Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

😳 Fun Fact: what Bougainvillea is thornless and grows as a tree

💜 Bougainvillea arborea is a rare gem with fragrant lavender-pink blooms and no thorns! Its slow, compact growth naturally forms a charming tree shape, and best of all, it doesn’t need pruning—perfect for low-maintenance gardens.
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🌱 Why do the Chinese drink tea?

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  🍃 It actually has to do with the Chinese theory of the five elements - wood, metal, fire, water, and earth:

木 金 火 水 土

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  🍃 Tea comes from a plant - Camellia sinensis - the Tea Leaf Tree - that is used to make all true teas: green, black, white, and oolong. The Tea Tree contains the element of wood (木) 🌳
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  🍃 When it's roasted in a cast-iron pan, it gains the element of metal (金)
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  🍃 Then it's dried over fire, adding the element of fire (火) 🔥
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  🍃 When it's brewed with boiling water, the element of water enters (水) 💦
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  🍃 Finally, tea is poured into a clay vessel, symbolizing the element of earth (土) 🍯
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  🍃 In this way, all five elements - wood, metal, fire, water, and earth - come together in a single cup.
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  🍃 The plant grows slowly and can thrive in containers or frost-free gardens with sun to semi-shade.

🛒 Grow your own tea

📚Learn more from previous posts:
Tea facts
How to grow your own tea?
Where does the tea come from?
Instructions how to make tea from tea leaves (PDF)

#Food_Forest #Remedies #Fun_facts

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😏 What fruit smells like roses

📱

🛒 Plant your Rose Apple, smell the roses and be happy!

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⚡️ How productive is Tamarind - for previous post 👆

Tamarind tree (Tamarindus indica) can live for over 200 years and produce both edible fruit and valuable timber.

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts

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New Complete Guide to Avocado Varieties. How to choose the right type of Avocado.
How many varieties of Avocado are there in cultivation? Did you know that there are hundreds of them? You probably thought there were only 2 kinds - black and green?

You may not realize is that this basic (but practical!) classification doesn't encompass all the wonderful qualities avocados have to offer.

There are numerous hybrids in cultivation, and once you plant your first tree and taste the REAL fruit (not from the grocery store), you'll be eager to explore other varieties. It's a guarantee! While it's true that avocado fruit can vary in "butter" content, most superior varieties are equally delicious.

This Avocado Variety Guide helps to choose the right variety for you. With its interactive tool, you can sort cultivars by fruit shape and quality, cold hardiness, origin, crop season, flower type A or B, tree habit and more.

🛒 Shop Avocado Varieties

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts #How_to

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⚡️What is Mickey Mouse Plant?

🐭 Ochna integerrima - Vietnamese Mickey Mouse plant, Hoa Mai.

• ⭕️ Its seeds and sepals resemble the face of Mickey Mouse, hence the common name.
• ⭕️ Hoa Mai, also known as Yellow Mai Flower, is the quintessential symbol of Spring in Vietnam, especially during the Tet celebration.
• ⭕️ "Hoa Mai" translates to "yellow blossoms," highlighting the bright yellow flowers that bloom during Tet.
• ⭕️ Ochna integerrima is a medium-sized shrub that can be trained into a miniature tree, making it a prized plant for exotic collections.
• ⭕️ In winter, it is covered with bright yellow flowers, which are believed to bring good luck and prosperity during the Tet celebration.

🛒 Get your own Mickey Mouse Plant

#Hedges_with_benefits #Nature_Wonders
#Fun_Facts

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⚡️ #Fun_Facts: Why is it called Cry Baby Tree?

👶 Erythrina (Cry Baby Tree): When the wind blows through its leaves, it produces a rustling sound that resembles a baby crying, hence its name. The plant has spectacular red flowers and beautiful red seeds (see also earlier post).

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⚡️What is a special effect of Lemon grass?

Besides its culinary uses, Lemon Grass is also known for its insect-repelling properties due to its citronella content. No more mosquitos! 😆

🛒 Order Lemon Grass

#Food_Forest #Fun_Facts

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⚡️ #Fun_Facts: Why is it called Blue Butterfly?

Clerodendrum ugandense (Blue Butterfly): This plant's blue flowers and butterfly-like shape attract butterflies and other pollinators to the garden. So this plant is all about butterflies!

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⚡️Wonder why Horny Wonder?

🌭 Ceropegia ampliata, commonly known as the Horny Wonder, has unique flowers resemble small lanterns, parachutes, or... Some insist that they look like "happy wieners," which is how they earned their cheeky nickname, "Horny Wonder."

These intricate flowers are specifically adapted to attract and temporarily trap flies for pollination. The flies enter the flower seeking nectar, and while inside, they inadvertently pick up pollen, which they then carry to other flowers, facilitating cross-pollination.

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