Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Black Sheep Adenium

🐑 The bloom that broke all the rules: Black Sheep Adenium

Photos of Black Sheep adenium for the previous post 👆

🛒 Shop adeniums

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Adenium

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Black Sheep Adenium

🖤 The legendary Black Sheep of the family

🐑 Not your average desert rose, Black Sheep Adenium shows up to the garden party dressed in midnight velvet!
🐑 Its petals are so dark they almost swallow the light, with a smoldering red glow at the center that dares you to look closer.
🐑 Mysterious? Yes. Dramatic? Absolutely. This flower doesn’t blend in - it steals the show!
🐑 The perfect plant for those who like their beauty bold, broody, and a little rebellious. You'll want to whisper secrets to it under moonlight. It's not just a plant. It's a statement! See photos of actual Black Sheep Adenium in next post 👇

🛒 Own the drama. Grow the legend: Black Adeniums

❗️Black colored adeniums start as reddish color buds, flower opens as red-black and darkens as matures.
📚 More black and dark-flowered adeniums

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Fun_Facts #Adenium

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Wesley the Cat

chocolate dumplings in mango sauce

Epiphyllum guatemalense - Curly Locks

Epiphyllum guatemalense - Curly Locks, leaves

Epiphyllum guatemalense - Curly Locks, fruit

Botanical bedhead: curly, crazy, and full of surprises

This wild-looking jungle cactus doesn't grow straight - it spirals, twirls, and twists! Meet Epiphyllum guatemalense Monstrosa - Orchid Cactus, or Curly Locks.
A natural mutation of Epiphyllum guatemalense, Curly Locks creates a tangled cascade of curly stems that look like botanical noodles!
Perfect for hanging baskets, it blooms fragrant, orchid-like flowers at night and produces juicy, edible pink fruit.
It's self-pollinating and thrives in bright, indirect light. Let it get root-bound to encourage blooms, and water moderately.
A must-have oddity for cactus lovers and collectors!

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - flowers

Musk Bush - Iboza riparia, Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush - leaves

🚀 Another Musk from Africa that came before Elon: the true Healer from Zulu.

🚀 This African Musk has less hype and more goodness: it won't buy Twitter but it might cure your cough!
🚀 Musk Bush (Iboza riparia) - also called Misty Plume Bush, or Ginger Bush, is a highly aromatic shrub with a long tradition of healing use in African herbal medicine. Its soft, velvety leaves release a sweet ginger-like scent when crushed and are packed with medicinal value.
🚀 Medicinal uses

💚 Respiratory relief: The Zulu people traditionally use Iboza as an inhalant for coughs, chest congestion, and even malaria. Crushed leaves are often inhaled or made into a steam bath to clear the lungs.
💚 Natural relaxant: Often used alongside Psychotria viridis for calming effects, this plant is prized for its gentle sedative properties.
💚 Headache and digestive aid: Inhaling the fragrance can ease headaches, and teas or infusions are used to soothe stomach aches.

💚 Growth: Fast-growing (up to 3 ft/year), up to 6 ft tall, with a full, bushy habit.
💚 Leaves: Bright green, heart-shaped, covered in sticky aromatic hairs.
💚 Flowers: showy mist-like white to lilac spikes hang in beautiful, fragrant dense clusters.
💚 Fragrance: Leaves are scented like ginger with a musky twist - especially fragrant after light pruning.

🚀 Growing tips

💚 Best in full sun or partial shade
💚 Likes rich, well-drained soil and regular summer water, drought tolerant once established.
💚 Prune hard after flowering to keep it compact and boost future blooms.
💚 Grows well in pots in cold climates.