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Index > Garden Blog

Date:

Avocado Q & A

Sensation: Avocado 2.5 y.o seedling just bloomed!

Ed's Avocado seedling blooming at age 2.5 years old... Go figure!

Q: Can I plant a seed from a store bought avocado and expect it to bear fruit?

A: Avocados grown from seed do not always come true, meaning being the same as the avocado that produced the seed being planted. Also, avocados grown from seed will take upwards of 8 years to flower and bear fruit unless grown by Ed Jones and his witchcraft. Ed Jones, the Avocado Guy... Yes, he is also the Mango Guy, and the Booster Guy... We don't know how he does it. He grows the most beautiful fruit trees, many of them from seed and they all seem to flower within two years! (See his blogs about his Star Fruit, Olive trees, and video about Shaping Mango Trees). All we know for sure, he uses Sunshine Boosters for all his plant experiments.
As far as Avocado , we recommend a grafted variety, where a scion, or branch tip, of a known cultivar is grafted to good rootstock. These trees will usually flower right away and bear good amount of fruit within a couple of years of being planted in the ground.
It's a good chance now to get a good grafted Avocado on our special Happy Value Sale while supply lasts, for only $59.95.

Happy Value Avocados

Limited 2 trees per customer. Limited time offer, while supply lasts.

Photo above: TopTropicals Avocados 2022

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Happy Value Avocados

Avocado Lula

Variety Lula is renowned for its ability to endure harsh winters, and for its exceptionally long harvesting period. More frost resistant than most, successful in Central and South Florida where it is a formerly the leading commercial cultivar. An exceptional choice for homeowners around Orlando and Central Florida. The fruit is pear-shaped, sometimes with a neck, medium-large, the skin almost smooth. Flesh is pale to greenish-yellow. The Oil content 12-16%. Seed is large, tight. Production season is medium-late (November-December). The tree grows tall, bears early and heavily. This variety was originated from seed from a parent tree planted in 1915 by Mrs. Lula Cellon at Miami, Florida.

Avocado Marcus Pumpkin

Very rare and hard to find variety! Marcus Pumpkin Avocado - Green, Large, and Round. It is so unique in its shape: it has a pumpkin shaped fruit 30-40 oz, fruiting time October through November. Very good creamy flavor. It is hard to eat the whole one at once because of its size!

Limited 2 trees per customer. Limited time offer, while supply lasts.

Photo above: TopTropicals Avocados 2022

Date:

Easy Sunday Morning Deals: It's all about figs

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy.
Easy like Sunday Morning...


Photo above: Duck Dobi can't believe this deal!


It's time for our favorite day and another Easy stroll through Top Tropicals Garden with savings of 50% and MORE!

We are not figging!

Get our two most popular fig trees for only $19 each or $34 for both!

This week it's all about figs. Delicious fruit; make a great indoor or patio plant; cold hardy, and grow with little attention. The fig was one of the first plants ever to be cultivated by humans!

Top health benefits of figs

(from webmd.com):
Reduce high blood pressure;
Improve digestion;
Increase bone density;
Satisfy your sweet cravings...

Add them to your garden and you can taste the fruit of your labor!
Learn more about Fig trees >>

For this Easy Sunday we have priced these large plants in 3 gal pots at incredible savings:

Fig Brown Turkey, regularly $39, is on Easy Sunday sale for only $19
Fig Black Mission, regularly $39, is on Easy Sunday Sale for only $19.

Combine the two for your own delicious pair of Figs and save even more:

only $34 for both!

Picture of the actual plants
in 3 gal pots

- Ready to fruit this year! -

Remember, the Easy Sunday Deal expires on Monday January 10th.

Date:

Five Favorite Winter Bloomers

#5. Parrots Beak

Gmelina philippensis - Parrots Beak. An extraordinary fountain-like shrub with pendant branches, large long leaves and exotic flowers comprised of yellow blossoms which emerge at the end of a tube-like structure of overlapping bracts. The flower resembles parrot's beak!

#4. Royal Queens Wreath

Petrea - Royal Queens Wreath, Tropical Wisteria. Spectacular tall clusters of purple flowers similar to those of Wisteria come in racemes reaching over 1 foot long!

#3. Chinese Hat

Holmskioldia sanguinea - Bronze Chinese hat. Rare variety with orange-bronze flowers. Unique flowers are the main interest: each is a narrow tube backed by a broad, circular calyx, just like an oriental hat!

#2. Jacaranda

Jacaranda - all-time favorite winter flowering tree. Hypnotizing bluish-purple, trumpet-like flowers create the magical image of the tree...

#1. Royal Poinciana

Delonix regia - Royal Poinciana, Flamboyant. one of the most popular tropical trees covered with bright red orchid-like flowers from late winter through early summer. A must for any tropical garden, this tree however requires space since it spreads its branches 30-40 ft wide or more.

Date:

New Video:
What is a Loquat?

Loquat is one of the easiest tropical/subtropical fruit trees to grow, with delicious fruit resembling Apricots (in fact, from the same family!). This video presented by our video host David Mortimer.

More information on Loquat trees:

Golden Loquat - the symbol of Prosperity
Kristi's Loquat Tropical BBQ sauce
Overlooked fruit: tasty Loquat recipes (PDF from Tropical Treasures Magazine)

WATCH NEW VIDEO >>

Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and blooming!

Loquats 30% OFF - this week only!

Many varieties of the Loquat are available from our store The trees we have for sale are in full bloom now, ready to set fruit. You will get the fruit as early as in 3 months! The trees are in 5 gal pots, 5 ft tall, grafted, bushy and full. Loquats are cold hardy - good time to plant them now!

Great chance to collect them all!
Discount expires: 12-5-2021.

Available varieties:


Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Barbie, grafted6080 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Barbie, graftedGrown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Barbie, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Big Jim, grafted
6424 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Big Jim, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Big Jim, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Bradenton, grafted
5219 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Bradenton, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Bradenton, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Champagne, grafted
4549 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Champagne, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Champagne, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Christmas, grafted
5217 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Christmas, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Christmas, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Eds Delight, grafted
4707 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Eds Delight, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Eds Delight, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Gold Nugget grafted
4305 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Gold Nugget grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Gold Nugget grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Italy, grafted
4150 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Italy, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Italy, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Oliver, grafted
5160 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Oliver, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Oliver, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Premier, grafted
4708 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Premier, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Premier, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Sherry Woods, grafted
4800 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Sherry Woods, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Sherry Woods, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Turkey, grafted
4336 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Turkey, grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Turkey, grafted from Top Tropicals

Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Yehuda grafted
4249 Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Yehuda grafted
Grown in 12-14"/5-7 gal pot, large plant
$69.00  
Sale: $48.30

Buy Eriobotrya japonica - Loquat Yehuda grafted from Top Tropicals

Date:

Carambola - the Star of the orchard

from seed to flower... in less than 2 years?

by Ed Jones, the Booster guy

...My story starts on Dec. 2, 2019 when a co-worker brought a bag of carambola. Well, being a crazy plant person, and being still fairly new to Florida, you know I had to save a seed and plant it, right? Why not, it just might grow. If it does, I may get my own star fruit someday. But when? Google tells me that it takes 3 - 8 years to get fruit from a carambola that is planted from seed. OK, I am good with 3 years....8, not so much, but I was willing to give it a shot... Not really knowing what to expect, I planted just one salvaged seed in some potting soil in a coffee cup and placed in on a shelf on our lanai...
...Here is a picture of that plant FLOWERING and ready to fruit, taken at the end of October 2021... Now, read the whole story...

CONTINUE READING >>

Grafted Carambola Trees available from our store are ready to flower and fruit right away. Some of them start fruiting right in a pot!

Date:

How to grow a nice Olive tree fast?

by Ed Jones, the Booster guy

Q: I got an Olive tree from you a few months ago, planted in the ground and it is doing well, but I don't see any active growth. The tree looks healthy but still about the same size when I planted it in June. I'm old and I want to see the olives sooner than later. Any suggestions, should I give it some fertilizer?

A: Olive trees are relatively slow growers, however, with balanced nutrition they can grow much faster, as fast as a few feet per year. Check out this Article by Ed Jones where he describes how he grew nice, bushy Olive trees just within one season with a help of Sunshine Boosters fertilizers. The article shows in details how to properly use liquid fertilizer on your fruit trees.

CONTINUE READING >>

Date:

Bottlebrush to Little John
or the story of a Dwarf Plant

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Bottlebrush... Bottle washing brushes... Nowadays, it is hard to imagine a more outdated concept! For reuse, all glass containers have been cleaned industrially for many years. Young people have never even heard of, especially used, such a thing. Nevertheless, Bottlebrush not only lives, but is often used by many people. In today's world, Bottlebrushes are not brushes at all, but... beautiful ornamental plants!..
...This plant was originally selected as a chance seedling in the 1980s by Ken Dunstan of Alstonville, New South Wales and was also called Callistemon Alstonville Dwarf, Tom Thumb and, at last, Little John. They said that the choice of this name was the song "Little John, Bottle John" by the American singer and songwritter Terry Grosvenor on lyrics by Laura E. Richard. Little John was the 1986 Shrub of the Year in Australia and was originally introduced as a plant that only grew to 3ft tall...

CONTINUE READING >>

Date:

New Video:
Shaping your Mango Trees

by Ed Jones, the Mango Guy (and the Boosters Guy)

Learn how to shape your mango trees using a technique known as tipping. Tipping your mangos will help to develop more branches and will give the tree more places to flower and produce fruit.

WATCH NEW VIDEO >>

See more by Ed Jones:
How to prune mango trees for best shape and production

...Why should you prune your mango trees? There are at least 3 reasons.

  1. A good foundation is the key to strong growth and a shapely tree.
  2. If you get your mango tree started off on the right foot with a strong foundation, it becomes much easier to keep it shaped nicely.
  3. It will be forced to produce more branches allowing for more places for fruit production.

    CONTINUE READING >>

    Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and blooming!

    WATCH NEW VIDEO >>

    See all available mango varieties from our store.

Date:

Season star:
The Purple Tango of Hypnotizing Jacaranda

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Hypnotizing bluish-purple, trumpet-like flowers create the magical image of the tree. Incredible, long-lasting purple blooms in spring give way to rich, yellow hues in the fall, making the Jacaranda Tree a season-to-season star that stands out. Fern-like foliage lends volume to its bold, dramatic silhouette for a landscape look unlike any other. When the trumpet-shaped blooms finally fall, they form a lilac carpet beneath the awe-inspiring Jacaranda for luxuriant curb appeal...

CONTINUE READING >>