"/>
Index > Garden Blog

Date:

Which epiphytic cactus puts out the biggest bloom show

❤️ Which epiphytic cactus puts out the biggest bloom show

  • 🌺 Disocactus ackermanni, also called the Red Orchid Cactus, puts on a jaw-dropping show with huge, blazing red flowers that can reach 6 inches wide! It's a cactus that acts nothing like one - and then bursts out in flowers the size of your hand!

  • 🌺 It blooms from Spring through Summer and steals the spotlight every time. The plant grows like a lush, green fern with flat stems that drape and cascade like a living chandelier.

  • 🌺 It may be a cactus, but it loves water and shade - more diva than desert. Native to the tropical forests of Mexico, this epiphyte thrives in a hanging basket and turns heads wherever it grows.

  • 🌺 Why collectors search for it? Because it's rare, eye-catching, and just plain fun to grow. No spines, no drama - just bold flowers and easy charm. This is one of those plants that visitors always ask about. If you're a collector, it's not a want – it's a need.


🛒 Get the Red Orchid Cactus everyone talks about

📚 More about exotic epiphytic cacti:
Epiphyllum oxypetalum - Queen of the Night
Pseudorhipsalis (Wittia) amazonica - Blue Flame
Epiphyllum guatemalense Monstrosa - Orchid Cactus, Curly Locks

#Container_Garden #Shade_Garden #Nature_Wonders

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

NEW SHORT VIDEO:
Bordelon Banana - Red Leaves, Red Fruit, Real Wow!

">Link to YouTube Video

Looking for a banana plant that turns heads and handles the cold? Meet Banana Bordelon - a stunning ornamental with bold red-striped leaves and towering height up to 15 feet. It's not just beautiful - it's tough too. Originally from Louisiana, Bordelon thrives in warm, humid gardens and can survive mild winters with a little protection. Best of all, it can flower and even produce fruit! If you want tropical drama with Southern grit, Bordelon is the banana you've been waiting for!

Subscribe to our Channel:

Stay updated with TopTropicals Videos by subscribing to our channel at YouTube.com/TopTropicals and get our latest video news of what is fruiting and blooming!

Date:

Mark your calendars:
June 14, 2025 - Father's Day Plant Market

June 14, 2025 - Father's Day Plant Market at Top Tropicals

June 14, 2025: 9 am - 4 pm

Celebrate Father's Day at Top Tropicals - June 14!
Summer is blooming - it's the perfect time to plant something meaningful.
- Kids, bring your dads and surprise them with the gift of a tree! Let them pick any tree they like and plant it together.
- Fathers, bring your kids and teach them how to connect with nature - show them how to plant a tree and grow something lasting!
Stroll through our lush gardens, meet the friendly PeopleCats, and enjoy a fun day for the whole family. Our team will help you choose the perfect plants for your space and guide you every step of the way.

Event Highlights:

30% OFF online prices (*excludes rare/15gal plants)
Free plant with any purchase
Gift bags for first 25 customers with $50+ order
Special deals on select plants
Exciting raffle prizes
Live music by the Famous Hand Pan Lady!

Don't just mow - grow!

Start your food forest, beat rising prices, and plant a future your family will thank you for.

Event discounts valid at both locations:

Ft Myers Garden Center: 13890 Orange River, Ft Myers, FL
Sebring B-Farm: 9100 McRoy Rd, Sebring, FL

Facebook event page - Download invitation

Date:

White collar worker: Riki

White collar worker: Riki
🥳 White collar worker

"The best thing about being a white-collar worker? You can wear pajama pants on the bottom and still look respectable on a Zoom call."

🐈 PeopleCats.Garden 
#PeopleCats #Quotes

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Patchouli: more than just a pretty scent - every gardener needs it, and heres why

Patchouli, Pogostemon cablin

⚡️ Patchouli: more than just a pretty scent - every gardener needs it, and here's why

Patchouli, or Pogostemon cablin, a plant from India that is used to produce the scent Patchouli, offers a wide range of benefits: from its calming aroma to its skin-healing and medicinal properties.

🧑‍� Health Benefits of Pogostemon cablin (Patchouli, Pucha-Pat):
  • 📌 Perfumery: Patchouli is well-known for its rich, earthy fragrance, making it a popular ingredient in perfumes, incense, and essential oils. Its strong, musky scent is calming and grounding.
  • 📌 Skin Care: The essential oil derived from patchouli leaves is used in skincare products. It's known for its antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, helping to soothe skin irritation, acne, and minor cuts or wounds.
  • 📌 Stress Relief: Patchouli oil has calming and mood-enhancing qualities, making it effective for reducing stress and anxiety. It's commonly used in aromatherapy to promote relaxation.
  • 📌 Anti-inflammatory: Patchouli has anti-inflammatory effects, reducing swelling and discomfort, particularly in arthritis or muscle pain.
  • 📌 Digestive Health: The oil is sometimes used to promote digestion and relieve indigestion or bloating. It has mild antispasmodic properties that can soothe the digestive system.
  • 📌 Insect Repellent: Patchouli has natural insect-repellent properties, making it useful for warding off mosquitoes and other pests.
  • 📌 Antioxidant Properties: Some studies suggest that patchouli oil contains antioxidants, which may help protect cells from damage caused by free radicals, supporting overall health.


🪴 Patchouli is not just prized for its unique fragrance - it's a versatile, easy-to-grow herb that thrives with minimal care. This herbaceous shrub is very vigorous and requires little attention. It loves filtered light and just a bit of water to flourish. Even in poor soils, Patchouli remains happy, consistently emitting its uplifting scent and bringing joy to your garden.

🛒 Bring the uplifting fragrance of Patchouli to your garden - grow happiness with every leaf!

📚 Learn more:
Researchers discover what a perfume from Ancient Rome was made of: Patchouli!

#Perfume_Plants #Remedies #Fun_Facts #Food_Forest #Discover

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

What is the best plant for a butterfly garden

Panama Rose - Rondeletia leucophylla

🦋 What is the best plant for a butterfly garden
  • 🦋 If you're looking to add a splash of color and attract fluttering butterflies, the Panama Rose (Rondeletia leucophylla) is a must-have for your butterfly garden.
  • 🦋 This stunning shrub, reaching up to 5 feet, is a true butterfly magnet with its bright pink, star-shaped flowers that bloom in clusters.
  • 🦋 Why every gardener wants Panama rose for their butterfly garden? The sweet nectar from these flowers draws in butterflies, making it the perfect addition for a garden that thrives on natural pollinators.
  • 🦋 Panama Rose has an enchanting fragrance that becomes more noticeable after sunset.
  • 🦋 Native to Mexico, it’s ideal for USDA Zones 9-11, though with the right care, it can thrive in colder regions too.
  • 🦋 This easy-care shrub thrives in full sun with regular watering and can tolerate occasional flooding. It maintains a natural, bushy shape and blooms cheerful, cup-shaped flowers from November to early summer, with sporadic blooms throughout the year.


🛒 Plant Panama Rose Butterfly Magnet

#Hedges_with_benefits #Butterfly_Plants

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

The most sincere love

The most sincere love
🥢 The most sincere love

"There is no sincerer love than the love of food." - George Bernard Shaw

🐈 PeopleCats.Garden 
#PeopleCats #Quotes

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

Why everyone wants Banana Lakatan?

Banana Lakatan (Lacatan)

🍌 Why everyone wants Banana Lakatan?
  • 🌟 Banana Lakatan (also spelled Lacatan) is one of the most sought-after banana varieties for several great reasons:
  • 🌟 Incredible Flavor: Lakatan is famous for its rich, sweet, and creamy taste. It has a fuller banana flavor than most commercial types, making it a favorite for eating fresh.
  • 🌟 Deep Yellow to Orange Flesh: The vibrant color of the fruit is a sign of its high beta-carotene (Vitamin A) content - great for eye health and immunity.
  • 🌟 Soft, Dessert-Like Texture: Unlike fibrous store-bought bananas, Lakatan bananas are smooth and velvety, almost like banana pudding in a peel.
  • 🌟 Fast Fruiting: It's a vigorous grower that can produce fruit in as little as 9-12 months under warm conditions.
  • 🌟 Highly Nutritious: Rich in potassium, vitamins A, C, and B6 - Lakatan is both a treat and a health boost.
  • 🌟 Premium Status: In the Philippines and much of Southeast Asia, Lakatan is considered the top-quality banana, often more expensive and prized over all others.
  • 🌟 Why Grow It? Because you can't buy this flavor in stores. Lakatan fruit doesn’t ship well - it's too soft and sweet for commercial export. That's why growing your own is the only way to enjoy its true taste.


🛒 Grow your own Lakatan and experience the banana everyone’s talking about!

📚 Learn more about #Bananas

#Food_Forest #Discover

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

What flower smells like lemons?

Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant, Chinese Rice Flower

💐 What flower smells like lemons?
  • 🍋 Aglaia odorata, also known as Chinese Perfume Plant or Chinese Rice Flower, is in full bloom at TopTropicals, filling the air with its pleasant lemony fragrance virtually year-round!
  • 🍋 This tough, low-maintenance plant adds a touch of enchanted magic and delightful scent to your garden.
  • 🍋 Beyond its beauty, Aglaia boasts medicinal properties thanks to compounds like odorine and odorinol.
  • 🍋 It grows into a dense bush without the need for pruning, making it the perfect, cold-tolerant tropical hedge.


🛒
Get ever-blooming, fragrant delight - Aglaia

📚 Learn more:
Replacing a boring hedge witth Chinese Rice Flower: lemony fragrance year around

#Perfume_Plants #Hedges_with_benefits #Remedies

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals

Date:

This is why Tibouchina is called the Eyelash Flower

Tibouchina Peace Baby - Eyelash Flower

👀 This is why Tibouchina is called the Eyelash Flower

👀 Tibouchina is often called the Eyelash Flower because of the long, delicate, and hair-like stamens that protrude from its vibrant flowers. These stamens resemble eyelashes, giving the flower its unique and eye-catching appearance.

📸🕊The stunning Tibouchina Peace Baby, a new selection bred in Queensland, Australia, now making waves globally! This compact beauty stands out with its large, clear white flowers and vibrant purple stamens that bloom throughout the warmer months, bringing gorgeous color to your garden. The blooms are so abundant, they often cover the foliage completely! Perfect for pots and containers, this easy-to-grow variety is ideal for adding a splash of beauty to any space.

📚 More Tibouchinas in previous posts:

🛒 Shop Tibouchinas

#Hedges_with_benefits #Fun_Facts

🔴 Join 👉 TopTropicals