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Index > Garden Blog

Date:

Use your yard instead of being used by your yard!

Exotic tropical fruit and edibles - Food Forest

Exotic tropical fruit and edibles - Food Forest

🥭 Use your yard instead of being used by your yard!

Tired of mowing a boring lawn? Get some colors in your yard and grow edible landscape!

Select useful, functional plants:
🌺 Spectacular Eye Candies
🌳 Hedges with Benefits
🦋 Butterfly Attractors
🍒 Food Forest
👉#Food_Forest

Pick the right plants with TopTropicals free expert help.
At TopTropicals, we have 25 years experience growing rare tropical fruit trees and flowering plants.

Plants are the best therapists.
You can Grow Happiness - we can help.

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Date:

What rare showy plant can I wish for that will thrive indoors?

Philodendron x Paraiso Verde

🧞 What rare showy plant can I wish for that will thrive indoors?
  • 💚 Philodendron x Paraiso Verde is a unique and visually striking, large-leaf plant that perfect for growing indoors, virtually care-free!
  • 💚 Stunning leaves: long, variegated leaves with a mix of green, cream, and sometimes pinkish hues.
  • 💚 Rare and exotic: it is highly sought after by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its rarity and exotic appearance, and may be pretty expensive in trade.
  • 💚 Fast climber: capable of climbing up to 10 feet in a single season, with stems growing over an inch thick. Just provide a support and you will have a lush tropical paradise in no time.
  • 💚 Low maintenance: easy to care for, thriving in indirect light and requiring minimal watering. In captivity, indoors on a totem, Paraiso Verde is easy to grow and may only need to be trimmed once a year or so.
  • 💚 Air-purifying: helps purify the air by removing toxins, making it great for indoor environments - home or office.
  • 💚 Unique patterns: each leaf has a unique pattern, just like fingerprints! 💅

  • It is making every plant distinct and adding a touch of individuality to your plant collection.
  • 💚 Tropical aesthetic: brings a lush, tropical feel to any space, perfect for creating an indoor jungle vibe. Truly beautiful!


🛒 Get your own Philodendron x Paraiso Verde

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

How to create indoor jungle vibe

Philodendron x Paraiso Verde

Philodendron x Paraiso Verde

Q: What rare and unusual showy plant will thrive indoors?

A: Philodendron x Paraiso Verde is a unique and visually striking, large-leaf plant that perfect for growing indoors, virtually care-free!

Stunning leaves: long, variegated leaves with a mix of green, cream, and sometimes pinkish hues.

Rare and exotic: it is highly sought after by plant enthusiasts and collectors due to its rarity and exotic appearance, and may be pretty expensive in trade.

Fast climber: capable of climbing up to 10 feet in a single season, with stems growing over an inch thick. Just provide a support and you will have a lush tropical paradise in no time.

Low maintenance: easy to care for, thriving in indirect light and requiring minimal watering. In captivity, indoors on a totem, Paraiso Verde is easy to grow and may only need to be trimmed once a year or so.

Air-purifying: helps purify the air by removing toxins, making it great for indoor environments - home or office.

Unique patterns: each leaf has a unique pattern, just like fingerprints! It is making every plant distinct and adding a touch of individuality to your plant collection.

Tropical aesthetic: brings a lush, tropical feel to any space, perfect for creating an indoor jungle vibe. Truly beautiful!

Philodendron x Paraiso Verde

Date:

Five most useful edibles for your Food Forest

Tropical Food Forest collage

Tired of mowing a boring lawn? Use your yard instead of being used by your yard - grow edible landscape! Below are several plants that made our life happier and meals healthier. Besides, these are fun to grow! Try them out:

Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel

1. Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel - Flowers are used to make a tea "Agua de Flor de Jamaica". Medical studies show that it lowers blood pressure and has diuretic effects. The pleasant flavor is on the tart side similar to a cranberry juice. We make this cold tea every day - perfect for hot summer. Full sun.
Watch video >>

Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, Cholesterol spinach

2. Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, Cholesterol spinach - one of the Superfoods, and there are many claims that it lowers cholesterol. We use it in our cooking all the time and so far we are all alive! Full sun.
See recipe >>

Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon grass

3. Sauropus androgynus - Katuk, Tropical Asparagus. Delicious young shoots, one of the most popular leaf vegetables in Southeast Asia. In Vietnam, people cook it in stews and soups. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K. Full sun or semi-shade.
Learn more >>

Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon grass

4. Cymbopogon citratus - Lemon grass: Versatile performer in the kitchen where it can be used in teas, beverages, herbal medicines, Eastern inspired soups and other dishes. Full sun or semi-shade.

Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf

5. Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf: Mexican herb with incredibly sweet leaves that can be eaten from the plant like candy or tossed into fruit salads for an unusual addition. It has been used since the time of the Aztecs for coughs and colds. Tastes great, can be used by diabetic patients. We add this herb to Karkade or Mint tea as a sweetener. Shade or semi-shade.

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How to French Kiss the Red Button Ginger

Costus spicatus x woodsonii - Red Button Ginger, French Kiss

Costus spicatus x woodsonii - Red Button Ginger, French Kiss

Costus spicatus x woodsonii - Red Button Ginger, French Kiss

Costus spicatus x woodsonii - Red Button Ginger, French Kiss

⚡️ #Fun_Facts:How to French Kiss the Red Button Ginger

💋 Costus spicatus x woodsonii (Red Button Ginger, French Kiss): this ginger's inflorescence resembles a cluster of bright red buttons, making it a standout in tropical gardens.

🛒 Order French Kiss

#Hedges_with_benefits

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Date:

What vine to plant over a big fence

Chonemorpha fragrans - Frangipani vine

❗️ What vine to plant over a big fence.
  • 🔹 Chonemorpha fragrans, or Frangipani vine, that we mentioned before, is a large woody tropical liana with clusters of large, perfume-fragrant flowers and lush green foliage. It is close related to perfumed Plumeria - Frangipani.
  • 🔹 The fragrance is very fresh and pleasant, similar to Plumeria, fills the air around.
  • 🔹 Leaves reaching up to 12 (!) inches - very tropical, majestic look!
  • 🔹 Requires sturdy support - it can grow pretty big and heavy!
  • 🔹 Takes both sun or shade. Full sun and regular fertilizer is essential for profuse blooming.


🛒 Buy Frangipani Vine

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits

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Where does Blackberry Jam come from? It comes from Gardenia!

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, flower

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, fruit

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, fruit

🥢 Where does Blackberry Jam come from? It comes from Gardenia!

Randia formosa - Blackberry Jam Fruit, Jasmin de Rosa is a curious small evergreen tree from South America that combines features of a fragrant flower and delicious dessert fruit which tastes like fresh Blackberry jam. Fragrant white flowers are similar to Gardenia.

This relatively hardy tropical can be grown in a container as well as in the ground. It's very сompact (4-5 ft), perfect for container culture, will fruit in a container.

Kids love the fruit! Many claim that it is even better than Blackberry preserves.

Large tubular white flowers attract nocturnal moths. Since the plant is closely related to the gardenia (Rubiaceae plant family), its flowers are sweetly fragrant.

Produces as many as 25-30 fruits at a time. Since it blooms for a few months from Summer through Winter, fruiting and flowering can be enjoyed even when other plants are dormant.

Article about Blackberry Jam Fruit formosa

Order Blackberry Jam tree

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden

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Date:

How to grow Orchid Trees in pots

Orchid Trees in pots

🌸 How to grow Orchid Trees in pots

🦋 Everyone loves beautiful Orchid trees with butterfly-like leaves and colorful orchid-like flowers. They are widely used in Southern landscapes. But what if you don't have a room in your garden for another tree? Or what if it gets too cold in winter for a tropical Orchid tree? You can grow it in a pot!

📝 This is how to n enjoy the stunning flowers and foliage of Bauhinia right on your patio or balcony:
  • 💠 Choose the right variety. Some species suitable for containers:

  • B. galpinii, B. madagascariensis, B. monandra, B. alba (candida), B. acuminata, B. bidentata, B. blakeana, B. grandidieri and many others.
  • 💠 Choose the right pot: Select a large, sturdy pot with good drainage holes. Bauhinia trees have a vigorous root system
  • 💠 Use a well-draining potting mix. We recommend a professional soilless mix: Sunshine Abundance.
  • 💠 Sunny location: Position the pot in a location that receives full sun to partial shade. Bauhinia plants thrive in warm, sunny conditions.
  • 💠 Watering: Keep the soil slightly moist but not waterlogged. Water the plant when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch.
  • 💠 Fertilizing: For the most profuse flowering like in the video, feed the Bauhinia with liquid Sunshine Boosters Megaflor year around, it's safe with every watering.
  • 💠 Pruning: Prune the plant to maintain its shape and encourage bushier growth.
  • 💠 Winter Care: If you live in a region with cold winters, bring the pot indoors or to a sheltered location to protect the plant from frost.


📸 Bauhinia monandra - Napoleons Plume Orchid Tree, starts flowering when only 2 ft tall and grows well in containers.

📚 Earlier posts on Bauhinias: 1 2 3
Bauhinias: trees with Orchid Flowers and Butterfly Wings

🛒 Shop Orchid Trees

#Container_Garden #How_to

🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

Why is it called Passion flower and Passion fruit?

Passion flower - Passiflora

Passion flower - Passiflora

Passion fruit - Passiflora

Passion fruit - Passiflora

Passion fruit - Passiflora

Passion fruit - Passiflora

☸️ The truth about Passion flower and Passion fruit.
  • 🪷 Passion vines, passion flowers, and passion fruits - these are all Passiflora - fascinating plants with a rich history. These vines come from tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas.
  • 🪷 Medicinal: Various parts of the passion vine have been used in traditional medicine to treat ailments such as anxiety, insomnia, and hypertension.
  • 🪷 Host for Butterflies: Passion vines serve as host plants for several butterfly species.
  • 🪷 Passion of Christ: the passion flower's complex structure with five sepals, five petals often used to symbolize the Passion of Christ in Christian tradition. Spanish Christian missionaries in South America saw the flower's structure as a representation of Christ's crucifixion, which led to the name Passion Flower.
  • 🪷 Passion Fruit (Passiflora edulis) - Maracuya - is highly nutritious, rich in vitamins A and C, fiber, and antioxidants.
  • 🪷 Delicious pulp: the fruit is popular in many cuisines around the world, used in beverages, desserts.
  • 🪷 Two main types of passion fruit: the purple sweeter variety (Passiflora edulis) and the yellow variety larger and more acidic (Passiflora x flavicarpa).
  • 🪷 Fast growing vine in no time: known for their rapid growth, Passifloras need strong support as they can quickly cover large areas.


📚 Learn more: The Passion Fruit – Juicy Maracuya

🛒 Shop Passiflora plants

#Food_Forest #Hedges_with_benefits

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Date:

Like the sweet, deep colors of tropical flowers, the fruits of the earth inspire and enrich our lives

Exotic tropical fruit on a tray

Exotic tropical fruit on a tray

💻 "Like the sweet, deep colors of tropical flowers, the fruits of the earth inspire and enrich our lives." - Homer

📸 Bael Fruit, Mangosteen, Sapodilla, Rambutan, Mango, Maprang - from Thailand fruit market

🛒 Shop rare tropical fruit trees

#Edible_Forest #Quotes

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