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Index > Garden Blog

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When you love your Teddy Bear so much

🏃‍♂️ When you love your Teddy Bear so much...

"Love is like a teddy bear: soft, comforting, and always there when you need a hug." - Matilda

🧸 Give a hug to your Teddy Bear... Good night...

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Top 10 fast-fruiting trees:

Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra)

Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra)

🍒 Top 10 fast-fruiting trees:
#4. Barbados Cherry (Malpighia glabra)


♥️ Another exceptional tropical cherry is Barbados Cherry. It is super popular as a heavy producer. The plant can start fruiting when it's only a few inches tall! If you are looking for a compact, but fast growing tree with colorful fruit that starts fruiting right away - plant Barbados Cherry. It will also happily fruit in containers.

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Edible Landscape

Four must-have herbal edibles for your instant Food Forest

Kitten with veggies in a basket

Q: What attractive and useful edibles or herbs can I grow in my yard landscape without needing dedicated garden beds?

A: When we think of an "herb garden," parsley and chives often come to mind -plants that aren't particularly showy and typically require a dedicated vegetable garden, space, and regular maintenance. However, creating a food forest in your yard doesn't have to be a complex project. Useful edibles and medicinal herbs can also be exotic and beautiful, enhancing the charm of your landscape. Here are some examples of unusual tropical edibles that are not only stunning ornamentals but also bring delicious goodness to your kitchen.

1. For drinks: Jamaica Tea flower - Karkade Hibiscus

Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel, Roselle

Hibiscus sabdariffa - Flor de Jamaica, Karkade Sorrel, Roselle, or Jamaica Tea flower (Karkade Tea) - yes, many hibiscus species are edible!
- Flowers of Roselle hibiscus are used to make a tea "Agua de Flor de Jamaica". To be exact, those are flower bracts around flowers and seed pods.
- Medical studies show that it lowers blood pressure and has diuretic effects.
- The pleasant flavor is similar to a cranberry juice and it's so good, you may not even want to add any sugar. We make this cold tea every day - perfect for hot summer.
- Karkade Hibiscus grows into a large bush within just one season from seed! Lots of flowers to harvest will last you the whole winter. It can be treated as annual in cooler areas due to its fast growth and same-year harvest. Thrives in full sun.
- Short video: how to make hibiscus tea

2. For medicine: Aztec Sweetleaf - Lippia

Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf

Lippia dulcis - Aztec Sweet Herb, Sweetleaf is a wonderful fragrant groundcover.
- Fragrant Mexican herb with incredibly sweet and aromatic leaves.
- The fresh leaves can be eaten from the plant like candy or tossed into fruit salads for an unusual addition, or used for making a healing tea.
- It has been used since the time of the Aztecs for coughs and colds.
- The sweetness tastes great, and can be used by diabetic patients. We add this herb to Karkade or Mint tea as a sweetener, instead of sugar or honey.
- Grows like a ground cover, in shade or semi-shade, great perennial container plant.

3. For salads and stews: Longevity Spinach, or Cholesterol spinach

Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, or Cholesterol spinach

Gynura procubens - Longevity Spinach, or Cholesterol spinach is a perennial spinach, and once you plant it, you have it for many years, and can grow many more easily from cuttings!
- Longevity Spinach is one of the Superfoods, and there are many claims that it lowers cholesterol.
- We use Longevity Spinach in our cooking all the time and so far we are all alive, so it works! :)
- Longevity spinach can be eaten raw in salads or cooked wherever you would use a regular spinach.
- Grows as a large spreading herbal bush, in full sun. - See some recipes with more pictures

4. For meat wraps: Vietnamese Pepper or Wild Betel Leaf

 Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot, Wild Betel Leaf, 
Chaa-plu

Piper sarmentosum - Vietnamese Pepper, Lalot, Wild Betel Leaf, Chaa-plu adds wonderful peppery flavor to meats and is great for wrapping meats and cooking in the oven, on a stove or grill. We use it all the time, wrapping ground beef of turkey and putting wraps on a grill or on a frying pan, very easy!
- Vietnamese Pepper leaves are eaten raw in salads or cooked with other greens or dishes.
- The leaves are used as food wraps in Vietnam. It is used medicinally in India and SE Asia.
- It is also chewed with Betel Nut as a tonic and medicine, very similar to Betel Leaf (Piper Betel) which is very popular tonic in Indian culture.
- Vietnamese Pepper grows as a vining herbaceous shrub or ground cover, in both sun or shade, and spreads with runners so you can have plenty if you want to have more. Can be grown in container and indoors, too. - Check out recipes of meat wraps for grilling

Date:

Save Double This Labor Day Weekend!

Happy Labor Day Cat

"The fruit of your own hard work is the sweetest." - Deepika Padukone

Labor Day is the perfect time to transform your yard into a tropical paradise! Join us this weekend to find large, well-developed fruit trees and stunning flowering tropical plants, ready to add beauty to your life. Take advantage of the summer growing season and give your garden the boost it deserves. Don't miss out on these incredible plants to make your yard a true oasis!

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Use the code to get an extra 10% off on orders over $200 (excluding S/H). If your total after the code still exceeds $200, enjoy an additional automatic 10% discount! Exp. 9-2-24

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🎤 "A cat purring on your lap is more healing than any drug in the world, as the vibrations you’re receiving are of pure love and contentment." – St. Francis of Assisi
Sound on 📢

😶 Good night, sleep tight with Bob's purr music on ...

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Top 10 fast-fruiting trees:

Eugenias - Tropical Cherries

Eugenias - Tropical Cherries

🍒 Top 10 fast-fruiting trees:
#3. Eugenias - Tropical Cherries


💙 Eugenias are favorites of Southern gardens. They are relatively cold hardy and start producing right away. Black Surinam Cherry Lolita and Grumichama are our favorites!

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#Food_Forest

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What is the biggest Gardenia flower? Tahitian Gardenia is as big as your hand!

Gardenia taitensis "Heaven Scent"

✋ What is the biggest Gardenia flower? Tahitian Gardenia is as big as your hand!
  • 💮 Gardenia taitensis "Heaven Scent" has a double flower up to 6" in diameter!
  • 💮 This hybrid is very rare and hard to find.
  • 💮 The intoxicating sweet fragrant blossoms are creamy white works of art.
  • 💮 Huge double flowers up to 5-6" in diameter and large glossy oval leaves.
  • 💮 Perfect container plant


What is your favorite Gardenia? Share in comments👇

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#Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden

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❤️ "When a man loves cats, I am his friend and comrade without further introduction" - Mark Twain

Share your cats in comments! We are friends and comrades already...
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Top 10 fast-fruiting trees:

Guava (Psidium sp.) - Cattley and Tropical guava

Guava (Psidium sp.) - Cattley and Tropical guava

🍉 Top 10 fast-fruiting trees:
#2. Guava (Psidium sp.): Cattley and Tropical guava


❤️ Guava is a reliable producer, starts fruiting in a pot at small size. Some varieties, especially Cattley guavas - Psidium littorale - are relatively cold hardy and can take some frost without damage. Guavas are fast growing small trees or large bushes.

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Fun Fact: King Anthurium

Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium

Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium

Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium

Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium

Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium

Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium

👑 Fun Fact: King Anthurium

🔖 Crowning its title, Anthurium veitchii - King Anthurium - boasts leaves up to 3 feet long! Majestic houseplant! Very hard to find, rare plant.

#Fun_Facts #Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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