Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date:

💖 What if your next houseplant could make medicine?

Meet Noni, Morinda citrifolia, a tropical tree with deep roots in Polynesian healing. For over 2000 years, it's been used to support health from the inside out: pain relief, immune strength, digestion, skin, joints, energy, and more. And now, you can grow it yourself.

This isn't some fussy rainforest diva. Noni is one of the easiest fruit trees to grow, especially in a pot. It flowers and fruits year-round, even in a 3-gallon container. Indoors, it thrives in bright light and tolerates dry air and skipped waterings. Outdoors in Zone 10+, it's practically unstoppable - fast, forgiving, and constantly flowering and fruiting.

It's also a conversation piece. The glossy leaves can grow over a foot long. The fruit looks like something from another planet! And every part of the plant - fruit, leaves, seeds, even roots - has been used in traditional medicine.

Grow it for health. Grow it for curiosity. Grow it because your ficus never made you juice.

Date:

Undocumented use of a hairbrush. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Undocumented use of a hairbrush

Niki the cat

💳 Undocumented use of a hairbrush

"You can be gorgeous at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life." - Coco Chanel (and here is her Chanel No5 Tree, by the way)

🐈📸 Niki is making herself beautiful for a date at PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Cocoplum: secret fruit in your hedge. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Cocoplum: secret fruit in your hedge

Bahamas Cocoplum - Chrysobalanus icaco

🍒 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

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Crunchy Pate??? Sound ON! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Crunchy Pate??? Sound ON!

Marco the cat is eating crunchy pate

Crunchy Pate??? Sound ON! 📢

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse. And chase the rider." - Dorothy Parker

⚠️ WARNING: sound effects 18+!
Marco at PeopleCats.Garden is eating his pate with a side of sound effects. Apparently, he ordered pate "extra crispy". Volume up for maximum crunch!

#PeopleCats #Quotes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

More than white: rare Butterfly Gingers. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

More than white: rare Butterfly Gingers

Hedychium - Butterfly Ginger

More than white: rare Butterfly Gingers
Looks like the classic white, but with soft yellow blooms and the same rich fragrance. Long, slightly fuzzy green leaves and flower spikes that light up late summer with scent and color. This variety grow fast and much bigger than plant also much bigger and vigorous than classic white Butterfly ginger.

🛒 Smell the difference - get your ginger trio

#Shade_Garden #Perfume_Plants
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Free ride. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Free ride

Philemon the cat

😰 Free ride!

"There's no free ride. Someone always pays and if you don't know who that someone is, it's probably you." - Sarah Palin

🐈📸 Philemon the cat is getting a free ride at at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Perfume in a pot: exotic Dwarf Chanel No 5 Tree. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Perfume in a pot: exotic Dwarf Chanel No 5 Tree

Cananga fruticosa - Dwarf Ylang-Ylang Tree, Chanel No 5 Tree

✨ 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:

#Perfume_Plants #Container_Garden #Trees
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Shrooms time - cat herbal party. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Shrooms time - cat herbal party

🌈 🍄"Shrooms time" - cat herbal party

"I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me." - Winston Churchill

🐈📸 Bob, Cash, Timo, Niki and James having their Catnip herbal party - "shrooms time" - at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Grows in neglect: tough plant for tough spots. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Grows in neglect: tough plant for tough spots

Devils Backbone, Jacobs Ladder - Pedilanthus tithymaloides

💪 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

🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

NEW ON YOUTUBE: Top Tropicals Shorts!

Top Tropicals shorts - short videos

It's finally here! We've launched a brand-new section of quick, fun, and super useful short videos straight from your favorite garden and nursery. In just 20-30 seconds, you'll get smart tips, rare plant spotlights, and simple growing tricks - all packed into bite-sized bursts.

And of course, plenty of fun moments with your favorite PeopleCats (and dogs too!).

Don't forget to subscribe, like, and leave a comment - your support means the world, and we're here to answer all your questions!

WATCH Top Tropicals Shorts

< Previous pageNext page >Most recent entryBlog table of contents