Ten shrubs you need to have for winter colors. A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.
Ten shrubs you need to have for winter colors
Garlic Vine, Dombeya - Tropical Hydrangea, Brunfelsia Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow, Fountain Clerodendrum, Tibouchina grandifolia - Glory bush, Chinese hat, Barleria - Philippine violet, Thunbergia - Kings Mantle, Eranthemum - Blue Sage or Lead Flower, Petrea vine - Queens wreath
🌷 Ten shrubs you need to have for winter colors
Many snowbirds ask what to plant when they’re here just for the season. The answer is simple: go for trees and shrubs that bloom in winter. Fall is the perfect time to get them in the ground so your garden will be bursting with flowers once the cool season arrives. In our earlier video, we shared 8 best flowering trees that will bloom for you in Winter. Now, here are the shrubs that will complete your colorful winter garden.
🌷 1. Mansoa alliacea - Garlic Vine
Known for its garlicky scent, it also puts on clusters of lavender to purple flowers in cool weather. Reliable and eye-catching, often trained on fences or trellises. 👉plant it
🌷 2. Dombeya wallichii - Tropical Hydrangea
Large pink pompom clusters hang like lanterns from the branches. Sweetly fragrant and showy, it creates a hydrangea effect right in winter. 👉plant it
Small and manageable, it opens purple flowers that fade to lavender and then white, giving the look of three colors at once. A cheerful winter bloomer for pots or borders. 👉plant it
This shrub lives up to its name with cascades of long white flower sprays, blooming heavily in the cooler months and brightening shaded corners. 👉plant it
Covered in clusters of soft, fuzzy purple blooms, this shrub adds tropical flair during the cooler months. Its velvety leaves are ornamental year-round. 👉plant it
🌷 6. Holmskioldia sanguinea - Red Chinese hat
Cup-shaped bracts form red “hats” around small flowers. This shrub stands out with unique form and long-lasting blooms. 👉plant it
🌷 7. Barleria cristata - Philippine violet
A hardy shrub with masses of purple-violet blooms in the cool season. It flowers when many plants are quiet, adding dependable winter color. 👉plant it
🌷 8. Thunbergia erecta - King’s Mantle
A compact shrub with velvety purple blooms and bright yellow throats. It’s neat, easy to manage, and flowers generously in winter. 👉plant it
🌷 9. Eranthemum pulchellum - Blue Sage, Lead Flower
Few shrubs can match its electric-blue spikes of flowers in winter. Compact and low-care, it brings a rare color to the cool season garden. 👉plant it
A woody vine-shrub that bursts into cascading sprays of lavender stars. It flowers heavily in winter, resembling wisteria in the tropics. 👉plant it 🛒 Explore Winter bloomers
Can you name all the fruits on this tray? One of them will stump you! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.
Can you name all the fruits on this tray? One of them will stump you!
Papaya, Avocado, Egyptian guava and Cas guava, Barbados cherry, Peanut butter fruit
Can you name all the fruits on this tray? One of them will stump you!
This morning I walked the garden and came back with a tray of fruits! That’s the joy of living in Florida with your own tropical garden: something new is always in season.
Why Sphynx cats always need a sweater? A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.
Why Sphynx cats always need a sweater?
👽 Why Sphynx cats always need a sweater?
😺 Pelmen is a Sphynx cat. Sphynx is the famous hairless cat breed. He looks bald, but really has a soft peach-fuzz coat that feels like suede.
😺 Look, this summer Pelmen even got a suntan! His head is tanned while the rest stayed pale. Why? Because he was wearing a sweater outside! (Yes, he owns a whole wardrobe… the definition of a spoiled baby)
😺 Why a sweater? Sweaters aren’t just for fashion. Since Sphynx cats lack a fur coat, they need extra warmth, regular baths to wash off skin oils, and sun protection.
😺 The Sphynx may look like a little alien, but they’re really velcro cats - clingy, cuddly, and people-loving. The breed began in 1966 when a hairless kitten named Prune was born in Canada. From that quirky start, the Sphynx became one of the most affectionate cats around.
10-minute recipe Bo La Lot with a leaf youve never cooked before! A Top Tropicals Garden Blog post.
10-minute recipe Bo La Lot with a leaf youve never cooked before!
Bo La Lot recipe with Vietnamese pepper Lalot (Piper sarmentosum)
🍴 10-minute recipe Bo La Lot with a leaf you’ve never cooked before!
🌮 Forget boring tacos - this wrap will blow your mind! In Vietnam they call it Bo La Lot - beef wrapped in peppery Lalot leaves.
🌮 It started as grape leaf wraps in the Middle East, but in tropical Asia grapes don’t grow, so people swapped to Lalot. Way more flavor than grape leaves!
🌮 Grilled beef, garlic, onion, lemongrass - all can be tucked into these shiny green leaves. Smoky, juicy, and so good you’ll wonder why you didn't try it sooner! It's better than grape leaf wraps, because it has so much flavor!
🌮 Most large leaf pepper plants will work for this recipe - Vietnamese pepper Lalot (Piper sarmentosum), Betel Leaf (Piper betle), or even large leaves of the traditional Black Pepper plant (Piper nigrum).
🌯 BO LA LOT RECIPE
✔️ Ingredients
· 1 pound ground beef or turkey
· 2 tablespoons chopped lemongrass (optional)
· 1 tbsp spice powder
· 1 tbsp curry powder
· 1 tbsp finely minced garlic
· 1 tbsp oyster sauce or fish sauce (optional)
· 1 tsp ground black pepper
· 1 tbsp finely minced shallots
· 1 tbsp soy sauce
· 2 tsp sugar or honey
· 1/2 tbsp olive oil
· 1/2 tbsp salt
· 10-15 fresh Lalot leaves
👉 Directions
· Preheat the grill.
· Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well.
· Wrap about 2 tablespoons of the mixture into each betel leaf.
· Spear 3 to 4 betel leaf wraps onto a skewer and grill until the meat is thoroughly cooked.
