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Index > Garden Blog

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Thumbs up the most fragrant ginger ever!

Thumbs up the most fragrant ginger ever! Thumbs up the most fragrant ginger ever! Thumbs up the most fragrant ginger ever!
👍 Thumbs up the most fragrant ginger ever!

  • 🦢 White Butterfly Ginger (Hedychium coronarium) is a must for every Southern garden.

  • 🦢 Famous for its intense, sweet scent.

  • 🦢 Symbol of Hawaiian Paradise along with Plumeria and Jasmine we mentioned earlier.

  • 🦢 Lei and hair decoration: popular in Hawaii and the Pacific Islands for leis and hair adornments.

  • 🦢 Butterfly-like flowers: bears fragrant, butterfly-resembling flowers in summer.

  • 🦢 Great cut flower: long lasting cut flowers, ideal for scenting the home.

  • 🦢 Can survive light freezes, with tops regrowing in the spring. Takes sun or shade.


🛒 Shop Butterfly Ginger

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Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties

Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties
🍊 Top 3 most wanted Papaya varieties

Papaya fruit is one of the superfoods as we mentioned earlier. Below are the top 3 most interesting varieties: a full size tree, a semi-dwarf and a dwarf.
  1. Maradol. Vigorous full size plant with high yield. Commercially grown throughout Central Mexico, these papayas are 3 to 5 pounds in weight and the shape of an elongated melon. Soft and juicy, they have salmon pink or red flesh that is very sweet with a slightly perfumed, fruity flavor. Cut them in half lengthwise. Delicious and irresistible with a sprinkle of fresh lemon or lime juice.
  2. Solo Sunset, Semi-Dwarf from Hawaii. Commercially grown primarily on Kauai, it has dark pink to reddish-orange flesh. The fruit is medium to small size, shape is somewhat round. This is the sweetest Papya variety we ever tasted!
  3. Solo Waimanalo, Dwarf - oval, large size yellow fruit with dark yellow flesh. Low bearing tree makes harvesting easy. Grows wonderfully in Central Florida in both a container or in the ground. Will go from seed to fruit in just one year. Waimanalo has yellow-orange flesh.


  4. Do you eat Papaya fresh or you also cook with it? Share in comments👇

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What is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world?

👀 What is the largest tree-borne fruit in the world?

🍈 Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) reaches 80 pounds in weight and up to 36 inches long! It is one of the most fascinating fruit in the world.

  • ✳️ The fruit consists of large edible bulbs of yellow, sweet, banana-flavored aromatic flesh. 

  • ✳️ The fruit is so large and heavy that the tree has a smart feature to produce only at the base of the trunk.  So the tree can be (and should be) pruned annually to 7-12' producing as much as 200 lbs. of fruit per year!

  • ✳️ Seedlings start fruiting within 3-4 years.  Fruit ripen pretty quickly, 4-6 months from flower to maturity. 


📚 Learn more about Jackfruit

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Breaking news: flower smells of freshly baked bread! It smells so good, you want to eat it!

🍞 Breaking news: flower smells of freshly baked bread! It smells so good, you want to eat it!

  • 🍔 Vallaris glabra - Bread Flower - is one of the most impressive tropical vines that is very popular in Thailand and other South-East Asia countries.

  • 🍔 Moderate growth woody climber with clusters of freshly-baked-bread fragrant white flowers.

  • 🍔 Easy to care and tolerates wide range of conditions. It can be trained as a compact bush and is good for container culture.

  • 🍔 Attracts butterflies and hummingbirds.

  • 🍔 Relatively cold hardy, mild frost doesn't do any damage to it, even large tropical leaves stay glossy, green and healthy.

  • 🍔 It is very vigorous grower that can create nice privacy hedge or cover a large fence.


Have you smelled the Bread Flower? Did you like the fragrance? Share in comments👇

🛒 Shop tropical vines

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Why these cats have no tails?

Why these cats have no tails? Why these cats have no tails?
Why these cats have no tails?

  • 🐾 Manx - the Tailless Cats:

  • Manx cats are a charming breed known for their lack of tails. Originating from the Isle of Man, they have a rich history and delightful personalities.


👉 Learn why they are tailless from this touching story: Timo and Matilda - Manx cats.

#Good night 🕯

Share your cats in comments!
📸 🐈🐈🐈👇

🐾 More #PeopleCats in our Garden:
PeopleCats.Garden 

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Everyone wants this showy Butterfly Attractor! Dwarf

 Everyone wants this showy Butterfly Attractor! Dwarf  Everyone wants this showy Butterfly Attractor! Dwarf
🔥 Everyone wants this showy Butterfly Attractor! Dwarf Poinciana.

  • 🟥 Caesalpinia pulcherrima - Dwarf Poinciana, that we mentioned earlier, is probably number 1 flowering plant that everybody wants in their garden.

  • 🟥 Pride of Barbados, Dwarf Poinciana, Peacock flower, Flower Fence - common names speak for themselves.

  • 🟥 National flower of Barbados.

  • 🟥 Comes in different colors - red, yellow, pink, orange...

  • 🟥 Eye-stopper! Showy flowers almost year round.

  • 🟥 Butterfly magnet 🦋 🧲


🛒 Shop Dwarf Poinciana

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10 steps: how to grow a mango tree?

🥭 10 steps: how to grow a mango tree?

Follow these steps and you'll be on your way to growing a healthy mango tree and enjoying delicious fruit:
  1. ❗️ Choose the right variety that suits your needs and yard. See earlier posts:
  2. most Favorite Mango Varieties
  3. Dwarf "Condo" Mango
  4. large and vigorous Mango varieties
  5. 🌳 Buy a grafted tree from a reputable nursery to ensure better fruit quality and faster fruiting.
  6. 🏡 Planting site: choose a sunny location with well-draining soil. Ensure there is enough space for the tree to grow, as some varieties can become quite large.
  7. ⛏ Planting: dig a hole twice as wide and just as deep as the root ball. Mix in organic compost to enrich the soil. Place the tree in the hole, making sure the growth point is 1-2" above the soil line. Fill the hole with soil, pressing gently to remove air pockets. Water the tree thoroughly.
  8. 💦 Watering: Water the tree regularly, especially during the first few weeks. Allow the soil to dry slightly between waterings to prevent root rot.
  9. 🪵 Mulch: apply mulch around the base of the tree to retain moisture and suppress weeds. Keep the mulch a few inches away from the trunk to prevent rot.
  10. 🧪 Fertilize: use a balanced fertilizer formulated for fruit trees. We recommend Sunshine Boosters Mango Tango formulated specially for mango trees.
  11. ✂️ Prune to shape the tree to encourage good airflow and sunlight penetration, and to improve the yield.

  12. 🎥 Shaping your Mango Tree.

    9. 🕷 Pest and disease control: monitor for scale and mealybugs and treat them with systemic pesticides. Keep an eye out for fungal diseases and treat them promptly with copper spray.

    10. 🥭 Harvesting: Mangoes are ready to harvest when they change color and soften slightly.

    🛒 Shop Mango Trees

    #Food_Forest #How_to

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Medusas Head Flower - from Greek mythology

Medusas Head Flower - from Greek mythology Medusas Head Flower - from Greek mythology
🦑 Medusa's Head Flower - from Greek mythology...

  • 🐙 Strophanthus preussii - Poison Arrow Vine, Medusa Flower - has an intriguing flower!

  • 🐙 The faintly fragrant flowers have long, slender, and curly petals that resemble the snakes on Medusa's head from Greek mythology, giving it the nickname "Medusa Flower." The petals often extend and twist dramatically, creating an eye-catching appearance. The tips of the petals become narrowed and elongated, forming a twisting, sticky string that dangles down from the flower and touches lower leaves.

  • 🐙 The flowers are brightly colored, often in shades of white, yellow, and red, which can attract pollinators and add to their striking visual appeal.

  • 🐙 As suggested by another common name "Poison Arrow Vine," parts of the plant contain toxic compounds. Historically, the seeds were used by some African tribes to poison the tips of arrows for hunting. This gives the plant a certain mystique...

  • 🐙 Interesting pollination mechanism: the elaborate design of the flowers is not just for show; it plays a role in the plant's pollination strategy. The intricate structure can help ensure that pollinators come into contact with the reproductive parts of the flower, thereby facilitating cross-pollination.

  • 🐙 Blooms almost year around


What bizarre plants do you have in your collection? Share in comments👇

🛒 Order Medusa Flower

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A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime

A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime
🌳 "A cat is more intelligent than people believe, and can be taught any crime." - Mark Twain

And Loki says: "Climbing a tree is the easy part; it's the descent that requires finesse."

Good night 🕯

Share your cats in comments!
📸 🐈🐈🐈👇

🐾 More #PeopleCats in our Garden:
PeopleCats.Garden  #Quotes

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Hamburger Bean:

 Hamburger Bean:  Hamburger Bean:
🍔 Hamburger Bean: how to cover a fence fast with an exotic vine: Jade Vine here.
  • 🟡 Mucuna sloanei - Yellow Jade Vine or Hamburger Bean. You saw the Sea-Green Jade vine in our earlier post. This one is lemon yellow.

  • 🟡 It is much more hardier than the Sea-Green variety and is super fast growing!

  • 🟡 This is a high-climbing woody vine native to rain forests of South America.

  • 🟡 It has long, rope-like stalks hanging below the forest canopy where night-flying bats can easily access the fragrant blossoms.

  • 🟡 The name Brown Hamburger Bean is because of the beautiful seeds (looking like little hamburgers) that are often collected and polished by natives and made into lovely necklaces and bracelets.


🛒 Shop Jade Vines

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