Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

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Don't plant cherries until you see this one! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Dont plant cherries until you see this one!

Cherry of the Rio Grande - Eugenia aggregata

🍒 Don't plant cherries until you see this one!
  • 🍒 Cherry of the Rio Grande (Eugenia aggregata) is one of those tropical fruits you don't forget once you taste it. The fruit looks like a dark ruby jewel and ripens to almost black, with a sweet, full cherry-like flavor.
  • 🍒 Unlike the temperate cherries, this one thrives in warm climates and starts flowering as early as March, keeping the harvest going well into summer.
  • 🍒 This little fruit tree that fits anywhere! It's slender, branching, fits neatly in limited spaces or even in a pot, yet still produces plenty of fruit.
  • 🍒 Can a tropical cherry really handle freezing temps? Once mature, Cherry of the Rio Grande can handle surprising cold snaps down into the 20s. A tough little tree that gives you a taste of the tropics right in your own backyard!


🛒 From Rio Grande to your garden

#Food_Forest

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Wine is bottled poetry. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Wine is bottled poetry

Cash the Cat with a glass of wine

Cash the Cat with a glass of wine

🍷 Wine is bottled poetry

"Wine is bottled poetry." - Robert Louis Stevenson

🐈📸 Cash the Cat is trying some poetry at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Moringa vs spinach: which one wins for nutrition? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Moringa vs spinach: which one wins for nutrition?

Moringa oleifera, Horseradish tree

🌳 Moringa vs spinach: which one wins for nutrition?
  • ✔️Moringa is sometimes called the Tree of Life, and for good reason. Almost every part is edible - leaves, pods, seeds, even the flowers. It isn't just a tree, it's like a whole pantry and medicine cabinet rolled into one.
  • ✔️ The leaves pack vitamins, minerals, and protein.
  • ✔️ The pods look like drumsticks and end up in curries.
  • ✔️ Even the seeds are handy - pressed for oil or used to clean water.
  • ✔️ And here's the bonus: it grows fast, covers itself in fragrant white flowers, and looks beautiful right in your garden.
  • ✔️ A tree that feeds you, heals you, and makes the yard smell good.


🛒 Want more energy? Grow Tree of Life - Moringa - at home

📚 Learn more:

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Discover #Trees

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Avocado pineapple salsa: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Avocado pineapple salsa: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

Avocado pineapple salsa

Avocado pineapple salsa

🍴 Avocado pineapple salsa: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes
  • 🟢Dice avocado, pineapple, and red onion.
  • 🟢Toss with lime juice and cilantro.
  • 🟢Sweet, creamy, tangy, and perfect on fish or just with chips.


🛒 For home-grown ingredients you will need:
Home grown Avocado
Home grown Pineapple

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Avocado

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As happy as they make up their minds. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

As happy as they make up their minds

Cat Bob is smiling

Cat Bob is smiling

😆 As happy as they make up their minds

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be." - Abraham Lincoln

🐈📸 Cat Bob is a happy camper at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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You wont believe this Bombax tree is real! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

You wont believe this Bombax tree is real!

Red Kapok tree - Bombax (Ceiba) malabaricum

💥 You wont believe this Bombax tree is real!
  • 💥 If you have ever seen a mature Bombax tree (Bombax ceiba), you were impressed!
  • 💥 A fire in the canopy. The Red Kapok tree, or Bombax (Ceiba) malabaricum) - is one of the most striking flowering trees in the tropics. In late winter and spring, when its branches are bare, it bursts into bloom with huge, crimson flowers that light up the entire crown. These flowers are not only spectacular to look at but also rich in nectar, drawing in flocks of birds, bees, and butterflies. Their size, color, and fragrance make the tree a true seasonal landmark wherever it grows.
  • 💥 More than just beauty. Beyond its beauty, the Bombax tree has many uses. Its blossoms, bark, and leaves are valued in traditional medicine for treating coughs, skin issues, and inflammation. The tree produces large woody pods filled with silky floss that has long been used for stuffing pillows, cushions, and life jackets. Its wood is strong yet lightweight, making it useful for carving, canoes, and even musical instruments.
  • 💥 Sacred and symbolic. The Bombax tree also carries cultural weight. In Hindu mythology, it is associated with Lord Indra, the god of rain and storms, and in many regions it is considered sacred, often celebrated during festivals.
  • 💥 A tree you never forget. With its towering trunk, impressive buttress roots, and dazzling red blooms, the Bombax tree is more than just an ornamental - it is a tree of beauty, tradition, and utility.


🛒 Plant your Bombax

#Remedies #Discover #Trees

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What hides behind the darkness? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

What hides behind the darkness?

Cat Georgie at TopTropicals

😶 What hides behind the darkness?

"Stars can't shine without darkness." - D.H. Sidebottom

🐈📸 Cat Georgie has beautiful eyes indeed. TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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It's a miracle: Miracle Fruit messes with your tongue, makes lemon sweet! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Its a miracle: Miracle Fruit messes with your tongue, makes lemon sweet!

Synsepalum dulcificum - Miracle Fruit

🍭 It's a miracle: Miracle Fruit messes with your tongue, makes lemon sweet!
  • 🍋🍬Miracle Fruit (Synsepalum dulcificum) Miracle Fruit - is a tidy, productive pot plant with a magical surprise.
  • 🍋🍬 Ever wish lemons tasted like candy? This little berry makes sour foods taste sweet - lemon turns into a lemon candy, vinegar into syrup, and the effect can last for hours. The secret is a natural compound that masks the sour taste buds on your tongue.
  • 🍋🍬 Miracle fruit isn’t just a fun trick - it’s also a perfect plant for your garden. A compact, slow-growing shrub, it actually prefers pots since it likes acidic soil. Indoors or out, it can fruit almost year-round, staying a neat 3-5 ft tall in a container.
  • 🍋🍬 Best part? You can surprise your friends with a slice of lemon before and after trying it - and just wait for their reaction!
  • 🍋🍬 What foods did you try with Miracle fruit? How did it change the taste?


🛒 Plant your own Miracle Fruit

📚 Learn more:

#Food_Forest #Nature_Wonders #Remedies

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Papaya lime smoothie: Quick-n-Fun exotic. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Papaya lime smoothie: Quick-n-Fun exotic

Papaya lime smoothie: Quick-n-Fun exotic
🍴 Papaya lime smoothie: Quick-n-Fun exotic recipes

  • 🟢Blend ripe papaya with fresh lime juice, a splash of coconut water, and ice.
  • 🟢Super refreshing and naturally creamy, no dairy needed.


🛒 Pick a perfect Papaya variety for your yard

#Food_Forest #Recipes #Papaya

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Patience is bitter. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Patience is bitter

Patience is bitter
🐈🐈🐈 Patience is bitter

"The trees that are slow to grow bear the best fruit." - Moliere
"Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." - Aristotle

🐈📸 Mr B the cat is patiently waiting for the harvest at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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How to turn an ugly fence into a Perfume Fence. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

How to turn an ugly fence into a Perfume Fence

Fragrant plants - plumerias and jasmines

🏡 How to turn an ugly fence into a Perfume Fence

🍖 Your fence could smell better than your neighbor’s grill!
  • 📌Got a plain or ugly fence? Just cover it up! We did just that and created a Perfume Fence.
  • 📌First, we planted Hawaiian Plumeria trees along the fence line. Then we added vining jasmines to climb the wire fence and smother it in flowers. Each jasmine has its own fragrance - some sweet, some rich, some spicy - and together they make the whole fence smell incredible!
  • 📌Soon the wire won’t even show - just a living wall of blossoms and perfume drifting through the garden.


Here are some of the best plants you can use to make your own fragrant fence:

🛒 Explore fragrant plants

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits #How_to

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Adenium care

adenium desert rose flowers and plants in pots showing pink, red, purple, and bicolor blooms.

Care for adeniums is simple once you understand what they like. Think of them as half succulent, half tropical shrub. Keep their roots dry but never bone-dry, give them sun, and feed them during the warm months. Do that, and they will reward you with fat trunks and nonstop flowers.

  • Soil and pot: Use a gritty, fast-draining Adenium Soilless Mix. Shallow wide pots work best — they let the caudex spread and show off its shape like a bonsai.
  • Watering: Water in the morning. Let the surface dry before watering again. Never let pots sit in saucers of water.
  • Foliage: Keep leaves dry. Wet leaves invite rot and fungus.
  • Fertilizer: During active growth, feed with Sunshine Megaflor liquid fertilizer (flower booster); it promotes swollen trunk and sets flower buds.
  • Light: Give them bright light year-round. Full sun in mild climates; filtered light if your summers are scorching.
  • Winter rest: Cut water back when days shorten and let the plant rest. Dormancy is normal.
  • Repotting trick: Each time you repot, lift the plant a bit so the crown roots peek above the soil. This encourages bigger caudex.

Desert roses are made for containers, easy enough for a beginner but rewarding enough for a collector.

Add Adenium to your container garden

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🌸 Exotic Adeniums Hot Deal

Six desert rose adenium hybrids with black, pink, yellow, orange, and bicolor flowers in bloom.

Colorful adenium hybrids in bloom at Top Tropicals

Desert roses (Adeniums) are not really roses at all. They are cousins of the plumeria, but gardeners prize them for that swollen base more than for the leaves. Want a little trick? Each time you repot, lift the plant slightly so the crown roots peek above the soil. Over time the base swells into odd shapes. Some look like bottles, others like bonsai elephants. That is half the fun of growing them.

At Top Tropicals we only sell grafted plants. Why? Because seed-grown plants do not keep flower color true, but they are the only ones that form the swollen caudex. With grafting you get the best of both worlds: reliable flower colors from named hybrids and the sculptural trunk from seedling rootstock. You can make hundreds of exotic colors. Tempting, isn’t it? Take advantage of this hot sale offer and and collect them all!

Use the code below to save 15% on any adenium:

ADENIUM15

No min order. Exp. 8-31-25

Read Garden Blog about Adeniums

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Watching things happen. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Watching things happen

Cat Ricki watching a hockey game at TopTropicals

Cat Ricki watching a hockey game at TopTropicals

💻 Watching things happen

"Some people make things happen,
some watch things happen,
and some wonder what happened." - Jim Lovell

🐈📸 Cat Ricki watching a hockey game at TopTropicals PeopleCats.Garden 

#PeopleCats #Quotes

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Before eating ice cream, try this fruit from a house plant. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.

Before eating ice cream, try this fruit from a house plant

Swiss Cheese Plant - Monstera deliciosa

🍨 Before eating ice cream, try this fruit growing on a house plant!
  • 🍨 Most people know Swiss Cheese Plant - Monstera deliciosa - for its big holey leaves, but here’s the wild part: this jungle climber also makes fruit. Real fruit. And it tastes like pineapple mixed with ice cream.
  • 🍨 Have you tried Monstera fruit? Will you eat it again?
  • 🍨 This plant grows in the rainforests of Mexico and Guatemala, where young seedlings crawl toward the shade until they find a tree to climb. Yes, they grow in the direction of the darkest area, not just merely away from light. Interesting, ah?
  • 🍨 In time, it sends out a green, cone-like fruit nearly a foot long. It takes a while to ripen - about a year - and only when the scales start to lift can you peel them back and find the creamy pulp inside. Ice-cream sweet and tropical.
  • 🍨 One catch though: never eat the fruit unripe. The pulp contains oxalic acid that is generally harmless but will burn your mouth. Best trick is to let it wrinkle a little, wrap it up, and wait until the scales loosen on their own. Then it's ready.
  • 🍨 And for collectors? The Thai Constellation, with its cream-splashed leaves, is the crown jewel. Some specimens sell for thousands. Not bad for a "Swiss Cheese Plant"!


🛒 Shop Monstera plants

📚 Learn more:
How to harvest and eat Monstera Ice Cream

#Food_Forest #Container_Garden #Shade_Garden

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