Garden Blog - Top Tropicals
Date:
Butterfly Garden from Anna Banana
Butterfly facts
1. There are approximately 20,000 different species of
butterflies, the largest of which is the Queen Alexandra
Birdwing with a wingspan of 11 inches.
2. Female butterflies can lay over 1000 eggs during their
short lifetime.
3. Butterflies lay their eggs on host plants which usually
hatch within a few days, then turning into caterpillars.
The caterpillar will then eat until it sheds it's skin
several times, called instars, finally emerging from the
chrysalis as a beautiful butterfly.
4. Butterflies are born to breed, their goal being to mate
and begin the cycle again. Most live only a few days
except the Monarch which can live up to six months.
5. Monarch butterflies migrate to Mexico every fall and
remain there until spring when they make the return
migration.
6. Due to the continuing destruction of the rain forests,
where the largest population of butterflies are found,
their numbers are dwindling. We encourage you to plant a
butterfly garden!!
Remember:
- A sunny, less windy location is best, however, Zebras
love to float in the shade of bushes and trees.
- The more host and nectar plants you have, the more
butterflies will be attracted to your garden.
- Butterflies "puddle". They like a wet sandy area where
they congregate and sip minerals and nutrients from the
wet sand and water.
- Rocks to rest and enjoy their beautiful garden, and
don't forget a bench or hammock for yourself.
FREE butterfly garden guide from Anna Banana
For our local Florida customers, it is a perfect time now
to start a garden with plants for butterflies that will
appear first thing in Spring. Establish these plants now
for the Spring blooms that will attract the Beauty into
your garden!
Stop by our Garden Center to check out our Butterfly Plants display, or
simply call Anna Banana for a free consultation on
Butterfly Garden at 239-771-8081.
Hurry up while butterfly plants are on 4-day sale!
Date:
PeopleCats saving us from COVID-19!
Cat owners have higher immunity for COVID-19?
In our previous newsletter, we were talking about cats fighting the coronavirus and how to help them to recover.
The research made by Sabina Olex-Condor, a Polish doctor who works in a
clinic in Madrid, showed that due to cross-immunity (cats are a known reservoir
of coronaviruses) cat owners have milder sympthoms of COVID-19! Perhaps this
is due to the fact that in a cross-reaction antibodies are produced to the
virus, and owners of cats are more protected from COVID19... Read more)
Now that quarantine has been introduced almost universally because of
coronavirus, dog owners are also in a better position - they can officially go
outside for a short while. But the benefit of dogs (and other pets) is not only
that. Scientists from the Italian city of Catanzaro found in the course of
the study, that those who have a four-legged pet, have very mild symptoms of
the COVID-19. A similar effect was observed in those in contact with cattle...
To find an explanation for this phenomenon, the researchers compared viruses.
It turned out that the disease of bulls, cows and other cattle is similar to
Chinese coronavirus by 38.4%, and the virus of dogs by 36.9%. This means
that owners of animals already have some kind of immunity. So the owners of cats
and dogs, as a rule, tolerate coronavirus easier or completely asymptomatic.
Read more...
Stay safe and healthy with your PetPeople!
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community!
Make
your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us. Every little
bit helps! Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Date:
Musings of a butterfly gardener about the milkweed bug
By Kevin Piotrowicz, FL. This spring I was excited! My milkweed was blooming and going to seed. I have 3 healthy clumps of it, each one with seed pods. I counted the seed pods at one time... 22... I had 22 seed pods on 3 plants! Could it be possible? Could I finally have reached the point that I had a sustainable amount of milkweed growing that would not be decimated by monarch caterpillars?
I was telling my friends, "My milkweed is growing great! I may be able to support a population of monarchs!" There were even a couple of them flying around the yard, landing on the milkweed, and frolicking amount the wax myrtle.
With great joy I watched 3 monarch caterpillars munch on my milkweed. The small plant colony even survived as the caterpillars pupated. Not only survived, it expanded! More shoots came out from the bases of the plants! More flowers! More seed pods! All was right with my garden. The zebra longwings and gulf fritillaries had new friends to play with... But what's this??? ...
Continue reading...
Click here to see for full list of butterfly attractors currently available for sale, with 15% OFF! See also Complete Alphabetical list of plants that attract butterflies and hummingbirds (very long list).
Date:
Featured plant. Clitoria ternatea - Blue Butterfly Pea
Clitoria ternatea - Blue Butterfly Pea
Butterfly pea, Asian pigeonwings. Perfect vine! Blooms year-round, fast growing, easy, not invasive, controllable, not messy, curious bright blue flower - Clitoris-like flower shape, hence the name of the plant. Fast-growing climber with fine foliage, pinnate leaves. Besides being a great ornamental, this plant has some practical and medicinal value. The seed pods are edible, as well as the flowers. The flowers are used for blue food dye for rice and teas. It is also a nitrogen fixer and helps prevent E-coli.
Date:
URBAN TROPICAL GARDENING:
10 secrets of successful Container Mango growing on a
balcony.
Q: I live in Miami in apartment on a second floor, and I have a balcony with SE exposure. I wonder if I can grow a mango tree in a pot? Will it fruit for me? I recently moved to South Florida and I don't know much about tropical plants; but I tasted real fiberless mangos from someone's garden - it was so delicious and different from those in the grocery store. I wonder if I can have a fruiting tree on my balcony? And if yes, how do I plant and take care of it?
A:
Yes, you can! Here is what you need to do:
1) Temperature. You are lucky to live in Tropics,
keep it on a balcony year round.
2) Light. Position the pot in a spot with the most
sun exposure. Mango trees can take filtered light too, but
the less sun, the less fruit you will get.
3) Soil and Container. Use only
well drained potting mix. Step up the purchased
plant into next size container (3 gal into 7 gal, 7 gal
into 15 gal). When transplanting, make sure to keep growth
point (where roots meet the trunk) just at the top of the
soil. Covering base of the trunk with soil may kill the
plant.
4) Water. Water daily during hot season, but only
if top of soil gets dry. If it still moist, skip that day.
Mangoes (unlike
Avocados!) prefer to stay on a dry side.
5) Fertilizer. Use
balanced fertilizer once a month, 1 tsp per 1 gal of
soil. Do not fertilize during fruiting - this may cause
fruit cracks.
6) Microelements. Apply
SUNSHINE-Superfood once a month. This will help your
mango healthy, vigorous, and resistant to diseases. Use SUNSHINE-Honey to make your
fruit sweeter.
7) Insect control. Watch for scales and mealybugs,
clean with solution of soapy water + vegetable oil (may
need to repeat 2-3 times with 10 days interval), or with
systemic insecticide like imidacloprid only as needed (if
non-harsh treatment didn't help). Most Flea shampoo for
dogs contain that chemical, you may try that shampoo
solution.
8) Trimming. Once potted, do not remove leaves
that are discolored or have spots until new growth
appears. Dark dots on mango leaves, especially in humid
climate like Florida, may be signs of fungus. Treat with
fungicide according to label, and remove only badly
damaged leaves. Trim crown as needed after flowering and
fruiting (by Fall). Train into a small tree, and you may
remove some lower branches eventually.
9) Flower and fruit. Mangoes are winter bloomers
with bunches of tiny flowers coming in thousands. Many of
them set fruit (if pollinating insects present). Keep in
mind that young trees can only bare a few fruit. Normally
a tree will drop excessive fruit and keep only a few that
it can manage. To save the young tree some energy, remove
fruit if too many and leave only 2-3 for the first year.
It will pay you next year with more abundant crop.
10) Variety. Last but not least: Choose the right
variety for container culture! Pick from "condo" dwarf
varieties such as Icecream, Nam Doc Mai, Carrie, Cogshall, Julie, Fairchild, Pickering, Graham, Mallika, and a few others -
check out Mango Chart pdf
and full list of our Mango varieties.
Date:
PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Cats of the day: Biggy's Cat Hospital
Biggy checking on patient Abu when he couldn't walk
During these challenging times for the whole planet, we receive kind letters from our customers checking on how our PeopleCats are doing, especially those that previously were ill. And since we promised to follow up on everyone, including heart-breaking story of Raja and Abu, today's report is about everybody's progress!
As we mentioned in our previous newsletter, several cats in TopTropicals
Cat Sanctuary had a coronavirus (we call it COVID-Cat-20), or simply a cat respiratory infection. Chiefy, Snitch, Marco and Biggy had it really bad, but some other PeopleCats surprisingly didn't
get it! Just like with humans. Lucky King didn't have a single sneeze!
Finally, everybody has recovered by now, but it has been a very stressful
couple of weeks for us, considering limited vet availability at this stay-home
time. On top of that, Lil S had an abscess and was also contained in a home hospital, away
from flu-quarantined PeopleCats. Our homes become real cat hospitals!
We are thankful to our customers support, especially Silvia who made
several donations for our PeopleCats, and also recommended antiseptic pads - those worked great for Lil S!
Abu and Raja's adventures were not over... After 2 weeks of seeing a
vet treating their infections and injuries, they got worse... Then after a
couple of weeks in another hospital (and a couple thousand more in bills) we were
suggested to put them down as hopeless since they would never walk again...
But Kristi did not want to believe it, she did not give up! The kittens heard
her. They won. Today, they are all better, walking, jumping and playing!
Thank you Kristi!
Never give up hope!
Stay safe and healthy with your PeoplePets!
TopTropicals PeopleCat Club
Thank you everybody for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community!
Make
your kind donation today and receive a surprise gift from us. Every little
bit helps! Thank you and God bless you and your pets!
Date:
The best Aquarium fish food ever - stikiStik
Everyone knows that Top Tropicals is good at unique, special novelties.
And it is not a secret that most plant people also are pet people - cat
people (with PeopleCats), dog people (with PeopleDogs) or at least fish people,
right?
Today we are excited to introduce our new revolutionary Fish Food developed
by our business partners at Floritin Aquarium Labs
Floritin stikiStikâ„¢ - Ultimate Aquarium fish food
StikiStik is a dry powder that you just mixed with water to create a sticky paste. The paste can be attached to any surface inside your aquarium.
StikiStik is a patent pending fish food that does things which conventional fish food does not. It introduces picky eaters to a more natural feeding environment, does not pollute the fish tank, is easy to mix from its powder format and provides gradual feeding. It is easy to apply to any surface in the aquarium, such as interior glass wall, rocks or coral skeleton.
stikiStik advantages
- Easy to use. Just mix with a few drops of water and stik it in!
Self adhesive paste can be applied to any surface. Stays intact for hours in
aquarium. Does not pollute water
- Scientifically designed and proven for all types of aquarium fish,
invertebrates, and corals
- Optimal and balanced nutrition. Contains vitamins and amino
acids
- Natural. No hormones, no artificial colors
- Stimulates fish appetite and enhances fish color
- Promotes natural feeding habits. Helps training hard to feed fish.
The perfect food to acclimate newly introduced fish, including Moorish Idol,
finicky butterfly fish, such as Copperband Butterfly, Pearscale
Butterfly, Mandarinfish, and many oithers
- Easy to store. Can be used immediately or frozen for future use
- Add any frozen fish food or medications to mix
See element contents / instructions and more information with videos on stikiStik website
- Mr Booster -
Date:
FEATURED BUTTERFLY PLANT:
Duranta variegata - Variegated Sky Flower
Variegated Sky Flower is grown for its summer flowers and ornamental fruit. This evergreen fast-growing shrub spreads and arches to 10 feet tall and wide and is great for live hedges and covering fences and corners. In the summer, cascading clusters of blue tubular flowers appear followed by wonderfully contrasting orange-yellow berries. This variegated form has creamy-yellow margins around the one inch long serrated leaves. In mild climates, this plant can be in flower nearly year round with flowers and fruit appearing at the same time. It does best in full sun with frequent deep watering and is hardy to about 20-25F. A good choice for espaliers, as a small tree or large bush; all forms benefit from frequent selective pruning. Flowers are very attractive to butterflies. Great for providing a color contrast in the landscape, and is especially well-suited as a bright-colored background or screening. Prune back in late winter to encourage a more compact shape and strong flush of fresh spring foliage. Requires moderate watering in a well-drained soil.
Date:
How to make the whole garden fragrant.
List of the most fragrant yet easy to grow plants
Q: Dear toptropicals, thanks for the great database on tropicals plants! I really enjoy browsing your web site and I am planning on completing my collection by purchasing some plants from your shop. I am particularly looking for fragrant plants that make the whole area fragrant. Can you provide a list of recommended fragrant plants that bloom throughout the year round? I currently have: murraya, plumeria, michelia alba, figo, champaca, rangoon creeper, honeysuckle, jasmine, stephanotis, Arabian sambac, brunfelsias.
A: As a must-have additions to your impressive fragrant plant
collection, we can recommend the following rare fragrant plants below. These are
our favorites that are easy to grow and free-flowering. Since they flower at
different times, they will add fragrance to your garden throughout the year.
Aglaia odorata - Chinese Perfume Plant
Aloysia virgata - Almond Bush
Beaumontia grandiflora - Easter Lily Vine
Brugmansia Variegated Orange Angel Trumpet
Brunfelsia magnifica floribunda Jims Giant (very fragrant and very
compact!)
Cananga fruticosa - Dwarf Ylang-Ylang
Cerbera x manghas hybrid - Enchanted Incense
Cestrum nocturnum - Night blooming jasmine
Crinum Queen Emma - Spider lily
Eucharis grandiflora - Amazon Lily
Euodia hortensis - Scented Evodia, Golden False Aralia (very fragrant
leaves!)
Hedychium coronarium - Butterfly Ginger
Hiptage benghalensis - Helicopter Flower
Jasminum dichotomum - Rose Bud Jasmine - very fragrant!
Magnolia virginiana - Sweet Bay
Millettia reticulata - Evergreen Wisteria
Mirabilis jalapa - Four oclock plant - super fragrant!
Osmanthus x fortunei - Fortunes Tea Olive
Oxyceros horridus- one of the most intense perfume fragrances!
Radermachera Kunming - Dwarf Tree Jasmine
Satureja Viminea - Kama Sutra Mint Tree - strong mint fragrance
Sclerochiton harveyanus - Blue Lips, Mazabuka - lavender fragrance
Solandra maxima - Variegated Butter Cup
Telosoma cordata - Pakalana vine
Wrightia religiosa - Sacred Buddhist
You may consider many varieties of gardenias, and the most rewarding
are:
Gardenia vietnamensis - Vietnamese Gardenia
Gardenia Aimee Yoshioka (First Love)
Gardenia posoqueria - Shooting Star Gardenia
Gardenia taitensis Heaven Scent (double flower)
Gardenia taitensis Tiare Tahiti, single flower
Gardenia tubifera Kula - Golden Gardenia
To see the full list of fragrant flowers, follow this link.
Date:
Libra Zodiac lucky plants
Libra - 9/23-10/22. Libra is an AIR sign, and is ruled by the planet Venus. Because Venus is the planet of beauty and love, Libra's plants often have light, lovely flowers and gorgeous scents.
Libra has been related to the endocrine system, the kidneys, and the bladder. Venus (which also rules Taurus) is responsible for the harmony between the various body systems, as well as the abdomen, kidneys and urinary tract, and thyroid. Libra's plants help to bring balance to these areas of the body. Libra's romantic nature appreciates a spice that cultivates love and sensuality. Cardamom is a spice known for its gently warming nature, so add a sprinkle when you want to heat things up slowly.
Libra Zodiac lucky plants: Jasmine, Gardenia, Euclinia, Pua Keni Keni, Randia, Beaumontia, Faradaya, Butterfly Ginger, Kopsia, Hydrangea, Montanoa, Aglaia, Dwarf Ylang-Ylang, Desmos, Clematis, Almond Bush, Brunfelsia, Four oclock plant, Juniper, Moonflower, Carissa, White Chocolate Jasmine, Night blooming jasmine, Fiddlewood, Honeysuckle, Orchid, Clerodendrums, Millingtonia, Parijat, Fried Egg Tree, Oxyceros, Phaleria, Tuberose, Cubanola, Portlandia, Rothmannia, Allamanda, Nasturtium, Rose, Camellia, Ephedra, Fuchsia, Ylang-Ylang, Magnolia, Stemmadenia, White Plumeria, Appleblossom, Needle Flower Tree, Tree Jasmine, Guaiacum, Epiphyllum, Amazon Lily, India Hawthorn, Stephanotis, Talauma, Pakalana vine, Wrightia, White flowers, Cypress, Lucky Bamboo, Dracaena, Bakul, Apple, Pear, Fig, Raspberry, Olive, Pomegranate, Apricot, Peach, Plum, Loquat, Grape, Blackberry, Mango, Cherries, Chrysobalanus icaco, Berries, Neem tree, Asparagus, Spices, Mint, Catnip, Bergamot, Thyme, Cardamom.
For other signs information, see full Plant Horoscope.
15% OFF ON ALL FRAGRANT PLANTS! 3 day sale.