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Date:

What is better - Blue or Pink? You need both!

Blue Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum ugandense)

Blue Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum ugandense)

Pink Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum mastacanthum)

Pink Butterfly Bush (Clerodendrum mastacanthum)

🦋🎀 What is better - Blue or Pink? You need both!

These two varieties of Clerodendrum must go together - Blue Butterfly and Pink Butterfly - perfect combination! The flowers and butterfly-like shape attract butterflies and other pollinators to the garden. So these plants are all about butterflies!

🦋 Blue Butterfly Bush that we mentioned earlier, is a popular fast growing showy shrub with bright blue butterfly-like flowers

🎀 Pink Butterfly Bush is very rare new plant in cultivation, is very similar to more common Blue variety but has pink flowers.

🛒 Order Butterfly Bushes

#Butterfly_Plants

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Date:

How to grow Bougainvillea bonsai

Bougainvillea bonsai

Bougainvillea bonsai

Bougainvillea bonsai

Bougainvillea bonsai

🎍 How to grow Bougainvillea bonsai
  • 🌸 Choose a Variety: Select a dwarf variety or one with smaller leaves and flowers for easier training. The best dwarfs are "Pixie" and "Sunvillea" varieties.
  • 🌸 Potting: Use a small, shallow bonsai pot with good drainage. A bonsai soil mix is ideal as it provides proper aeration and drainage.
  • 🌸 Pruning and Training: Regularly prune to maintain shape and encourage new growth. Use wire to train branches, but be careful not to damage the plant. Prune after flowering to shape and maintain size.
  • 🌸 Watering and Feeding: Water thoroughly when the soil is dry but avoid waterlogging. Use a liquid fertilizer such as Sunshine Megaflor for profuse flowering.
  • 🌸 Light: Place in a sunny location, as bougainvilleas require plenty of light to thrive and bloom.


📚 Learn more: Compact Bonsai and Money Money

🛒 Shop plants for bonsai

#Container_Garden


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Date:

How to grow your own Pepper plants

Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot leaves wraps

Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot leaves wraps

Piper nigrum - Black Pepper

Piper nigrum - Black Pepper

Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava

Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava

Piper betle - Betel leaf

Piper betle - Betel leaf

Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Peppe

Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Peppe

🔥 How to grow your own Pepper plants. Five most valuable 'Pipers'.

ℹ️ Leafy Pepper plants - Pipers - are a source of black pepper and many other "peppery" flavors. These plants come from the Piperaceae family and are used as a spice for their pungent, peppery flavor. Don't confuse them with with Capsicum peppers, such as bell and chili peppers.
  • 🔻Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot: it is eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes, or wrap meats and cook in oven or on stove or grill. It is used medicinally in India and SE Asia. The root is also chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. The leaves are used as food (food wraps) in Vietnam.
  • 🔻 Piper nigrum - Black Pepper: While black and white pepper were already known in antiquity, but green pepper (and even more, red pepper) is a recent invention. Pungent and aromatic. The pungency is strongest in white pepper and weakest in green pepper, while black and green pepper are more aromatic than the white one. Moderate growing vine that can be grown on a trellis. Prefers shade to semi-shade.
  • 🔻 Piper auritum - Root Beer Plant, False Kava-Kava: close relative of Piper methysticum (Kava-Kava) and probably has some similar tonic effects. It is used for its spicy aromatic scent and flavor, liken to root beer, or to anise-clove. Huge leaves can grow over a foot long. The leaves are used for flavoring, as wrappings for meats and tamales.
  • 🔻 Piper betle - Betel leaf: very popular Indian spice with medicinal properties. Chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine. Great for wrapping food (similar to grape leaves).
  • 🔻 Piper longum - Indian Long Pepper, Pippali, Bengal Pepper: edible and medicinal plant used as spice and in traditional Chinese medicine. Fruit used as a spice and seasoning. It has sweeter and less pungent taste than Black pepper. Highly valued medicinal plant used to treat respiratory infections, stomachache, bronchitis, cough, and much more.


Learn more:
📚 Vietnamese Pepper - Lalot food wraps BBQ recipe
🎥 Growing Lalot Pepper

🛒 Shop pepper plants: Pipers

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Container_Garden #How_to


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Date:

How to grow Lobster Claw

Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak

Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak

Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak

Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak

How to grow Lobster Claw
💅 How to grow Lobster Claw
  • 🦞 Heliconia rostrata - Lobster Claw, Parrot's beak is one of the most recognized and widely grown tropical plants, and one of the most beautiful!
  • 🦞 The inflorescence is one of the most colorful you will ever encounter.
  • 🦞 The flowers last a long time and make an excellent cut flower.
  • 🦞 It is an easy grower in tropical areas but some room is required because the stalks can reach 7 feet in height.
  • 🦞 Pretty cold hardy, it can withstand temperatures in the high 20s F.
  • 🦞 Can be grown in large pots in colder areas.


🛒 Grow your own Lobster Claw

#Hedges_with_benefits #Nature_Wonders

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Date:

Where does Vanilla come from? How to grow your own Vanilla Beans

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid beans, seeds

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid beans, seeds

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid flower

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid flower

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid

Vanilla planifolia - Bourbon Vanilla Bean Orchid

Vanilla dilloniana - Leafless Vanilla Orchid, flower

Vanilla dilloniana - Leafless Vanilla Orchid, flower

🫘 Where does Vanilla come from? How to grow your own Vanilla Beans.
  • ❣️ Vanilla spice comes from Vanilla Orchid!
  • ❣️ Vanilla planifolia is a leafy climbing orchid from hot, wet tropical America. It is grown for its pods which, when dried, become the commercial vanilla.
  • ❣️ The flowers are hand pollinated.
  • ❣️ The Aztec Indians in Mexico used Vanilla Pods to flavor their chocolate drink 'Xoco-latl'. Vanilla was believed to be a tonic for the brain.
  • ❣️ Vanilla Pods are picked green when they have no scent. The lengthy curing process, which develops fragrant aroma, is one reason for its high cost.
  • ❣️ Vanilla orchid needs a flat, solid, porous support for climbing and in order to flower and produce seed pods. It can be grown over a log or a board (make sure the support wood is not chemically treated), or climb over a tree.
  • ❣️ If really happy, Vanilla orchid can exceed 100 feet in length in just a few years. The plants flower only when mature, which takes a few years. It only flowers when it gets strongly attached to a support with its aerial roots.
  • ❣️Vanilla orchid can be grown indoors as a house plant. Culture is similar to traditional orchids, however, it will need a support or trellis. Just keep in mind that for Vanilla Bean production, Vanilla Orchid must attach to a porous surface (like a wood log).


Learn more:

📚 Vanilla - The Most Versatile Orchid

🎥 How to produce my own vanilla: secrets of Vanilla pollination
Vanilla dillioniana - The Biggest Vanilla Orchid in 100 Gal Pot

🛒 Shop vanilla orchids

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Container_Garden

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Date:

♌️ 😵 What is your cat's Zodiac sign?
Cat Horoscope - Leo Zodiac Cats 07/23-08/22

❓ How to know the astrological sign of your cat? It can be determined by either their date of birth or adoption, as adoption is often considered a second birth for cats.

  • ✨ You can discover the astrological traits that describe the cat, such as their independence, diva-like tendencies, sense of humor, intelligence, and more.

  • ✨ It's also important to consider the astrological relationship between cats and plants...


♌️ Leo Zodiac Cats are:
  • ▪️with great pride
  • ▪️commanding, fond of power
  • ▪️independent
  • ▪️courageous, brave, fearless
  • ▪️majestic and laid-back lazy
  • ▪️sybarite, love all beautiful, including plants, especially lush and bright


🌟 Learn more about Leo Zodiac Cats and their lucky plants

#PeopleCats #Horoscope

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Date:

What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden?

Asclepias - Milkweed, butterfly attractor

🦋 What are the best butterfly attracting plants for a Southern garden? 5 best butterfly attractors.

If you love butterflies and if you enjoy having nature around your home, then plant a butterfly garden. Caterpillars, which transform into butterflies, require special kinds of plants to feed upon. Below are the top five winners that butterflies appreciate the most. Besides, remember That all yellow flowers are attractive to butterflies, for example Cassias. Butterflies like the Sun and everything that looks like the Sun! 🌞

🏆 5 best butterfly attractors:
  1. Calotropis gigantea - Giant milkweed, Arka
  2. Odontonema cuspidatum - Firespike
  3. Plumbago - blue, white and red
  4. Rondeletia leucophylla - Panama Rose
  5. Asclepias - Milkweed


    6. 💻 Learn more:

    🎥 ABC-7: Butterfly plants at Top Tropicals
    The Milkweed and the Monarch, how to raise your own
    Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
    Plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds

    🛒 Shop butterfly plants

    #Butterfly_Plants

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Date:

How to Live Longer? Surround Yourself with Plants!

Flamingo pond

Gardening not only helps you stay active and healthy but can also be a fun and rewarding way to extend your life. Let nature nurture you!

Living Longer with Green Spaces

A study by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health found that a 10% increase in vegetation within 1,600 feet of your home can lower your death risk by 4%.

Why Gardening Could Help You Live Longer

- Nature Exposure: Being outside boosts your mood.
- Exercise: Gardening is a great workout.
- Healthy Eating: Grow and eat your own fresh produce.
- Mind Exercise: Gardening can reduce stress and keep your mind sharp.

Gardening and Longevity

- Many centenarians (people living to 100) garden.
- In "blue zones," where people live longer, gardening is common.
- Gardening promotes daily exercise and a plant-based diet.

Natural Movement vs. Gym Workouts

- 100 years ago, 90% of jobs involved physical activity; today, only 10% do.
- Walking 2 hours a week can lower the risk of major diseases.
- Gardening offers fresh air, exercise, and fun.

Gardening vs. Gym

- Gardening can be as effective as gym workouts.
- Research shows 3 hours of gardening equals a 1-hour gym session.
- Tasks like weeding, digging, and mowing burn significant calories.

Calories Burned in 1 Hour of Gardening

- 340 cal: Chopping wood, using power tools, tilling, mowing with a hand mower, shoveling.
- 272 cal: Carrying wood, digging, clearing land, wheelbarrow work.
- 238 cal: Blower operation, planting, trimming, weeding.
- 224 cal: Raking and sacking leaves.
- 136 cal: Picking fruit, gathering tools, walking.
- 102 cal: Fertilizing or seeding a lawn.
- 34 cal: Watering plants.

Fun Facts

- Half an hour of weeding burns 150 calories.
- Gardening five hours a week burns 700 calories.
- Over a year, that's 20,000 calories, equivalent to running seven marathons.
- A lifetime of gardening can burn a million calories.

Shop for your garden

Flowering vine by the swing

Date:

What is the best flowering shrub for a shady spot?

Aphelandra hartwegiana - Yellow Aphelandra

Aphelandra hartwegiana - Yellow Aphelandra

Aphelandra squarrosa - White Zebra Plant

Aphelandra squarrosa - White Zebra Plant

Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen

Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen

Aphelandra x panamensis - Scarlet Candle

Aphelandra x panamensis - Scarlet Candle

💐 What is the best flowering shrub for a shady spot?
  • 🚩 Aphelandra is hands down one of the best solutions for a shade garden where you want to see more colors. It is a great addition to a collectible tropical butterfly garden, can grow into 4-5" tall bushy specimen. Tolerates both sun and shade.
  • 🚩Aphelandras have beautiful lush foliage and showy, long terminal inflorescences throughout the warm season.
  • 🚩These flowers are loved by hummingbirds.
  • 🚩Aphelandra hartwegiana - Yellow Aphelandra. Yellow flowers emerge out of long orange stalks in the fall time. Pretty and unusual!
  • 🚩Aphelandra squarrosa Dania (Snow White) - White Zebra Plant. It is also one of the best house plants, not only pretty because of its white-veined "Zebra" foliage, but also for the apical inflorescence with its beautiful yellow bracts.
  • 🚩Aphelandra sinclairiana - Panama Queen, has extremely tropical look and fragrant flowers of unusual color combination: orange and pink.
  • 🚩Aphelandra x panamensis - Scarlet Candle - a rare hybrid with bright red flowers


📚 Learn more from previous posts:
Panama Queen
How to grow Zebra in container?

🛒 Shop Aphelandras

#Butterfly_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits #Shade_Garden

🏵 TopTropicals

Date:

Use your yard instead of being used by your yard!

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

💥 Still not a subscriber? Join TopTropicals community and you will know everything about tropical plants!

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