Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🐘 Charming Elephant Ears: Alocasia vs. Colocasia - which one is better?

Alocasias and Colocasias, or Elephant Ears, are both remarkable and popular plants that can bring a tropical exotic touch to your garden, pond, or pool area. Why are they so popular - and which one should you choose?

• 🍀 Why gardeners love Elephant Ears

• ✔️ Tropical appeal: Bold, architectural foliage creates a lush, exotic atmosphere.
• ✔️ Striking leaves: Huge heart- or arrow-shaped leaves in green, purple, black, or variegated tones.
• ✔️ Versatile placement: Ideal for containers, garden beds, water features, or borders.
• ✔️ Low maintenance: Thrive in part shade with moist soil and occasional fertilizer.
• ✔️ Big impact: Some varieties reach over 6 ft tall, adding strong vertical structure.

🍀 Alocasia vs. Colocasia - what's the difference?

• 🟢Leaf shape: Alocasia = upright, arrow-shaped; Colocasia = drooping, heart-shaped.
• 🟢Leaf texture: Alocasia = glossy; Colocasia = more matte.
• 🟢Stem color: Alocasia = green; Colocasia = often purplish.
• 🟢Light and soil: Alocasia prefers bright, indirect light and good drainage; Colocasia loves shade and wet soil.
• 🟢Cold tolerance: Colocasia is generally more cold-hardy and water-tolerant.

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️A Beautiful and Edible Delight: Colocasia antiquorum Illustris
• ▫️How can you use Elephant Ears?
• ▫️What to plant by the pond?
• ▫️Pharaoh Mask with stunning 3D effect
• ▫️Mojito Elephant Ears
• ▫️Colocasia vs Alocasia - what is the difference?

🛒 Go big with giant leaves!

#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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✍️ From seed to fruit. How to grow Loquat from seeds, step-by-step guide. Part 2: after germination

Continued from previous posts⤴️

• 🍑 4. Transplanting Seedlings

• ▫️When to Transplant: Once seedlings reach about 2-4” (5-10 cm) in height.
• ▫️Transplanting and fertilizing: Move each seedling to its own pot and add controlled release fertilizer (Green Magic is the best), or use liquid balanced fertilizer Sunshine Boosters after 1-2 weeks once the seedlings establish.
• ▫️Watering. Keep soil in a pot slightly moist but not soggy
• ▫️Temperature. Keep seedling warm - above 70F (21C), and protect from extreme heat over 90F (35C) . For small plants, avoid freezing temperatures during winter. As the seedlings get bigger, they get higher drought-, heat- and cold tolerance. Established Loquat trees (2-3 years and older) may take light freezing temperatures.
• ▫️Planting in the ground. You can plant the seedling in the ground when it reaches 2-3 ft tall (50-100 cm) in frost-free areas. During chill winter nights, young seedlings can be cold protected until established.

• 🍑 5. Sunlight Requirements

• ▫️Light Exposure: Loquat established seedlings thrive in full sun but can tolerate partial shade. Start seedlings in bright shade and protect from afternoon hot sun to avoid leaf burn. Once seedlings are established and new growth appears (2-4 weeks), gradually move them to full sun.
• ▫️Why adequate sunlight (full sun) is important:

- promotes healthy growth
- helps to avoid fungus and insect problems
- is critical for future flowering and fruit production

🍑 6. Fruit production

• ▫️Loquat seedlings start producing seed within 3-4 years from seed, providing adequate sunlight, warm temperatures and regular irrigation.
• ▫️Grafted Loquats start producing right away or the next year
• ▫️Fruit will develop over the winter and ripen from March through May depending on location

🛒 Shop Loquat Trees and enjoy fresh fruit benefits

📚 Learn more:

• 🟡about #Loquat
• 🟡A young Loquat tree is fruiting
• 🟡Ten best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes. # 10: Loquat Tree
• 🟡Loquat – the Symbol of Prosperity
• 🟡Learn more about Loquats
• 🟡10 best fruit trees to grow in Florida and Southern landscapes

" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" >🎥 YouTube video about Loquat
📁 Overlooked fruit: tasty Loquat recipes (PDF)

#Food_Forest #Loquat

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The Marble Queen that thrives on neglect

• Epipremnum aureum Marble Queen - is a regal stunner with cascading vines of creamy white, yellow, and green variegated leaves that demand attention without demanding much care.
• This low-maintenance beauty flourishes indoors with bright, indirect light and just enough moisture.
• Often called Devil's Ivy or Money Plant, it's nearly impossible to kill - and brings a luck and prosperity while it's at it. A true queen that rules with ease!

🛒 Bring home the Marble Queen

📚More exciting philodendrons:

• 🔘Philodendron hederaceum mediopictum Brazil
• 🔘What is the most colorful houseplant: Chartreuse Vine of Gold
• 🔘 What rare showy Paraiso thrives indoors
• 🔘 How big does Paraiso Verde grow
• 🔘 The best plants for a bathroom oasis
• 🔘 Swiss Cheese Plant is so holy!

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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What plant is bold, bright, and born to stand out indoors?

• Bold, bright, and full of contrast! Philodendron Mediopictum hederaceum Brazil (Heart Leaf Philodendron) turns heads with its striking heart-shaped leaves splashed with vivid yellow down the center, set against deep green edges.
• Add in the pink-orange stems, and you've got a living work of art that's both elegant and electric.
• A must-have for variegation lovers!

🛒 Add Philodendron Brazil to your collection

📚More exciting philodendrons:

• 🔘What is the most colorful houseplant: Chartreuse Vine of Gold
• 🔘 What rare showy Paraiso thrives indoors
• 🔘 How big does Paraiso Verde grow
• 🔘 The best plants for a bathroom oasis
• 🔘 Swiss Cheese Plant is so holy!

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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Top 20 plants for a Butterfly Haven

🏆 The most spectacular butterfly plants for the previous post 👆

*️⃣Acacia farnesiana, Sweet Mimosa
*️⃣ Antigonon leptopus - Mexican Coral Vine
*️⃣ Aristolochia - Pelican Flower, Dutchmans Pipe
*️⃣ Caesalpinia - Dwarf Poinciana, Bird of Paradise
*️⃣ Calliandra - Powderpuff
*️⃣ Cassia (Senna) - especially yellow-flowered varieties
*️⃣ Clerodendrums - all varieties
*️⃣ Clitoria ternatea - Butterfly Pea
*️⃣ Dombeya - Tropical Hydrangea
*️⃣ Jatropha - Coral Plant
*️⃣ Justicia - Brazilian Plume
*️⃣ Lonchocarpus violaceus - Lilac Tree
*️⃣ Lonicera - Honeysuckle
*️⃣ Mansoa alliacea - Garlic Vine
*️⃣ Passiflora - Passion Vine
*️⃣ Petrea - Queens Wreath
*️⃣ Pyrostegia venusta - Flame Vine
*️⃣ Quisqualis Indica - single flower
*️⃣ Senecio confusus - Mexican flame vine
*️⃣ Tecoma and Tecomaria

🛒 Transform your yard into a Butterfly Haven with exotic plants

📚 Learn more:
#Butterfly_Plants
Five best butterfly attractors for a Southern garden

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Butterfly Haven or a Heaven on Earth?

❓Q: What should I plant in my yard to create a butterfly haven? I love butterflies and want to create a unique butterfly paradise, but I'm looking for something exotic and unusual - nothing like the typical Milkweed or Pentas that everyone recommends. What can you suggest to make my yard stand out from the usual native landscape while still attracting butterflies? I have plenty of space and want something diverse and showy!

‼️ A: In previous posts we introduced many #Butterfly_Plants including Five best butterfly attractors.
In next post you will see the most spectacular tropical and subtropical plants perfect for Southern gardens so you can create a dynamic and colorful butterfly haven. These options are unique, eclectic, and exotic - your flowers will not only be butterfly magnets but will also turn heads with their striking beauty! 👇

🛒 Transform your yard into a Butterfly Haven with exotic plants

#Butterfly_Plants

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🐟What is the most colorful houseplant?

• 🐡 Yet another Goldfish Plant! Columnea Melissa - Flying Goldfish Plant isn't just a houseplant - it's a little jungle fantasy.
• 🐡 Bright orange flowers shaped like tiny goldfish with wings seem to hover in midair, suspended by cascading stems of velvety green foliage. The blooms pop out all along the trailing branches, creating the illusion of a school of flying fish!
• 🐡 Native to tropical cloud forests, Columnea loves humidity, filtered light, and showing off. Perfect for hanging baskets where it can spill and shimmer like a living waterfall of color. A total conversation piece you don't see every day!

🛒 Get your own showy Flying Goldfish Plant

📚 More House plants Gems:

• ▫️#Container_Garden
• ▫️ Queen of the Night
• ▫️Zig-Zag Cactus
• ▫️Botanical bedhead: Curly Locks
• ▫️Chartreuse Vine of Gold
• ▫️This goldfish lives in a pot and Why is it called Gold Fish Plant
• ▫️Red Orchid Cactus
• ▫️Blue Flame Cactus
• ▫️Six colorful plants for your indoor garden

#Container_Garden

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🖤 The secret of the black magic is unveiled: a black plant that thrives in neglect

• 
  ▪️This isn't just a houseplant - it's a living spell. The black ZZ plant (Zamioculcas x Black Dragon) is as mysterious as it is mesmerizing, with leaves so dark they look dipped in ink. Forget green - it's all about black - a rare, glossy marvel for collectors who crave the bold and unusual.
• 
  ▪️ New leaves start green... but don't be fooled. With time, they turn rich, velvety black - a transformation worthy of legend.
• 
  ▪️ It's not just a pretty face. Unlike any ordinary plant, this one survives on neglect. Forget to water? It won't blink. It stores water in its thick rhizomes like an ancient desert dweller, making it one of the toughest houseplants out there.
• 
  ▪️ It even shares a trick with ancient relics like Gonatopus - a rare power in the plant world. It's got ancient roots - literally. Its oddball talent of dropping leaflets that sprout into baby plants makes it one of the few plants in the world that can clone itself this way!

🛒 Collectors, the secret is out: bring home the magic of the the black dragon

📚 More from previous posts:

• • Are you tired of boring office plants...
• • Black-black-black plant...

#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

• 
  

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👹The biggest in the world Vanilla dilloniana monster grew even bigger! 2025 update.

• 
  ⭐️ Vanilla dillioniana - The Biggest Vanilla Orchid grown in 100 gal pot by Robert Riefer's "Intelligent Design" in 2017" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" > video got so big that Robert had to step it up again - in a giant 250 gal pool on wheels! Here are some photos of this world-famous Vanilla plant in full bloom.
• 
  ⭐️The Mother plant originated in 1927, awarded in 2011 with CHM certificate of Horticultural Merit by American Orchid Society.
• 
  ⭐️ Leafless Vanilla Orchid is an amazing exotic vanilla that forms a multi-branched, leafless vine reaching lengths up to 15 ft. The light green flowers are similar to Vanilla barbellata but the petals and sepals are longer and the fluted lip is a deep reddish-purple with a yellow crest.
• 
  ⭐️ Vanilla dilloniana is a very rare species and considered vulnerable, endangered across its range.
• 
  ⭐️ The plants we have for you at Top Tropicals are grown from cuttings of this very plant - in very limited quantities, don't miss the chance to get the offspring of this legendary plant!

🛒 Get your own super rare Leafless Vanilla dilloniana - propagated from this exact historical plant!

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

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👹The biggest in the world Vanilla dilloniana monster grew even bigger! 2025 update.

• ⭐️ Vanilla dillioniana - The Biggest Vanilla Orchid grown in 100 gal pot by Robert Riefer's "Intelligent Design" in 2017" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" > video got so big that Robert had to step it up again - in a giant 250 gal pool on wheels! Here are some photos of this world-famous Vanilla plant in full bloom.
• ⭐️The Mother plant originated in 1927, awarded in 2011 with CHM certificate of Horticultural Merit by American Orchid Society.
• ⭐️ Leafless Vanilla Orchid is an amazing exotic vanilla that forms a multi-branched, leafless vine reaching lengths up to 15 ft. The light green flowers are similar to Vanilla barbellata but the petals and sepals are longer and the fluted lip is a deep reddish-purple with a yellow crest.
• ⭐️ Vanilla dilloniana is a very rare species and considered vulnerable, endangered across its range.
• ⭐️ The plants we have for you at Top Tropicals are grown from cuttings of this very plant - in very limited quantities, don't miss the chance to get the offspring of this legendary plant!

🛒 Get your own super rare Leafless Vanilla dilloniana - propagated from this exact historical plant!

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals