Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 14 Oct 2019

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Ricki

The Smallest Cat

Ricki is a tiny little cat. He is already 3 y.o. but still feels shy because he always has been the smallest one... He arrived to TopTropicals as a little kitten, along with his 3 sisters, Charlie, Purry, and LadyBug, in a box. Ricki was the last kitten in the littler and almost half the size of other kittens! But his ears were the biggest. So he became a very Wise Puuurson who knows how to Listen.

Not only Ricki was the smallest, but he also was pretty sick when we first got him at the age of 4 weeks. He had a bad infection in both eyes and could hardly see anything... His 2 sisters got adopted by employees, but no one wanted to adopt poor Ricki... so he stayed at TopTropicals. Almost 2 weeks of therapy finally helped him to get all better. Now he is one of the cutest Little People!

Ricki has his own spot at the corner of a dinner table. He is not interested in stealing any food (unlike Wesley), he just wants to be involved in a dinner conversation...

Ricki likes treats and remains very shy, staying indoors. If you visit our Garden Center, you may bring him a small treat - his favorite "Temptations".

Wesley and Ricki at Dinner conversation

LadyBug, Purry, and Ricki, 2016.

Date: 23 Jan 2020

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cat of the Day: Weasley the Immigrant

Weasley came from the neighborhood cat community (our neighbor takes care of at least a dozen of cats). Whether TopTropicals dry food tastes better than neighbor's, or simply he is such an enthusiast of tropical gardening, he hangs out with us all the time.
When you see him in our Garden Center drinking milk or chilling right on the walkway with other PeopleCats, don't get him confused with other two ginger cats we have: Barcy and Snitch... as well as the Russian Blue cat with a similar name Wesley...
Although Weasley currently has a status of a legal immigrant, he feels pretty confident around our greenhouses and will be happy to give you a tour. He is still a volunteer here but has already applied for a permanent residence and a full time position, so his food needs are being added to our cat payroll.
When visiting TopTropicals nursery, feel free to add your donation to a Cat Jar located in our office by customer's computer. We appreciate everybody's help - every penny goes to PeopleCat's needs.

Check out Video: Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals and more Cat of the Day stories.

Date: 16 Nov 2019

Meet PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Charlie, the Indoor Hunter

Carlie was a kitty drop off with LadyBug, Rickie, and Purry.
Charlie is Jamie's baby. She has an attitude of a teenager, one minute she loves you and the next - wants nothing to do with you. Carlie stays with the inside PeopleCats, she says it's too big in the outside world for her and she gets scared. Carlie has a fun game (fun to her): she plays around 2:00 am in the morning, she loves to drag random items down the hall (socks, toys, shirts, even blankets) in her mouth MEOOOWWWING as loud as she can. She then sets the items down on her human's bedroom rug and waits for her human to say thank you. We're pretty sure her hunting instinct is off...

Check out and more Cat of the Day stories.

2019, from Top to Bottom: Moe, Charlie, Bagheera, and Snitch. 2016: Charlie

From left to right: Purry, LadyBug, Charlie, and Ricki - 2016

Date: 3 Dec 2019

Ghost Cold Protection

Q: Has anyone ever tried using heat packs under frost blankets to protect tropical plants from frost?

A: The reality is, the heat packs used for shipping do not have enough heat capacity to create efficient warming effect. From our own experience, the best way is to use small 25W incandescent bulbs which produce lots of heat (considering observing all safety precautions and fire safety). Some gardeners use Christmas lights. See picture of our plants in the ground during a cold night. We called them Ghost Cold Protection! ;)

See more columns on cold protection:
Seven rules of cold protection for tropicals
About Cold Protection
Cold protection - winter action for your plant collection
Tropical Treasures articles