excellent ornamental plant. But unlike many other peppers with pretty faces and lacking in flavor, the Brazilian Starfish pepper is delicious too. It is hailed for the complex floral and fruity undertones and a medium level of heat for most folks. These fruity and juicy, crunchy peppers are perfect for pickling or just eating raw in salads or salsas. They are irresistible in a glass pickling jar because of their unique shape. Bold and crisp, this pepper is much sought after by foodies and gardeners alike.

CONTINUE READING AND SEE THE RECIPE >>

Exotic Easter Lily Vine

If you happen to love Easter Lilies, let us introduce you to a very beautiful and hard-to-find vine... The magnificent Easter Lily Vine - Beaumontia grandiflora, is not sold at most nurseries and is not widely grown for this very reason. We certainly feel it should be, as this woody vine is a tremendous climber which rewards the gardener with large clusters of white flowers resembling Easter Lilies, during early spring to late fall. The flowers are sweetly scented and make excellent cut flowers, which last for at least a week! An added bonus is the twining ends, which makes a very unusual and interesting addition to floral arrangements...

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Here at the nursery, our Easter Lily vines are almost ready to burst into full bloom. We are waiting impatiently. Order yours, and have a Happy Easter!

Seeds of Easter Lily vine also available at BOGO deal - buy 2 packs for the price of 1 with FREE shipping!

Gardening has hooked another fan!

Over the last few weeks, we've been discussing using this time to engage in the activities that make you happy, to do more of what you love. Of course, for all of us at Top Tropicals, we have been singing the praises of gardening and tropical plants for years and sharing the love with any friends and neighbors who have expressed an interest in our activity of choice.
Do we have an affect on some people? Do we encourage them to try their hand at gardening and experience the wonder of plants? Yesterday, we just saw it with our own eyes. Our neighbor, to whom we once gave an Ylang Ylang tree, has consistently and politely resisted a suggestion to try gardening herself and put some new and interesting plants in an otherwise traditionally landscaped builders' home. Even her husband emphatically stated that he was never going to put plants in, let alone take existing plain boring stuff out!
What a pleasant surprise when we saw them both and their 2 young children digging in the garden together yesterday. They replaced a whole section of generic stock plants provided by the builder and filled the area in with loads of colorful flowers and even topped it off with a healthy dose of new mulch! We couldn't believe our eyes and was so happy to see the gardening "bug" made yet another friend!

We hope our Dream Cart Offer will help someone make their dreams come true, and this forced vacation time will be well spent on their home and garden!

Save 20% on ANY 20 Dream Plants in your cart!

You are safe in your garden!

Lucie's tropical garden in Montreal, Canada:
"The movement of plants fascinates me!"

Our customer Lucie Herard shared pictures of her tropical garden with us... Many of you have beautiful gardens that you are proud of... but this one is... in Canada! Believe it or not, before winter she digs everything up and brings it inside! Then in Spring, she starts again every year. Dedication? Determination? Heroism! Lucie won the Planet Bananiers photo contest for the third time.
Look at these pictures and visit Lucie's Facebook page for more photos and videos of her amazing garden. Ask yourself: and what can I do? Is my life really that hard with mowing a lawn once a week and blowing the leaves? You don't have to be a hero to make something worthwhile in your life. Just take a shovel and start... one plant a day. And you will end up living in Paradise.
Lucie reminds you: "Ornamental horticulture production activities are now considered an essential service! Add soil in a pot, water very slightly for the first two weeks and put closer to the window. That's all, the leaves will start growing again!"

Share with us photos of your garden. The winner of this contest will get plants $200 worth, with FREE shipping!

Submit your photos before April 15, 2020
and win $200 in tropical plants!