⭐️ How to grow your own Carambola

Star Fruit - Carambola Tree (Averrhoa carambola). Growing this tree is a fun and rewarding way to enjoy this unique and delicious fruit right at home.

• 
  🌟 Star power: slice it, and you get perfect star-shaped pieces for impressing guests or adding some sparkle to your fruit salad. Bright yellow and shiny, the fruit adds a pop of color to any dish. Great in salads, smoothies, desserts, or even as a garnish. Endless possibilities!
• 
  🌟 Nature's candy and low-calorie treat: a delightful mix of sweet and tangy flavors packed with juicy goodness, a refreshing way to stay hydrated. Guilt-free snacking with hardly any calories. Snack away!
• 
  🌟 Health benefits: Star fruit is loaded with Vitamin C. Good source of dietary fiber, keeps things moving smoothly. Packed with antioxidants to help fight off those pesky free radicals.
• 
  🌟 Cultivation of the tree is easy:

• ▪️ Loves full sun. Plant it in a sunny spot for the best fruit.
• ▪️Keep warm and protect from winds. Thrives in warm, tropical climates, but can take some light frost winters as long as protected from winds, wind-free is the key!
• ▪️Prefers well-drained soil. Keep it happy with good drainage.
• ▪️Regular watering but doesn't like soggy feet.
• ▪️Space saver: compact tree that doesn't take up much space. Perfect for smaller gardens. Dwarf varieties available, good for containers.
• ▪️Fast grower: grows quickly. You'll be harvesting star fruit in no time!
• ▪️Pretty blooms: produces lovely pink flowers. Adds beauty to your garden even before the fruit comes.
• ▪️Home harvest: enjoy fresh, home-grown star fruit. Pick them right off the tree!
• ▪️Fast-fruiting: seedlings start fruiting within 3 years from seed. Grafted or air-layered trees fruit right away.

📚 Learn more: Carambola tree is the Star of the orchard

🛒 Shop Start Fruit varieties

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⭐️ How to grow your own Carambola

Star Fruit - Carambola Tree (Averrhoa carambola). Growing this tree is a fun and rewarding way to enjoy this unique and delicious fruit right at home.

• 🌟 Star power: slice it, and you get perfect star-shaped pieces for impressing guests or adding some sparkle to your fruit salad. Bright yellow and shiny, the fruit adds a pop of color to any dish. Great in salads, smoothies, desserts, or even as a garnish. Endless possibilities!
• 🌟 Nature's candy and low-calorie treat: a delightful mix of sweet and tangy flavors packed with juicy goodness, a refreshing way to stay hydrated. Guilt-free snacking with hardly any calories. Snack away!
• 🌟 Health benefits: Star fruit is loaded with Vitamin C. Good source of dietary fiber, keeps things moving smoothly. Packed with antioxidants to help fight off those pesky free radicals.
• 🌟 Cultivation of the tree is easy:

• ▪️ Loves full sun. Plant it in a sunny spot for the best fruit.
• ▪️Keep warm and protect from winds. Thrives in warm, tropical climates, but can take some light frost winters as long as protected from winds, wind-free is the key!
• ▪️Prefers well-drained soil. Keep it happy with good drainage.
• ▪️Regular watering but doesn't like soggy feet.
• ▪️Space saver: compact tree that doesn't take up much space. Perfect for smaller gardens. Dwarf varieties available, good for containers.
• ▪️Fast grower: grows quickly. You'll be harvesting star fruit in no time!
• ▪️Pretty blooms: produces lovely pink flowers. Adds beauty to your garden even before the fruit comes.
• ▪️Home harvest: enjoy fresh, home-grown star fruit. Pick them right off the tree!

📚 Learn more: Carambola tree is the Star of the orchard

🛒 Shop Start Fruit varieties

#Food_Forest

🏵 TopTropicals

🦇 Would you like a Bat Head?

The Bat Head Lily we mentioned earlier - is blooming again!

🙈 Bat Head Lily, Bat Flower, Devil Flower or Tacca Lily - is one of the most exotic and bizarre flowers along with Amorphophallus, Sausage Tree and Clitoria.

🛒 Shop Bat Head Lily Tacca

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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💌 "You've got mail" - Timo says.

🕯 Good night...

Share your cats in comments!
📸 🐈🐈🐈👇

🐾 More #PeopleCats in our Garden:
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🏆 The best tropical fruit tree for container growing, and the fastest to fruit: Annona.

🍏 Annonas (Annona sp) are very much loved tropical fruit. The fruit has smooth, creamy flesh, just like a natural custard - hence one of the common names - "Custard Apple". Growing an Annona tree is a rewarding experience, its a small compact tree that will let you enjoy its creamy and exotic fruit right away.

The best tropical tree suited for container growing, due to its small height. It can be maintained within 6-8 ft tall.

The fastest fruiting tree: 2-3-4 years from seed to fruit, depending on species.

Most species are deciduous: drop leaves during winter-spring.

Thrives in frost-free climate. Some species are cold hardier than others. Container culture is a good way to cold protect these beautiful small trees.

❤️ 6 top most popular Annonas:

• ▪️ Rollinia (Rollinia deliciosa) - the biggest Annona fruit and the most showy
• ▪️ Sugar Apple (Annona squamosa) - the most popular
• ▪️ Guanabana (Annona muricata) - the most cold sensitive but the fruit is so tasty!
• ▪️ Pineapple Annona Golden (Annona costaricana) - cold hardy and easy to grow
• ▪️ Custard Apple (Annona reticulata) - with red flesh
• ▪️ Mountain Soursop or Hedgehog (Annona montana) - mentioned earlier, cold hardy

📚 Learn more:
Horoscope for Guanabana tree
Hedgehog Mountain Soursop - Annona montana
How to grow and hand-pollinate Guanabana Tree indoors (PDF)

🛒 Shop Annona varieties

#Food_Forest

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⚡️ Gardeners finally found a perfect everblooming hedge for shade!

• 
  💜 Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta - is a perfect flowering bush or hedge for the shady garden.
• 
  💜 Ever-blooming: Perfect for a continuously blooming hedge.
• 
  💜 Dense shrub: Bushy, fast-growing, and ideal for mixed beds or medium-to-low hedges.
• 
  💜 Beautiful flowers: flowers resemble morning glories, with common varieties having rich purple petals and yellow throats.
• 
  💜 Attractive foliage: Small, dark green leaves.
• 
  💜 Climber relatives: Unlike many Thunbergia species, this one is a sprawling shrub.
• 
  💜 Pruning responsive: Can be shaped into a dense hedge, pruning promotes flowering.
• 
  💜 Sun or shade: Prefers bright light and well-drained soil, but will also bloom in partial shade.
• 
  💜 Colors: comes in dark blue, white, and the unique, vigorous variegated variety - 'Lavender Ice'.

🛒 Shop King's Mantle

#Hedges_with_benefits

🏵 TopTropicals

⚡️ Gardeners finally found a perfect everblooming hedge for shade!

• 💜 Kings Mantle - Thunbergia erecta - is a perfect flowering bush or hedge for the shady garden.
• 💜 Ever-blooming: Perfect for a continuously blooming hedge.
• 💜 Dense shrub: Bushy, fast-growing, and ideal for mixed beds or medium-to-low hedges.
• 💜 Beautiful flowers: flowers resemble morning glories, with common varieties having rich purple petals and yellow throats.
• 💜 Attractive foliage: Small, dark green leaves.
• 💜 Climber relatives: Unlike many Thunbergia species, this one is a sprawling shrub.
• 💜 Pruning responsive: Can be shaped into a dense hedge, pruning promotes flowering.
• 💜 Sun or shade: Prefers bright light and well-drained soil, but will also bloom in partial shade.
• 💜 Colors: comes in dark blue, white, and the unique, vigorous variegated variety - 'Lavender Ice'.

🛒 Shop King's Mantle

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

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😍 Just hanging out in Tropical Paradise...

How is your Garden doing? Get some tropicals from TopTropicals! 🥭🌺

🕯 Good night...

📸 🐈🐈🐈👇 Share your cats in comments!

🐾 More #PeopleCats in our Garden:
PeopleCats.Garden 

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🍊 What is the best fruit in the world? How to grow your own Lychee tree.

Lychee (Litchi chinensis) is often called the best fruit in the world. You've eaten these no doubt in Chinese restaurants: fresh or sun-dried (Litchi Nuts) or canned in syrup. Growing a lychee tree is a rewarding way to enjoy this sweet and exotic fruit right at home!

• 📍 The fruit has been grown in China for over 2,000 years and was once considered a luxury food for the wealthy. Lychee trees can produce fruit for more than 100 years.
• 📍 Lychee fruit is a burst of sweet, juicy and fragrant goodness with every bite. Unique blend of sweet and floral notes, a taste of the tropics! It is delicious on its own or in desserts, drinks, and salads.
• 📍 Packed with vitamin C, has high water content - keeps you refreshed and hydrated. It is a guilt-free snacking with minimal calories. Loaded with antioxidants.
• 📍 The tree loves full sun and prefers well-drained, slightly acidic soil. It needs regular watering, especially during dry periods. keep the soil moist but not waterlogged.
• 📍Space needed: it can grow quite tall and wide, give the tree plenty of space to spread out. Relatively resistant to pests!
• 📍Slow Grower: although air-layered trees start fruiting right in a pot, it takes years for the tree to grow big (approx. 10 years for 20 ft tree).

❓ What other BEST fruit in the world do you know? Mango, Sugar Apple, Mangosteen... What's your favorite? Share in comments.

🛒 Shop Lychee varieties

#Food_Forest

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🌈 Need more ideas for compact and showy flowering trees? Try Rainbow Cassias.

• ♦️ Some hybrid cassias have spectacular color combinations and are called Rainbow Cassias.
• ♦️ We mentioned earlier some sunny, yellow-flowering cassias: Senna surattensis (Cassia glauca) - Scrambled Egg Bush, and Cassia siamea - Kassod Tree.
• ♦️ Other cassias can be pink or with multi-color flower combination, so-called Rainbow cassias (which are hybrids between yellow and pink cassias):

Cassia grandis - Red Cassia
Cassia javanica - Apple Blossom Tree
Cassia marginata - Rainbow Shower Tree
Cassia roxburghii - Ceylon Senna
Cassia x nodosa - Pink Shower, Appleblossom.
• ♦️ Cassia trees are compact, fast growing, tolerant to drought and poor soils, free-flowering and relatively cold hardy. Always a great choice!

❓ What cassias do you have in your garden? Share photos in comments👇

🎥 Rainbow cassia - Cassia Marginata.

🛒 Shop showy Cassia trees

#Butterfly_Plants #Trees

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