Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

🐸 Paws off my flowers... And yes, the frog's mine too!

"Watching closely... flowers are off-limits. Frog’s off-limits too." - Ricki the Cat

🐈📸 Cat Ricki watching out the window and guarding his Cashmere bouquet - Clerodendrum bungei ... and frogs. At Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats

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You won't believe what was hiding inside this Siamese twin Valencia Pride mango!
Mango Rainbow🌈

From our Valencia Pride tree that you saw in earlier video came this giant double mango - two fruits fused into one! On the outside it looked bizarre, but the real surprise came when we cut it open. Want to see what a twin mango looks like inside? Watch the video and find out!

🛒 Shop Mango varieties

📚 Previous posts: #Mango_Rainbow - varieties you should try

#Food_Forest #Mango #Mango_Rainbow

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No food in years

"You go ahead and eat... I'll just lie here. No strength left, haven't been fed in ages. No, no, don't worry, no pressure at all. Definitely not a hunger faint." - Macaron the Cat

🐈📸 Cat Macaron laying on the table dramatically... not hungry, not fainting, totally fine... At Top Tropicals PeopleCats.Garden. 

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👻 The mystery of the White Bat Lily - the plant with wings and whiskers

• Here's a cool shot of the White Bat Head Lily (Tacca nivea) - its dramatic white bracts that flare like wings and those wild, trailing whiskers are impossible to ignore. And it is in full bloom again at Top Tropicals - in the middle of August.
• This plant that pulls off gothic elegance with two crisp, wing‑like white bracts hovering over a cluster of deep maroon‑black "bat‑face" flowers, complete with long, draping whiskers. Beneath it all lie crinkled, olive‑green leaves that only add to its moody charm.
• This tropical understory native thrives in humid, shaded spaces - whether that's a greenhouse or a mossy, misty corner indoors. It's an evergreen perennial, endlessly intriguing. When it does bloom, the dark little flowers eventually yield heavy berries - just one more twist in its curious tale.
• Looking to grow one? You'll need:

✔️High humidity, indirect light, and good air circulation

• ✔️Rich, orchid‑style soil (think adding bark, peat, perlite to your potting mix)
• ✔️Consistently moist - but not waterlogged - conditions
• ✔️And to be patient: flowering often requires a couple of leaves before it even sets stems

• It's not just a plant - it's a conversation starter, a living gothic sculpture that grows. Maybe a bit finicky? Sure. Totally worth it? Absolutely!

🛒 Add White Bat Head Lily to your collection

Tacca colors: Black, White, Green:
Tacca nivea - White Tacca - the rarest and the most wanted
Tacca chantrieri - Black Tacca
Tacca leontopetaloides - Green Tacca

📚 Learn more:
▫️Spooky Bat Head Devil Flower

#Nature_Wonders #Shade_Garden #Container_Garden

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😦 How many cats in the tree?

Three (don't forget the black tail with eyes upstairs)

🐈📸 Matilda's tree visitors at PeopleCats.Garden. 

#PeopleCats

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🌞 The sunny show-off hummingbirds love

• 🌞 Caesalpinia mexicana - Mexican Bird of Paradise - the sunny show-off you didn't know you needed. Many gardeners have popular and more common common Bird of Paradise Caesalpinia pulcherrima, with red flowers, but this one is rare in gardens.
• 🌞 While most Bird of Paradise plants rely on looks alone, this one ups the game with fragrant blooms. From spring through summer, it's covered in butter-yellow flowers that stand out against soft, feathery foliage. Hummingbirds love it, and when the blooms fade, it makes woody seed pods that snap open like nature's fireworks.
• 🌞 It's native to northern Mexico, which means it handles heat, sun, and dry conditions without a fuss. You can grow it as a compact shrub or let it stretch into a small tree. Either way, it’s easygoing, low-maintenance, and beautiful all season.

🛒 Attract hummingbirds to your garden

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

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🐶 Breakfast of Champions

"Der Mensch ist, was er isst" - "Man is what he eats." - Ludwig Feuerbach, German philosopher, 1850

🐶📸 Sunshine and Mango, Top Tropicals Labradors, and their Papaya Tasting Table at Bfarm and PeopleCats.Garden. 

🛒 Explore Papaya varieties

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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🌱 Variegated Chaya - beauty meets nutrition

• 🌿 Variegated Chaya - Variegated Maya Spinach Tree or Cnidoscolus aconitifolius variegatus - is a showstopper in the edible garden. Its heavily cut, creamy-white variegated leaves look like they belong in a tropical ornamental bed, but this beauty is also a powerhouse leafy green.
• 🌿 Native to the Yucatan Peninsula, Chaya has been a traditional food for centuries. Younger leaves (and a little stem) are cooked like spinach, simmered for at least 5-15 minutes to neutralize toxins, then served with butter, oil, or in soups. Once cooked, they’re loaded with protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C - a true garden superfood.
• 🌿 Fast-growing and low-maintenance, Chaya can reach 6-8 feet and thrives in full sun or partial shade. It's drought-tolerant, attracts butterflies and hummingbirds with its white flowers, and grows easily from cuttings. Perfect for food forests, permaculture gardens, or anyone wanting beauty and function in one plant.

🛒 Plant it, cook it, love it

📚 Learn more:

• ▫️Bright, bold, and edible: Variegated Chaya
• ▫️Chaya's health benefits: a must-have tropical leafy vegetable for sustainable gardening

#Food_Forest #Remedies

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