Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🍒 Cocoplum: secret fruit in your hedge

• 🍒 Most people think Cocoplum is just a boring hedge plant: Bahamas Cocoplum (Chrysobalanus icaco). Thick, green, easy to trim - great for privacy. But hidden in all that greenery? Super-sweet plum-like fruit that are edible and very tasty! They look like small plums and come in pink, purple, or white when ripe.
• 🍒 Cocoplum is native to Florida and has been quietly feeding people for generations, long before it became a landscaping go-to. The fruit is mild, a little sweet, and great for snacking or making into jam.
• 🍒 Cocoplum isn't just a tasty surprise - it comes with some health perks too:

▫️Rich in antioxidants - especially anthocyanins, which give the purple fruit its color and help fight free radicals in the body.

• ▫️Good source of fiber - helps with digestion and keeping you full.
• ▫️Contains vitamin C - supports your immune system and skin health.
• ▫️Low in calories - great for snacking without guilt.
• ▫️So when you bite into a Cocoplum, you're not just tasting Florida - you're getting a little wellness boost too.

🍯 Quick Cocoplum Jam:

• 🔸2 cups ripe Cocoplums
• 🔸1 cup sugar
• 🔸1 cup water*
• 🔸1 tbsp lemon juice
• 🔸Mash it all up, cook on low 20-30 minutes until thick. Cool and enjoy!

*To make a delicious summer drink, add 10 cups of water and just get to boil. Let sit 2 hrs, mash up, drain fruit and cool to enjoy.

So next time you walk by a Cocoplum hedge, check for fruit. There might be a free snack waiting for you!

🛒 Get your edible hedge Cocoplum: privacy with perks

#Food_Forest #Recipes

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✨ Perfume in a pot: exotic Dwarf Chanel No 5 Tree

• ⭐️ The Chanel No. 5 tree in a pot? Yep.

Cananga fruticosa - Dwarf Ylang-Ylang Tree, is the compact cousin of the famous perfume tree. It has the same elegant, drooping flowers that smell like the original Ylang-Ylang - the scent behind Chanel No. 5 - just in a smaller, easy-to-grow version.
• ⭐️ It stays nicely shaped like a little tree, blooms year-round in warm weather, and does great in a container. Just give it bright light, and if the air is humid, you'll get that dreamy fragrance in full force.
• ⭐️ A perfect plant for anyone who wants their space to smell amazing - naturally.

🛒 Grow your own Chanel No. 5

📚Learn more:

• ▫️ Flowering season of Dwarf Chanel No 5
• ▫️ How to grow your own Chanel #5
• ▫️ What is the best perfume tree for container culture
• ▫️ Ylang Ylang Tree

#Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden #Trees

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💪 Grows in neglect: tough plant for tough spots

• 🌿If you've got a dry, rough patch where nothing wants to grow, try Devil's Backbone, or Jacobs Ladder - Pedilanthus tithymaloides.
• 🌿This plant is seriously tough. It handles heat, drought, poor soil - no complaints.
• 🌿Its zig-zag stems look like they were folded by hand, and the little pink flowers are a nice surprise.
• 🌿Low maintenance, spreads well, and doesn’t mind being ignored.
• 🌿Great as a groundcover, border filler, or just doing its thing in a forgotten corner.

📚 Learn more:
The best undemanding plant for dry and hot area

🛒 Add this survivor to your garden

#Container_Garden #Nature_Wonders #Hedges_with_benefits

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