Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Date:
Blackberry Jam Fruit - the sweetest surprise
Tea and Jam with the PeopleCats – A Tropical Afternoon Beneath the Randia
Meet the cats behind the jam! The tuxedo cat is none other than Google-the-cat - our beloved elder and one of the original cat-fathers of Top Tropicals PeopleCats.garden. At 18 years old, he’s still sharp, curious, and very much in charge. The orange fluffball? He represents the universal image of cat joy - and we’ve got a few real-life orange sunshine residents just like him.
Why do you include cats in a plant newsletter?
Because they’re part of the garden. Our rescued PeopleCats live among the plants, nap under the mango trees, inspect new arrivals, and occasionally steal a sunspot meant for seedlings. They’re not mascots — they’re part of our team. Sharing their presence is like showing a part of the soul of our space.🐈
Are the cat images real or AI-generated?
All our cats are real! We take lots of pictures and videos. And a few images are AI-generated illustrations inspired by our real PeopleCats.garden residents. While not literal photographs, they are creative interpretations that capture the spirit of our tropical home and its furry citizens.🐾
Are the stories about the cats true?
Mostly! The jam-making, tea-drinking, and greenhouse meetings are creative interpretations - but inspired by real personalities. We use AI scenes to bring their spirit to life. Real cats. Real plants. Imagined adventures.🐱
Be happy with what you have: this might be all youve got!
Cat Jim II is snacking on pepper seedlings
🍴 Be happy with what you have: this might be all you've got!
"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have." - Rabbi Hyman Schachtel
🐈📸 Jim II is snacking on pepper seedlings - sweet and spicy! At PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats #Quotes
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"Happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have." - Rabbi Hyman Schachtel
🐈📸 Jim II is snacking on pepper seedlings - sweet and spicy! At PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats #Quotes
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A banana with no bananas? Scarlet red flowers of Musa coccinea
Musa coccinea, Scarlet Banana
🔥 A banana with no bananas? Scarlet red flowers of Musa coccinea.
🛒 For fans of strange plants
📚 Learn more:💋Top 3 Fastest-Growing Red-Leaf Bananas
💋Top Ornamental Banana Varieties - Which One Belongs in Your Garden?
💋Musa Zebrina Rojo - Blood Leaf Banana
#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Bananas
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- 💃 Musa coccinea, Scarlet Banana, is a small tropical plant from China and Vietnam that grows like a banana but doesn’t bother with fruit you can eat. Instead, it puts out tall, upright spikes of red bracts with yellow flowers tucked inside - like a torch made of petals.
- 💃 Each stem flowers once and then fades, but new shoots keep popping up from the base, so the plant just keeps going. The leaves are classic banana style: big, dark green, and glossy.
- 💃 You’ll see the flowers in summer, and they last a long time - bright, strange, and impossible to ignore. The plant stays compact, does well in pots, and even the fruit (small and orange) adds a weird touch. It's one of those plants that doesn't try to fit in.
🛒 For fans of strange plants
📚 Learn more:
#Nature_Wonders #Container_Garden #Bananas
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How to catch a cat (the fast and easy way)
Top Tropicals cats: Jacques, Macaron and Klaksa
How to catch a cat (the fast and easy way)
Step 1: Put down a box.
That's it. You've already won.
Step 2: Remove the first cat from the box.
It resets automatically. No assembly required.
Step 3: Wait 0.5 seconds.
Next cat enters trap willingly.
Step 4: Repeat as needed.
Box works on all models.
Final step: All cats are now removed from the kitchen.
You can finally eat in peace.
Much easier than crawling under the table like a maniac.
🐈📸 Top Tropicals cats: Jacques, Macaron and Klaksa at PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats
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Step 1: Put down a box.
That's it. You've already won.
Step 2: Remove the first cat from the box.
It resets automatically. No assembly required.
Step 3: Wait 0.5 seconds.
Next cat enters trap willingly.
Step 4: Repeat as needed.
Box works on all models.
Final step: All cats are now removed from the kitchen.
You can finally eat in peace.
Much easier than crawling under the table like a maniac.
🐈📸 Top Tropicals cats: Jacques, Macaron and Klaksa at PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Blue lips smell like violets - Mazabuka, Sclerochiton harveyanus
Sclerochiton harveyanus - Mazabuka, Blue Lips
👄 Blue lips smell like violets
🛒 Add Blue Lips to your shade garden
📚 Learn more:
#Perfume_Plants #Shade_Garden #Butterfly_Plants
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- 💙 Sclerochiton harveyanus - Mazabuka, or Blue Lips blooms with quirky blue-to-purple flowers that really do look like lips. And in the tropical plant world, blue flowers are rare. And they are lightly violet-lavender-fragrant!
- 💙 Even better? It's a total shade lover. No need for blazing sun - this beauty is happy to bloom in the cool, leafy spots of your garden.
- 💙 Loved by bees and birds, and just the right mix of weird and wonderful.
🛒 Add Blue Lips to your shade garden
📚 Learn more:
- ▫️Why this blue tropical flower has a violet fragrance?
- ▫️Surprising Violet fragrance of the Blue Lips
#Perfume_Plants #Shade_Garden #Butterfly_Plants
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Kitty saved his life!
😮 Kitty saved his life!
"Where there’s a will, there's a way" - Thomas Heywood, The Proverb, 1608.
🐈📸 Philemon the cat finding his ways at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats #Quotes
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"Where there’s a will, there's a way" - Thomas Heywood, The Proverb, 1608.
🐈📸 Philemon the cat finding his ways at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats #Quotes
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Late season mango Kent: Floridas delight
Mango Kent
Late season mango Kent: Florida's delight.
Mango Rainbow🌈
🛒 Shop Mango varieties
📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try
#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow
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Mango Rainbow🌈
- 🟡Kent is Florida's late-season superstar that never disappoints!
- 🟡These big, oval mangoes turn yellow-green with a ruby-red blush and emit the most tropical, peachy aroma. Slice inside and you’ll find dense, fiberless orange flesh that melts in your mouth with a sweet-tangy burst and warm spice notes. It's juicy, succulent, and perfect fresh or in smoothies - and they keep coming from July through early fall.
- 🟡This tree is a heavy bearer, disease resistant, and a must-have in any mango collection!
🛒 Shop Mango varieties
📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try
#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow
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Todays peace
❤️ Today's peace
"Worry does not remove tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace." - Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian watchmaker and Holocaust survivor.
🐈📸 Ricki has no worries about tomorrow at Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats #Quotes
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"Worry does not remove tomorrow's troubles, it takes away today's peace." - Corrie ten Boom, a Dutch Christian watchmaker and Holocaust survivor.
🐈📸 Ricki has no worries about tomorrow at Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden.
#PeopleCats #Quotes
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Caught on camera: found this on the Flower of Caipora
Ruellia affinis - Flower of Caipora
🌺 Caught on camera: found this on the Flower of Caipora.
🛒 Limited! Get Flower of Caipora, hard-to-find tropical bloomer
📸 What's on the plant? Anyone knows the name of this Moth?
#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden
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- 🍁 Ruellia affinis, the Flower of Caipora - is a rare tropical gem from the forests of Brazil, with tropical red blooms when you need them most!
- 🍁 This isn't your typical Ruellia. It's a climbing, vining shrub that puts out blazing red flowers in winter when most plants are taking a nap especially during Fall-Winter holidays.
- 🍁 You can let it vine up a trellis or pinch it back to make a bushy, compact shape. Either way, those scarlet blooms will pop once the older stems mature.
- 🍁 Just give it light shade, warmth, and moisture - and it'll reward your patience with color when you least expect it!
🛒 Limited! Get Flower of Caipora, hard-to-find tropical bloomer
📸 What's on the plant? Anyone knows the name of this Moth?
#Shade_Garden #Container_Garden
🟢 Join 👉 TopTropicals
Date:
What is the most popular and easiest tropical fruit tree to grow indoors?
No doubt about it - it's the Coffee Tree.
- Coffee is shade-loving and easy to grow with regular water
- It grows into a dark green shrub or small tree (about 3 to 5 feet tall in a pot)
- Its fragrant, star-shaped flowers resemble gardenias
- The whole fruit is edible and turns green to yellow to red
- The seeds are real "coffee beans" that can be dried, roasted, and ground at home.
Five Reasons to Grow a Coffee Plant
- Perfect Indoor Fruit Tree: Thrives in filtered light and stays compact
- Low Maintenance: Forgiving, adaptable, and ideal for new gardeners
- Aesthetic Appeal: Glossy green leaves and clusters of white blooms
- Homegrown Coffee: Yes, you can roast your own beans.
- Year-Round Beauty: Evergreen with seasonal fragrance
Coffee Plant Care Tips
- Light: Bright, indirect light is best. Avoid harsh afternoon sun.
- Water: Keep soil lightly moist but not soggy. Let the top inch dry out before watering again.
- Humidity: Loves higher humidity. Mist regularly or place on a pebble tray.
- Fertilizer: Use a balanced, gentle fertilizer like Sunshine Boosters C-Cibus every few weeks during growing season.
- Soil: Loose, rich, and well-drained. High in organic matter and slightly acidic. For potted plants, use a quality indoor tropical mix, such as Top Tropicals Abundance mix
- Repotting: Refresh soil and size up the pot every 1–2 years to keep roots healthy.
- Can I grow it outdoors?: Yes - bring it outside in warm months and back indoors before frost. It's best suited for USDA zones 10-11, but container growing gives you flexibility in cooler climates.
- How long until I get beans?: Expect flowers and fruit within 3 to 4 years from seedling stage - often sooner if you start with a young tree.
- What does the fruit taste like?: Mild and sweet-tart, like a mix between a cherry and a cranberry. You can eat it fresh.
How to Make Coffee from Your Own Tree
- Harvest: Pick the ripe red cherries
- Pop and Soak: Squeeze out the beans and ferment 1-2 days to remove pulp
- Dry: Spread out to dry for 1-2 weeks until hard and papery
- Husk: Remove the thin shell to reveal green beans
- Roast: Use a dry skillet or oven until fragrant
- Grind and Brew: Cool, grind, and enjoy the freshest coffee you've ever had.
Learn more: How to make your own coffee from homegrown beans
Coffee Health Benefits
- Rich in antioxidants - supports heart and brain health
- Boosts focus and mental alertness
- Supports metabolism and fat-burning
Why Coffee Makes the Perfect Gift Plant
- Long-living and beautiful
- Symbolic, useful, and personal
- Great for coffee lovers, gardeners, and the "person who has everything"