Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

Date: 1 Jan 2022 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Easy Sunday Morning Deals: Five Tropical Garden favorites for 2022

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy. Easy like Sunday Morning...

"...The ticking of the hands of your watch are telling you how time is passing away, never to return. Listen to it..."
Ryan Holiday, Daily Stoic

Tropical Colors for the New Year

This New Year, resolve to add color into your garden and into your life.

Today we feature five Tropical Garden favorites for 2022.

1. Bolivian Sunset

Gloxinia sylvatica - Bolivian Sunset. Low growing perennial that will always surprise you with a sudden burst of scarlet blooms in Fall-Winter.

2. Dwarf Tibouchina

Tibouchina lepidota - Jules Dwarf. So much purple for such a small compact plant! Relatively cold tolerant.

3. Tropical Hydrangea

Dombeya seminole - Tropical Rose Hydrangea. All time favorite that blooms for several months from Fall through Winter.

4. Cranberry Hibiscus

Hibiscus acetosella - African Cranberry Hibiscus. Super fast growing colorful shrub with beautiful flowers and edible leaves.

5. Burgundy Thread

Alternanthera dentata - Red Thread Burgundy. Ultimate fast growing groundcover for sun or shade, any soil and any water, any size of garden, cold- and heat-tolerant.

The Easy New Year Deal expires at midnight Sunday, January 2nd, 2022.
Enjoy your Hot Deal!

Date: 29 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Magenta Freckles of Shooting Stars

A Nerve Flower for a natural stress relieve

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...A compact grower, this happy plant takes both sun and shade, and thrives nearly in any conditions and soils... From afar, we see its smiling, sunny, happy flower faces dotted with magenta-purple freckles, reverberating in the showering sunlight... The low growing bushes cheer you with a cascade of their star-flower fireworks. And the bonus part is - striking leaves: papery, narrow, metallic-green with bright mauve underneath in attractive trailing clumps. The combination of pinkish flowers with splashes of purple and these unusual leaves make this plant quite unique. Australians say that presence of these plants in the garden removes anxiety and calms your nerves...

CONTINUE READING >>

Date: 29 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

New Video:
The Wiri Wiri Pepper - What a Flavor!

For one of our recent Easy Sunday Deals we featured Wiri Wiri Pepper and the sale was a blast! Everybody wanted one, but the sale was very quick. Now many people are asking about this special Pepper, so we decided to make a video for you. And if you missed Wiri Wiri Easy Sunday Sale - this is the last chance to get it at half price, before the year ends!

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: 25 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Easy Sunday Morning Deals: Tropical Asparagus

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy.
Easy like Sunday Morning...

Photo above: Aphelandra hartwegiana - is at peak of its flowering season now. Spectacular flower for a shade garden.

It's time for our favorite day and another Easy stroll through Top Tropicals' Garden with savings of 50% and MORE! Christmas Day has come and gone, and now it's time to treat yourself with our Easy Sunday Deal!

This week we bring you one of the most popular leaf vegetables in South Asia and Southeast Asia, the Tropical Asparagus - Sauropus androgynus. Notable for its high yields and palatability, Tropical Asparagus is a favorite with crab meat, minced pork, dried shrimp, or to make soup... and has delicious young shoots!

Tropical Asparagus
50% OFF and MORE!

For this Easy Sunday we have priced these at incredible savings:
Sauropus androgynus, regularly $39, is on Easy Sunday sale for only $19
Sauropus Variegata, regularly $39, is on Easy Sunday Sale for only $19.
Combine the two for your own Tropical Asparagus Kit and save even more, only $29 for the kit!

While supply lasts.

About Sauropus androgynus - Katuk, Tropical Asparagus

Sauropus, or Katuk, is a perennial shrub grown in some tropical regions as a leaf vegetable. It is one of the most popular leaf vegetables in Southeast Asia. It is among only a few flora containing vitamin K. Leaves and stemmed can be cooked as vegetable; young shoots are delicious eaten out of hand and taste just like sweet peas, they can be added to salads. The plant has many medicinal properties.

Katuk is fast growing and keeps growing as you trim it for your kitchen needs. Multiple upright stems can reach 6-7 ft high. It has great ornamental value, has pretty red flowers and ornamental fruit showing shiny black seeds when they crack open. Varieties with green leaves and variegated leaves have slightly different flavor but are equally good for your healthy, fiber-rich diet.

Remember, the Easy Sunday Deal expires on Wednesday December 29th.

Enjoy your Hot Deals!

December 26th - Boxing Day

Remember, December 26th is Boxing Day, with different theories on the roots of Boxing Day, but one commonality: Boxing Day is a day for charity and kindness. Let's all continue to be charitable and kind humans!

Date: 22 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Christmas Fairy Tale from PeopleCats of TopTropicals. Penelope, the Squirrel Cat

Early one morning I was sitting out back on the porch and I heard a high pitch screeching. As I am looking everywhere for this sound, and what is making the sound, I see a small little squirrel baby poke it's head from between my house and my roof... Now I am not the only one who heard and saw this baby. There were two little sets of cat eyes standing beside me who were also intrigued but for a very different reason than I was...
This is how we became pet squirrel owners. It was never intended for Penelope to stay for long, however the more we bottle feed her and interacted with her the more attached she became to us...
Every time she saw us, she would purr! That's right, squirrels do purr, just like cats! They also play just like cats...

CONTINUE READING >>

TopTropicals PeopleCat Club and Zoo

Thank you for supporting us in helping PeopleCat Community and Zoo!
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!

Photo above: Jim is exploring jungles of Tecoma Stans.

Date: 22 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Pipers, the Pepper Plants

Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), the one that is used more frequently than salt or sugar!

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...Who doesn't know Black Pepper? Every household has a pepper shaker, even if they are not fans of spicy food. But do you know where black pepper comes from? Certainly, from a plant. But not from the same plant that gives us Chili pepper! You will be surprised to know that Black pepper along with its other spicy relatives, belong to the same family as a Peperomia houseplant! In the 16th century, people began using name pepper to also mean the unrelated New World Chili pepper (genus Capsicum of family Solanaceae). Piper's spiciness is due to the chemical compound piperine, which is a different kind of spicy from the capsaicin characteristic of Chili peppers...
Today we will tell you more about the most interesting and useful species - Piper nigrum (Black Pepper), Piper betle (Betel Leaf), Piper sarmentosum (Lalot), and Piper auritum (false Kava-Kava, or Root Beer Plant).

CONTINUE READING >>

Piper auritum (false Kava-Kava, or Root Beer Plant) - the most useful especially in Mexican cuisine

Piper betle (Betel Leaf), popular Indian herb that brings you health and happiness...

Date: 19 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Easy Sunday Morning Deals: Red Peppers and Hot Pepper Kit

It's time for our favorite day and another Easy stroll through Top Tropicals' Garden with savings of 50% and MORE! We're counting down to 2022 and this is our last sale of the year. There's still a few days remaining for you to receive 20% off savings on any order over $75! See discount code for this extended sale at the end of this email.

Saving on your favorite plants is Easy.
Easy like Sunday Morning...

Photo above: Holmskioldia sanguinea - Chinese hat, Holiday bloomer, covered with flowers from late fall through Winter.

This week we celebrate Beautiful Red Peppers and bring the heat with our Hot Pepper Kit:

The Biquinho Pepper and the Wiri Wiri Pepper
50% OFF and MORE!

Biquinho... Wiri Wiri... sounds like an exotic island, and these rare peppers will bring you the combination of the no-heat, yet intense fruity habanero flavor of the Biquinho with the hot and flavorful taste Bang! of the Wiri Wiri.

Hot Pepper Kit - Biquinho Wiri Wiri

For this Easy Sunday we have priced these at incredible savings:
The Biquinho Pepper regularly $39, is on Easy Sunday sale for only $19
The Wiri Wiri Pepper, regularly $49, is on Easy Sunday Sale for only $24 .
Combine the two for your own Hot Pepper Kit and save even more, only $34 for the set!

Biquinho Pepper

Biquinho's oddly shaped bright orange to finally red fruits are prolifically produced along the branches of compact plants. What separates this variety from others is its unique flavor which packs quite a bang! Not because of its heat, but because of its intense fruity habanero flavor.

Wiri Wiri Pepper

The Wiri Wiri pepper from Guyana is the illustrious gem; hard sought and rarely found. What makes it so much different than any other hot pepper? Hot? It is not just about heat, it is about flavor! Guyanese dinners will only take one of those meals for you to never forget! The secret of their food is the flavor, and one of the cornerstone ingredients in many of their dishes is the Wiri pepper. The Guyanese population claim that it is not just a key ingredient to their diet, but also to why they are so good looking, live so long, and have such great skin.

Remember, the Easy Sunday special and the 20% off for eligible orders will expire on Wednesday December 22nd. Limited availability, hurry up!

For 20% off - use code YEAREND20

Min. order $75 (excluding S&H). Good through December 22d

Enjoy your Hot Deals!

Photo above: Find a cat in this Christmas tree?

Date: 16 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Zebrina Rojo - Blood Leaf Banana

by Alex Butova, the Witch of Herbs and Cats

...The showy Blood Banana plants grow 6-8 ft tall in the wild, but are well-adapted to container growing and can be maintained at only 3-5 ft. They produce huge paddle-shaped leaves that grow to 6 ft long! The undersides of these large leaves are purple to red...

CONTINUE READING >>

Date: 16 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Why should you use Sunshine Boosters?

by Ed Jones, the Booster guy

...You have heard it before, but I will tell you again. Sunshine Boosters are safe to use with every watering. It means that you can use Sunshine Boosters amino acid based fertilizers whenever you water your plants, even in the winter. Why is that so important?..

...We normally stop using dry, timed release, fertilizers around the first of November and not resume using them until the first part of March. This is true in many areas of the deep south where the ground stays above freezing year round...

However, it is safe to use Sunshine Boosters during these cooler months... Temperature does not play a role in the absorption of nutrients when using Sunshine Boosters...

To find out how it works, see Ed's new Article Why should you use Sunshine Boosters. If you want to learn even more in depth, check out his blog: Micronutrients Delivery Systems.

As of this writing, all Sunshine Boosters are on Holiday Sale. There are boosters for all different types of plants. Check them out and -

Give your plants a little something extra for Christmas!

CONTINUE READING >>

Date: 12 Dec 2021 Top Tropicals Newsletter

Golden Sugar Apple and Jackedak Cheena
50% OFF and MORE!

We've combined the exotic fruit of this rare Annona from Costa Rica - Golden Sugar Apple with the sweet, crunchy and excellent flavor of the Jackedak Cheena. Both rare and unique plants can be yours at considerable savings, but don't delay as there are limited quantities in stock.

Rare Fruit Collection:
two Jackfruit-textured rare fruit!

For this Easy Sunday we have priced these at incredible savings:
The Golden Sugar Apple regularly $39, is on Easy Sunday sale for only $19
The Jackedak Cheena, regularly $49, is on Easy Sunday Sale for only $24 .
Combine the two for your own Rare Fruit Collection and save even more, only $39 for the set!

Jackedak Cheena

Artocarpus x integer (Jackfruit x Chempedak) - Jackedak Cheena has been grown in TopTropicals garden from a seedling and fruited within 3 years from planting. The fruit is the best we ever tasted! It is super sweet, crunchy, with a rich, excellent flavor, with very little latex which makes it easy to handle when cutting up. Our tree survived light frosts as well as 48 hours of 3 ft flooding, with no damage! Cheena is a natural hybrid between Jackfruit and Chempedak with low and spreading growth habit, can be maintained at 8 ft with annual pruning.

Picture of 3 y.o. Cheena at Top Tropicals garden, loaded with fruit:

Golden Sugar Apple

The Golden Sugar Apple or Pineapple Annona originally was brought to us by our customer from Costa Rica. We believe it to be a natural hybrid between A. muricata and A. glabra. It is a very ornamental small tree similar in growth habit to A. muricata, A. montana or Rollinia. Fast growing, forms nice bushy specimen. Fruit is very large, up to 1 lb, golden to orange when ripe, with strong Pineapple scent, and resembling Jackfruit in texture, with pineapple, papaya, apricot and melon overtones. The tree tolerates flooding and is cold hardy at least to upper 20's. Very interesting for rare fruit collectors as much more hardy and water tolerant alternative to its sensitive relatives Soursop and Rollinia.

Picture of 3 y.o. tree full of fruit:

Remember, the Easy Sunday special has been extended through Wednesday, December 15th. Limited availability, hurry up! All orders over $75 (excluding S&H) are eligible for 20% off!

For 20% off - use code YEAREND20

Min. order $75 (excluding S&H). Good through December 15th

Enjoy your Holiday Tropical Fruit!

Photo above: Jim is Holiday decorating with super-sweet tropical fruit balls - Pom-Poms!

< Previous page Next page >Most recent entry Blog table of contents