Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🏆 Watch the biggest Vanilla Orchid in the world moving to 100 gal pot!

Vanilla dillioniana - The Biggest Vanilla Orchid grown in 100 Gal Pot! "Intelligent Design" by Robert Riefer.
Today we take a tour in Robert's garden, where he shows us the secret of growing the biggest vanilla orchid in the world. To find out how, watch this video filmed in 2017, and check out updates of this monster plant in the next post!
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🛒 Get your own super rare Leafless Vanilla dilloniana - propagated from this exact historical plant!

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders #How_to

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Fireball Abutilon - Abutilon darwinii x striatum

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.

Mr B the Cat sleeping in a box

Mango Sweet Tart - tree with fruit on it